I’ve seen videos where Lacquer paint lasers well.
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I would call that there a solder flux dispenser.
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A friend also said you can use Sugru to press into the depressions. (It’s an epoxy putty that you can get on Amazon) Don’t know personally if it’s any more resilient, but as an epoxy it might be. Sugru also comes in multiple colors. (She initially made the suggestion for putting into old range knobs that have had their color worn out over the years.)
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Sugru is great if you want something to have a rubbery feel, like grippy knobs. I wouldn’t call it an epoxy though ;p
Maybe a rub n’ buff compound would work?
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True, after a little more research it appears it’s more silicone based than epoxy. I’ve heard good things about Rub N’ Buff and look forward to trying it.
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Couple suggestions…there are a few others that have also done this sucessfully this way…
Or…you could use sign plastic like Rowmark. It comes in many colors and has a thin layer of color over a core. Etch off the top surface and expose the core. This was a recent job I did for United Way. 30 plaques. Marble blue with white core. 
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Thanks for the example. I’ve looked into those kinds of things and I think I may have some samples on the way. Rowmark makes many products so if you can be more specific about what worked for you, that would be great. I think my employer uses some of these for signs around the office, and I’m considering the prank possibilities of relabeling conference rooms…
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They make 2 types…one for laser, one for rotary (this can have abs and or pvc as the top layer and does NOT laser well)
Heres a black surface with white core. Lasermax from rowmark.
http://www.johnsonplastics.com/rowmark-value-series-lasermax-black-white-1-16-engraving-plastic
My very limited experience says that any thick layer of paint that goes down into an engrave will shrink and crack, much like joint compound or spackle. So very shallow or multiple layers or whatever.
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that goes for most paint, most of of the time.
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I’m late on this thread, but Sugru is really a Silicone base, wonderful stuff, use it all the time to repair cords, knobs, etc.
So, I’m trying to learn here-- can you not paint, say, a white acrylic sheet with black paint and then laser engrave the paint away, exposing the white acrylic underneath? Or even mask on top of the painted surface so that you get a nice crisp edge to your engraving? I saw the post about reverse etching and etching on top but painting bottom, but what about painting and etching both on the top side?
I don’t understand what you’re getting at here. The crisp edge would come from the laser as I read it. In general, painting over masking usually leads to issues with the paint bleeding/wicking up under the masking.
As for painting and then etching away the paint with the laser, yes that should be doable. I haven’t read or seen anything that would indicate some sort of inherent problem with this approach.
What I was getting at was taking a piece of wood, painting the surface with acrylic paint, letting it dry and then covering the whole thing in paper tape masking. engraving the piece. I was curious about this process. It makes sense to me that if I left it unmasked that the paint would scorch. But if it were masked, you would get nice clean lines etched without damaging the surrounding painted surface. I was wondering if anyone had used this process.
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That’s what I did with the three painted name tags. The white spots on Dad’s tag is my bad (paint transfer from Molly’s tag.)
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fantastic!
Which paint do you use for acrylic?
I’ve used acrylic paint, but there are a lot of other comments in this thread regarding other types of paint people have used.
There is some recent discussion of acrylic paint in this thread:
I just found this thread, and I’m zeroing in on a process that works well. I’m aiming for switchplates for automotive use, so I don’t want the glossy acrylic surface.
I’m using matte-black acrylic from Tap, which I think is the “P95” from Chemcast. You don’t need a lot of engrave, but low power gives you better edges on the masking, so I’ve been doing two passes at 1000/30. Two light coats of white Krylon, let it dry fully, then remove the masking.
It will hold 12pt Helvetica Bold, and touching up Helvetica Medium wouldn’t be too bad. Large areas are fine. Here’s a test piece.
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