Hi,
I was wondering if someone knows what setting I should use to etch .2mm metal business cards. They are aluminum.
Thanks in advance!
Jen
FYI, Iām moving your post to Beyond the Manual because (per the friendly neighborhood lawyers (FNLs) itās the only place weāre allowed to discuss non-PG settings, and this seems likely to end with settings 
)
If they are just plain metal youāll need some sort of marking material - ceremark is the professional (pricey) version - but folks have also found some success with vinegar/mustard/water/etc.
If itās colour coated aluminum you can etch the coating off (you might run a test using the iPhone/MacBook settings)
You can also spray paint them and then either etch off the words - or etch off everything around the words
There are dozens of posts on here talking about just this - itāll depend on which method youāre considering which posts are the most helpful 
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Ok, thank you so much! I did a search before asking the question, but only 1 topic came up. Maybe itās because Iām using my cell phone. Anyway, they are coated black, but Iāll do another search from my laptop.
Thank you for your time!
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Use the search term āanodized aluminumā. It sounds like thatās what you have and there are many posts about it on here. Iāve done anodized many times and it comes out beautifully.
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I did some etching about a year ago on little anodized aluminum pill bottles that came out great; and Iām now realizing I didnāt post about them! 
That was dumb, it was a pretty fun effort. Iāll try to dig up my notes on them and do a late posting, or at least suggest the settings I used.
But for now, if they are pre-coated they should turn out really nice; itās not a tough effort. Iāll be interested if you notice a weird ātasteā in the air while youāre doing it; I still remember how strange that was. Crazy free ions bouncing around.
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I think this will be a great place to start!
The images show the speed/power/lpi settings they tried 
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The blue ones look like what I have. Mine are extremely thin and bend easily. If I find the correct settings, I will definitely share the info! Thank you so much for replying!
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Anodizing is just a method to allow the surface of a metal to hold dye. (Edit - yes, it does more than just thatā¦)
So when you hit it with enough laser power, the dye is vaporized. The metal itself is untouched.
That means itās hard to not get a decent result with anodized aluminum. Too much power wonāt really make much difference. As it happens, full speed (1000) and power typically work pretty well. 340LPI seems to be a good resolution.
As always, test first.
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Ok thank you for the information! With the Glowforge itās easy to select the proofgrade materials, but there isnāt one for what I need. I donāt want to cut the material, just etch a quote onto a 3"x2" sized aluminum card.
I didnāt know if I select the wrong setting will it cut through the card? Itās only because itās wafer thin, but Iām still researching it.
No. The machine doesnāt have anywhere near enough power to cut thru, or even mark bare metal. It wont even mark aluminum foil.
Oh wow, ok. Sorry about all of the questions. I barely got the machine for Christmas and Iāve never used anything like it.
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Wicked cool isnāt it? A lot like magic when you can make something on the computer turn into something in wood or plastic or tile that never existed before quite like youāve made it. I still get a big smile when I watch the laser go and Iāve been doing this for years (before GF 
).
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Oh yeah Iām still in awe of it! I have to stop myself from wanting to try everything I see on Pinterest! 
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