Etching on Polymer Glocks

I’m not sure what polymer is used. I did do a little research into Kydex, and I’ve got the feeling it likely isn’t laser-friendly. Not sure about Glocks.

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Before experimenting with settings, you’ll need to know exactly what each polymer is made of. There are various compounds that can give off fumes hazardous to both your GF and you when lasered. Chlorine-based compounds are a big no-no, to give one concrete example.

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Yes, Kydex is dead out. I found this out not long after ordering.

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1, Research.
2. Order.

Fewer regrets.

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HLMGTFY

Glocks are made from a Nylon-based/like polymer so should be safe but no idea if there can be or how to get good results.

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Nah, I knew I wanted it, just as my use cases were growing they shrank just a little.

And always remember. If you can’t make what you want with a tool you can always make another tool to make what you want. Nothing stopping me from making templets with the :glowforge:.

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There is no doubt the results can be great with the right settings on this material (just google glock laser etching) and yes as far as burning stuff nothing is 100% safe for you but the material used isn’t supposed to be too bad and not bad for the machine.

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I don’t know specifically about the polymers used on Glocks, but I’m just going to throw out a general reminder on how vital it is to research what you cut. Even if it may laser well, it might kill you or your machine. I do see a lot of engraving on gun parts though so obviously some of it is safe, just have to figure out which ones.

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That picture is NASTY!! Wasn’t that from PVC cutting?

Yeah, vinyl I believe. Nasty reminder huh!

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As the armourer shouldnt you have a bunch of mags that are too beat up to use laying about? The ones I know are always comaining anout replacing stuff lol.

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Surprisingly no :slight_smile: I do have a few California compliant magazines to test so I’m not really worried about figuring out what settings will work but I’ll do that before testing on a frame.

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I think you need to remove the honey comb, the mag is pretty thick, might be too close to the head.

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My plans are for custom grips for 1911’s. (But would be sticking to wood.)

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Well I’m doing my metal mags before I tackle anything polymer so you will probably get the setting figured out before I do.

You can always go light on settings and just re-run the file without moving anything till you get it dialed in

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Yeah this was my first couple hours with the GF and I’m sure I did a hundred things wrong so I’m reading up more and will get this figured out.

The distance to the mag was .37 if I remember correctly and I know I had the power way too high even though I thought I chose a very low setting.

Stuck at work for going on 36 hours now so I’ll tackle this once I’ve had more than a few hours of sleep.

I have to say… I just did it!! Glock mag completed… looks awesome :slight_smile: thank you all for the tips!!!

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What did your settings wind up being? I tried a first pass and my best guess is either too hot, or not in focus … I set the focus point using the cloud rather than specifically setting a fixed distance (I guess it uses the camera?) Appreciate feedback, would prefer not to burn thru a dozen old magazines… also a pic of your finished product? Thanks!

What setting did you use? And can you post pics?

No one every posted pics or talked about settings on here - and I was just looking through the thread trying to get info. Thought I’d share what I used…


Bad image with smear and charring was at 65 power. The second image where I had repeated clean etching was Speed 450, Power 25 - 40, and LPI 270. I gave a range for power because of height of the object. I practiced on the mag because it was closest in materials to a pair of binoculars that someone wanted me to engrave. The binoculars were 1.99 inches so I used Power of 30. On the mag I thought 25-40 in power was pretty consistently giving me the same product. 45 was too much, 20 too little. Hope this helps you!

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