Metal invites

I want to make metal invites on my pro for our wedding party. I would like them to be useful. So, with edges that fold up so could be used for a tealight holder. I am very new to Glowforge! I am not sure what thickness of blank to use to cut & engrave. Are some metals better/easier than others? I would really appreciate your help. This is for personal use.
Have a lovely day & stay safe x
Louis

The Glowforge cannot engrave or cut metal.

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You can buy coated (anodized) aluminum products that will engrave. Or, you can use a marking solution like Cermark Ultra and engrave over that. Cutting is not possible.

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Glowforge can etch some metals, like anodized aluminum, directly. Other metals, like stainless steel, work best if you spray them first with a product such as Cermark. Taken from the Glowforge site. I wondered if anyone had tried & how they got on.

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Thanks @Tek104 , have you tried?

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There are many, many discussions of using the Glowforge to mark metal, here in the forum. I have personal experience with CerMark and anodized aluminum. The search function in this forum is your very best friend.
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=CerMark
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=anodized%20aluminum

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I haven’t tried anodized aluminum, but I hear it works well. I do use Cermark Ultra on aluminum and it works great.

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Dry moly lube has been amazing for me for engraving on stainless​:+1::+1: I have a tool I use daily and it gets rubbed, etc and has not come off yet…or even faded yet…it’s been over a year since it was done​:crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

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To be clear, no 40W CO2 laser can cut metal - you need like 150W+ to even begin to.

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This is true about using a marking medium…however, unless you use several pieces of stainless and/or anodized aluminum and make separate hinges for them, you would never be able to fold them up into a tealight holder. Using a marking medium is not the same as engraving. It removes no material but creates a chemical bond with the metal. I can’t imagine this wouldn’t end up being an expensive project.

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I’ve used Cermark quite a lot and like the results!! As said, you don’t ‘engrave’ it’s a chemical bond…

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Just be aware that using Dry Moly as a marking material can release some pretty nasty airborne contaminants and you will need to contain those.

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Unless I’m mistaken, Cermark also has some molybdenum content as well…am I correct?:thinking::man_shrugging::scream_cat:

So will burning acrylic…

Acrylic is pretty safe compared to Dry Moly. Read the can on Dry Moly - I wear a respirator when applying it because of the warnings. There are multiple people on this forum who have stopped using Dry Moly due to the danger of it.

So, what about the components of Cermark? Is there molybdenum (moly) in that?

I don’t know; I haven’t used it. Why don’t you contact the manufacturer to find out?

Because I really don’t care that much and was only sharing my experience with dry moly, which is also most likely a component of the other marking products. Everyone is an expert here, it seems.:thinking::man_shrugging::roll_eyes::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Well one of you has been here for about 6 years :slight_smile:

But I happen to agree with you. I don’t have any issues with Dry Moly. I find it a good cheap alternative to Cermark. But when I’m doing something for a gift or someone else to use, I’ll use Cermark because it provides a blacker finish.

Some people have issues with Dry Moly because they consider molybdenum a heavy metal (it’s actually a transition metal so it’s different and behaves differently). They don’t want to laser it because of the potential for heavy metal particulates in the off-gassing. I believe that’s an over reaction to a somewhat cursory understanding of the chemistry but it doesn’t hurt me any if they choose not to use Dry Moly spray.

BTW, Cermark does not contain molybdenum.

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I don’t think there are any laser marking sprays which contain molybdenum disulfide, the stuff in dry moly lube. Heating that creates sulfuric acid, which is corrosive to machinery and to your lungs. Some marking sprays do contain molybdenum oxides, which get you the pigmentation properties without the sulfur component. I don’t know that Cermark contains either.

Cermark is basically a pigment, tiny fragments of glass (glass frit), and a clay. The clay absorbs heat from the laser to melt the glass, the glass binds with the metal and hardens on its surface, and the pigment gives the glass the black (or white, or copper) color. The glass bonding gives you a stronger and more permanent mark than dry moly lube.

The original TherMark formula did include molybdenum trioxide (not disulfide).

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