I decided to try engraving some thin metallic plaques for some display stands. I got a big sheet of Black-to-White from Johnson Plastics and after a couple tests, hit on 1000 speed and 40% power at 450LPI.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the proper tools to cut this cleanly without bending or warping, so I ended up taking a bandsaw to it and smoothing the edges with a belt sander. Time-consuming, but it worked!
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Excellent job!
I’m sensing there’s a story about Captain Mike and the “poopbird.”
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So, that’s a Battlestar Galactica callsign tag, as would appear on the side of their fighter ships. Rank, name, Callsign.
My friend has commissioned me to make a Blaster from the show for her husband, and this is going on the display stand. He’s an artist, and Poopbird is the name of his website, so I used it for his callsign.
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Chuckle! Very nice! Glad the files worked out. 
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I’m wondering what the best way to cut this material without a die press would be. I cut thicker aluminium on my table saw with great results but, any thing thinner than about 2-3mm gets distorted at the edge pretty bad. Same with tin snips. Jig saw works ok. but lot of sanding to clean up burrs. Any ideas? I’d love to use this stuff but I’m not very excited about the finishing work needed to clean it up.
I just used a fine-tooth bandsaw blade and cut outside the cut guide that I etched in. Then I sanded it on the belt sander until the cut guide disappeared. It didn’t actually take very long, so unless you’re doing a whole bunch of them, it’s not a bad way to go.
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I use a small plasma cutter or a hand operated shear. This one works like a dream and has a lot of usage: https://www.harborfreight.com/30-inch-shear-press-brake-and-slip-roll-5907.html
there’s also this one: https://www.harborfreight.com/throatless-shear-38413.html
this one works…but eventually you will hate it: https://www.harborfreight.com/14-gauge-4-Amp-Heavy-Duty-Metal-Shears-68199.html
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