Check out fiber lasers, John.

 

is that the type of equipment or company name ?
I've only got 3 to do (for now).

 

Its the equipment. To engrave or cut ferrous metals you need a fiber laser. They are a little bit harder to find because they are a magnitude more expensive than the normal CO2 lasers out there.

 

They are a little bit harder to find because they are a magnitude more expensive than the normal CO2 lasers out there.

Not necessarily, Oscar. Just a quick search and I found this one on Amazon - Fiber laser. I know plenty of folks who have spent 2-4 times that much on their CNC machines for home use. Here are 10 machines ranging from about $3k to nearly $30k

 

David, that is still a magnitude difference. Prices have really become affordable even if the tools are entry level junk but still work. This is what's crazy where home manufacturing is really a thing to a certain extent. You can buy a CO2 or diode laser starting for ~$300 or less and now you can buy a fiber laser starting for $3K. To be able to engrave 1mm in one go (50W+) in steel you still are looking at $8-10K but that is still an insanely cheap cost compared to just a decade ago.

I bought my K40 for around $500 with an upgraded digital controller ($700) around 8 years ago.

So cnc, laser, and 3d printing technologies are all available to regular folks at a relative affordable cost.

 

I bought my K40 for around $500 with an upgraded digital controller ($700) around 8 years ago.

These must be significantly different than the ones my friends have in their laser shop. They have three Epilog laser machines and in about a month will buy another (36", I think).

 

What & Where would I look for to find a shop that engraves lettering into steel that would be about 1mm deep ?
The local sign shops in my area only engrave or cut thin wood and plastics - no steel.
(The items I have have no markings to cover up - this will be new engraving). The chatter on the gun forums is all over the map with very few photos that are under ten years old. LOTS of laser work on the wood portions of the firearms but not actually into the metal itself.
View attachment 402313

Note: Only the laser engraving is open for discussion - not anything about the weapon itself.

I have a 50 Correction: 30 Watt fiber laser that can engrave guns. I am just NOW beginning to learn to use it. I will swing by my local gun store to ask them if they have any old, damaged gun parts lying around for experimentation. I don't want to START with my own daily carry Glock, after all.

I bought this laser about two years ago, on a whim, along with another machine... just because. The price was right, and I figured I would eventually get around to it. It has been collecting dust since I brought it home.

Only two days ago, I learned that it is in fact a FIBER laser! I didn't even know that. I added the Lightburn license to run this Galvo laser to my GRBL license to run the X-Tool laser I just bought, and now I am going to do some quick experiments to bring me up to speed on it.

I have one gun I want to engrave. It is a Marlin 30-30. I bought it when I first moved to Kentucky from Commiefornia in 2011. I bought it on the 4th of July, no less, and walked out trough the door with the rifle and a box of ammo! I couldn't do THAT in CommieFornia!

I am going to engrave it:

"My First Gun Purchase as a FREE CITIZEN
living in FREE AMERICA!
Purchased on July 04, 2011
God Bless Kentucky!"

Joe

 

good deal, Joe !!
when you are at the gun store, ask them what grade of steel would be the equivilant to gun metal for practicing on.

 

I just plan to practice on old guns. I am betting my local Sheriff has a few non-working guns he could lend to me for the experiments. I will ask.

Joe

 

lol. They are. They do work but they are entry level laser engravers from China. Working area is 8 inches by 10-12 inches or there abouts. Not something you would use commercially but for a hobby may be good enough.

Mine sits in a corner because it just wasn't something I used for my woodworking. It also needs a new CO2 tube (consumable).

It was great for engraving pictures onto 1/8 inch plywood and I could cut 1/8 plywood in one pass but that was about it.

You can buy one for $300 on ebay right now and have it in two days.

 

lol. They are. They do work but they are entry level laser engravers from China. Working area is 8 inches by 10-12 inches or there abouts. Not something you would use commercially but for a hobby may be good enough.

You can buy one for $300 on ebay right now and have it in two days.

This one is a fiber laser, only for metal. I thought it was 50 watts, but it turns out it is only 30 watts. I was doing this experiment, thinking ... "It should do more than that!" Then I found the settings in the layers menu. I was only running it at 60% power and too fast. I set it to 100% power and slowed down the speed, and my aluminum black anodized business card warped from the heat. I did some deeper engraving. I am happy. This wasn't a $300.00 laser. this one was $3,500.00

Joe

 

I finally rolled out the 30 Watt Fiber laser today and began experimenting with it. This is the second experiment, a guitar end plate for an old DOBRO acoustic guitar.

Joe

 

This is the second experiment, a guitar end plate for an old DOBRO acoustic guitar.

How long did it take to engrave that endplate, Joe? Looks great, btw!

 

I could not see anything happening?

Also, is a Dobro a make of guitar? From listening to some music, I was under the impression, it was a differnt style of guitar.....

Like blue grass music....

 

DOBRO is an old guitar brand that was made a hundred years ago. The guitar this plate will be installed on is an antique. We aren't even going to finish it. He wants to let it rust ... er ... "PATINA" naturally.

Joe

 

oh my, that is way too cool, Joe !!
I hope we can see some sample text on gun metal material soon.

 

Oh, you will.

Now I just need to find a way to combine all of my tools and machines into a source of real income. I have a cnc plasma table, cnc router, two lasers, a planer, a sheet metal brake, seven drill presses, two table saws, three belt sanders, MIG welders, etc. etc. Lots of "toys" not making any NOISE!

Joe

 

I saw the video - if you look really close, you can see the faint fumes or smoke rising up through the laser beam.

 

Yes, the video is the second pass, just cleaning it up a bit. The first pass generated a lot more smoke. The laser is moving across the material at .0005" per pass, so it doesn't look like it is moving.

Joe

 

That is really cool! We just bought a new 60W C02 laser as an upgrade from the K40. I think our next laser will be a fiber laser as well to further extend our capability.

 

1 mm is quite deep to be engraving in steel. A tenth of that or less is all that you would need.

 

This was my first test, on a piece of hot roll steel with the mill scale still on the metal. I did not realize that the laser was only running at 60% power.

Joe

 

lol. I saw the entry before the edit. Hope the project comes out awesome.

 

Believe it or not, I AM working to finish building my vac table for my cnc ROUTER! I have not given up on this. the shop has been WAY too hot lately. But I have a plan to use the router table to route mount holes for strands of Christmas lights that will then become a lighted frame to hang over a window. About 18 of them in all. Lots of work to do!

Joe

 

A friend gave me an old 1911 slide and a 30mm ammo shell to experiment with the laser. This is going to be fun!

Joe

 

john what I would do is find a friend who has a wood engraving laser . then I'd dissemble the slide clean it well then paint it black. Once it's painted take it to the laser engraver and burn the paint off with the lettering you desire (font) then lay it in a shallow pan with etching solution. where the paint is gone it will be etched

 

Welcome to the forum, Bill - - - - do you have an M1911a1 that you would do that to your gun ??
I'm not too keen on that idea.

 

G'gday @wyzarddocbill , welcome to the forum....

 

Welcome to the forum @wyzarddocbill

 

A fiber laser is a good choice to engrave metal. I considered one but went in a different direction. I chose a Pneumatic Dot Peen Marking Machine because of the lower cost and no fumes.
This 1:2 scale miniature 1911 pistol needed engraving.

 

The dot peener is a pretty cool machine. But for me personally, I would prefer the crisp engraving that the laser provides.
Good job on your 1911 !!

 

The engraving in this pic was done with a fiber laser. I believe it was a 60w unit. Zoom in to see the characteristics of fiber laser engraving.

 

Sorry, I can't "zoom". I tried it on the 1911 pics and when I click on the photo, it takes me to your photos host.

 

Right click then "Save image as" the pic to your PC. Then you can open with your photo software.

 

yeah, I am very familiar with that method - I would just rather not have to do it.
but anyway, nice job on the engraving !