Deep Etch Help

[lasermen]

We have a good etch cut condition but we need to find a conditon that will etch deeper to allow the part to be painted and still show the etch. We have a Mazak SpaceGear 48mkII 2.5kw. Any help would be great.

 

[jammie]

you could try increasing the power of the laser in slow steps , i have seen some deeper etching this way , trouble is the deeper you go the messier it becomes . it can be cleaned up with a scribe but its just adding another op to the job .

 

[chadxyz]

lasermen,

If this is for mild steel give this a try, use between 15 and 125 Hz for your frequency (start at 125 Hz and work your way down), use between 25 and 15 for your duty cycle. Set your gas (O2) at about 900 mbar; start your feed rate at 2000 mm/min and use between 12 to 20% power. If it is not deep enough slow the feed down or adjust some of these parameters. You may end up with some slag that covers the top of your engraving; this should be easy enough to remove.
Balance is the key to good deep engraving.

Hope this helps,
chadxyz

 

[caren]

Greetings.

You could try going over the etech twice, if you can't get deep enough the frist time around.
Really good to hear from another SpaceGear Operator.
We have a SpaceGear 48mk1, that I have operated for about 3 years now.
Wouldn't mind swaping some stories at some stage?

Regards.