K40 Laser Engraving Tipps & Tests / Powder Coating? / Woodfiller?
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Some Experiments using the K40 Laser to melt Powder Coating Powder onto metal or wood so as some tipps and Tricks.
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I've experimented with powder coating on wooden panels before.
I lowered my dpi and increased the scan distance while engraving a few milimeters (maybe 10-ish) out of focus.
This way I would melt more of the powdercoat and not burn/blast it away. The surface of the paint melted smoother this way,
but my final results didn't come close to an engraving filled with liquid or spray paint in terms of quality.
Maybe other wood types work out better than others? I was using cheap popplar plywood.
I’m excited to see a homemade powder coating setup.
you may want to look into epoxy filling the engravings, or epoxy filling cutouts, altogether.
Sounds like a plan! ;) 🍻
On wood, using an 80w laser after engraving a 1.5mm deep text, defocus 12mm upward and speed down to 5mm/s and only 7% power. This will give a good finish that is like an orange peel but bonds well in the wood engraving. Finish off with an outline of the text to make it sharp again.
I use powder coating powder but what I do is use a hot air gun (paint stripping) on lowest setting to melt the powder, rather than re laser it. It's much quicker. So I etch the design, put powder on using a tea strainer. Use a credit card to remove excess. Then gently use the heat gun. Keep it moving and not too close as it can blow the powder out.
Thant sounds like a simple easy way… I will try that out!!! 😎
@@MancaveEffects did you try the heat gun. I find it works well for me.
I also use a Heat Gun, works a treat, it's not about the heat, it's about low gentle heat
I never laser powder paint. I use a clear sealer to make it pop
I've managed to engrave metal prety easily with my k40. I spray paint the piece i want in black, i engrave it to remove the paint then i put it in an electrolisys bath (distiled water+baking soda) it works great ;).
You've probably got better results in the meantime, but if you were too disappointed to do more testing, here are a couple of different approaches which may work a tad better:
-Wood/powder coat - engrave the wood to the desired depth, pour the powder and remove the excess with sheet metal or plastic spatula, then either bake @180*C/10 min (or according to our powder specs) in the oven, or use heat gun with air on minimum. The result should be less bubbly than with laser engraving, although you can also get pretty good results with some more experimenting with engraving power/speed ratio. You can finish by sanding and clear coat spraying.
-Wood/wood filler - if you do a good engraving job, and sand a bit deeper, with orbital sander or other machine, if you have one, you should get a decent result
- Metal/powder coat - won't give any usable result with CO2 laser.
- Metal/CRC Dry moly lube (or similar Molybdenum spray) will give solid results, see some videos here on YT. Given a choice, go for higher MoS2 (Molybdenum Disulfide) content. There are also specialized sprays, but more expensive, so check some more videos first...
With the powder coating you need to add more and then do a second pass it will fill in any missing areas.
After the engraving, the excess can be removed with a brush, and then the inscription can be fixed with a heat treatment.
😁I've never starred in a youtube video before 🤣
Interesting experiment with the power coating, I'll be curious if anyone else has played with that.
With the wood filler, have you tried dye in the filler before you fill, so you have a recessed, contrasting colour?
Have not tried to colour woodfiller but i’m sure this would work ;)
If you cover the wood with masking tape, you won't have to sand after engraving. Just peel the tape and viola, a beautiful clean surface!
interesting results and a good place to start.. Question. Do you ever have problems with air bubbles in your laser tube? My K40 gets a few bubbles in the tube if it sits for a few days. I have to tilt the laser to get the bubbles to run out when I start my water pump. I've checked for leaks, and even gone so far as to add one way check valve on the water outlet tube. At this point I guess it's just something I have to live with.
I encountered the same issue since i moved to the new cave. In my case thats because i now have the tank underneath the machine instead of next to it on the same level, so suction pulls the water back into the tank pulling some air thru. I cannot give any more advice but i can say that me personally, i gave up venting the air out over and over again and since i still use the original laser tube i just leave the air bubble in while using the machine as it mostly hangs at the inlet tube that is not in contact with the plasma. Is this good for the tube? Probably not. Do i recommand doing this? Nope. But for me, i use the laser for almost two years now without venting the air, no issues.
@kortt Most likely the pump is too small. I had the same problem with my K40. A 30 watt pond pump from Ali Express solved the problem. Was something like 15 euro I believe.