settings nightmare

[matt prior]

HEY eveeryone. im new to the site so i thought i would say hi before getting down to business!

ive got a DPSS 60W ND:YAG and i have been trying to laser mark stainless steel and aluminium. i have got a nice grey colour on the steel, but there is dotting on the last few pulses of each piece. doed the FPS deal with the final pulses as well as the first? and if not has anyone overcome the problem with some good settings?
im still pretty new to the laser game (3 months in now!) and any help would be great.

cheers guys

[steve-o]

Uhhh..
First, Welcome to the site Matt. We're mainly into shows and entertainment here, but I'm fairly sure someone has that knowledge for your question. However. alt.lasers may be a better place for that question unless you want to convert your 60W Yag to lasershow purposes

[wes]

my buddy started this site www.laserists.com
lots of engravers on there.

[matt prior]

now that could be fun! or dangerous, depending on who is in charge. but i think ill stick to the engraving for now. thanks for the welcome, and thanks for the link to the site. cheers guys

[buffo]

I'll second the welcome that Aaron started. Hope you enjoy yourself here on PhotonLexicon Matt!

Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with your laser marking application either. Hopefully one of our senior members can shed some light on the problem.

And while a 60 watt yag might make for one hell of a light show, I agree that it would need to be treated with the utmost care!

Adam

[werner1619]

Hallo Matt,

It sounds like you enjoy your 60W Yag laser,
If you don't mind please give more information on your Yag.
-what is the wave length? For cutting and engraving alot of lasers are 1059nm
-Are you cleaning you metal before engraving? cleaning the metal to degrease or de oil it also helps allot
-Are you using some marking fluid? you will have a good result with "metalfix" and "serdec". have been made specially for engraving with laser
-What software do you use for your laser? you can attain beter/ different results if you can adjust the frequency of the laser.

Hope I have helped

Werner

[matt prior]

i use cermark every now and then, but the results are inconsistent. im pretty sure you got the wavelength about right with 1.059 (im exactly sure myself though)
ive got a new challenge which you may have a few thoughts on. can you engrave onto mirrors without harming the machine with a YAG?

[werner1619]

Hey Matt,

I have not engrave on a mirror with a YAG, But have engraved on a mirror with a CO2. The trick is to apply a very thin film of papper to the mirror front surface sothat you reduce the reflectivness. Wetting the papper works well to keep it in position.
give it a try?
You still have not mentioned what software you use to control your Yag engraver?

Just for interest sake

Werner

[matt prior]

sorry, i totaly forgot to mention thet! im using icaro software on my machines, the stock software that the italian manufacturers gave us. not the best software, but its going to take some serious time and money to switch to type 3 et al.

[werner1619]

Hi matt,
Ok I have never heard of that software, I have used Trotec standard software and Winlase and Vision. I like winlase as it is easy to use and not that expensive. Ultimatly type 3 is what you want but at a price aswell. Have you treid the wet paper on the mirror?

Let me know if you come right

Werner