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Interesting I really would've thought engraving stupid shit into glock frames would've been nbd. But good to find out before I buy one
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Laser Engraving--2A Engraving, Epping NH (Fantastic Outfit)
- Thread starter Warm_Garand
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Idk but you ever have a few burbons and see some really cool shit on the internet lol... go look up the engraving process it looks pretty cool.
They say they come out the same just orientation is hard for newbies. Try on stuff like phone cases first
I'd love to see that!
If you have a pile of SBR lowers, the engraving will pay for itself.
Then I can finally make my star wars death star buckle.
This one belt manufacturer company refused my business because of "copyright infringement" - a 40 year old star wars symbol.
The same place refused my Nordic design because they said it might be thought of by some people as pro Nordic.
I think it depends?
Im sure theres some powerful lasers out there in crapy XZY axsis set ups or really nice XYZ axsis machines with weak lasers.
Combo of the 2 to get good good quality to get the depth of cut you need I guess is where its at.
Marty McFly
NES Member
All I'm saying isn't I wouldn't buy the 300 dollar laser and expect the same results.
cathouse01
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The $300 lasers are for engraving things like leather or soft wood, mostly for craft people. To engrave an anodized aluminum lower you would need something a lot more powerful. I do woodworking and have seen $1600 laser systems on Rockler with 7 watt lasers that still can only do wood and coated plastics, they don’t claim to do metal. I would think you’d need a laser “in the 150 watt range” to even think of engraving a firearm. You’re probably talking at least $15,000, probably above when you get it fully equipped with software..
ETA I’ve look at mechanical CNC engravers to mark my lowers, but even there you’d probably want one with a water cooled spindle to do aluminum, so you’re still in the $5,000 range.
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You definitely get what you pay for in terms of clearity and being able to change settings. If you're always doing the same surface of aluminum a cheaper laser will likely get by for engraving words.
dcmdon
NES Member
A low powered engraver can get you to the necessary depth by making a LOT of passes. It may be slow but it can be made to work.
Aluminum is much easier to laser engrave than steel.
Aluminum is much easier to laser engrave than steel.
dcmdon
NES Member
Mike,
Sure by the letter of the law you are right but this is NOT reality on the ground.
Open a laser engraving company that does guns (even with owners in attendance) without an FFL and see how long it takes you before the ATF magically appears and tells you that you need an FFL to do it to guns. I would give it less than a year. They give zero f***s whether you retain customer guns or not.
It's not the law but it is for all intents and purposes "necessary".
Many years ago there was a laser engraving outfit in MA that would do guns while you waited. No FFL. They never kept the guns. They only worked on the guns while
the customer was there nearby the machine, even. None of that mattered. Feds came in and told them if they didn't stop they were going to get whacked unless they got
an FFL. They ran away like a scalded dog and immediately announced they would no longer do any gun work of any kind.
Someone could probably get an attorney and "Fix" this problem but for a business owner this is a waste of money. It's cheaper to just get an FFL and make them go away.
ETA: There is a wallhack for this sort of thing though. An engraving operator could easily conduct business under someone else's FFL if they're coloed or
whatever.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
I'm not going to name names, but there was/is an engraver near to me where I lived in CT that did a lot of guns. Their primary business was trophies and plaques. But the owner was a gun nut and would do it while you watched. He never had any problems.
Hmmm ... been looking to get some custom engraving done on a few projects (they're not guns .... yet).
Can these machines do engraving around the circumference of a tube?
Can these machines do engraving around the circumference of a tube?
I’m 99% sure they can based on how they engraved my lower on the triggerguard. I think I asked them if they can do it inside the magwell but can’t remember what they said. But I’ll let them chime in.
Mesatchornug
NES Member
Some machines can. Depending on the diameter, they may need an accessory that turns the part
Marty McFly
NES Member
That speck is going to bother all of us . Thanks for that. Otherwise great deal!
cathouse01
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From my research the diode lasers you can get for most consumer grade CNC machines and 3D printers only go up to 10 watts, which is insufficient to properly mark or engrave anodized aluminum. Marking aluminum takes less power than actually engraving it. Black anodized aluminum is particularly well suited to marking. To engrave it you actually have to remove material, which takes more power. From a firearms perspective, marking does not meet the ATF requirement that the mark has a minimum depth of 0.003 inches, since it just changes the surface color.
It’s not just wattage, but type of laser. Most affordable consumer grade lasers are diode lasers. You’ll want a fiber laser for property engraving metal. I hear 50w is adequate for engraving metal, but I don’t have first hand experience.
A diode laser can mark up metal to put writing or designs on it, but it will pretty much just be surface changes.
creality has a 10W module that can go into printers, then there is a way more expensive 22W unit.
and there is something aftermarket rated at 40W, not a creality, and not clear if it can fit into enders chassis...
and there is something aftermarket rated at 40W, not a creality, and not clear if it can fit into enders chassis...
Your lower cost lasers won't be the right type/power to engrave metal. At a minimum for a fiber laser you're looking $4K, one of the manufacturers I came across had refurbished trade-ins in the $3-4K range.
And when you're looking at power rateings, be sure it's optical power output, not power input. This seems to be a common tactic of the low end lasers to make them sound better.
As for Tony in Epping, he's great, did my NFA stuff, which was a little more than the required block text, came out great.
pastera
NES Member
Those are UV lasers if I'm not mistaken
UV isn't good for cutting metal - you need IR
Absorption wavelength spectrum for different materials: glass, metal and others.
All you need to know about diffraction absorption, scattering, and absorption of different materials including glass, acrylic, and all types of metals.
cathouse01
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So sainSMART is offering the Genmitsu Z5-1 Metal Marking Laser for $959.20. So far it is the cheapest fiber laser I've seen that claims to reliably mark anodized aluminum and other metals.
Z5-1 Fiber Laser Machine, 4K Marking Resolution, Fast Metal Marking
Z5-1 Fiber Laser Machine, 4K Marking Resolution, Fast Metal Marking
www.sainsmart.com
Here is a decent review of it. (Note he talks about engraving, but it really is marking.)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqF7fbCeRcA
ETA: Note that while this laser is only rated at 2 watts, it is an infrared fiber laser, not a diode laser.
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So sainSMART is offering the Genmitsu Z5-1 Metal Marking Laser for $959.20. So far it is the cheapest fiber laser I've seen that claims to reliably mark anodized aluminum and other metals.
Z5-1 Fiber Laser Machine, 4K Marking Resolution, Fast Metal Marking
Z5-1 Fiber Laser Machine, 4K Marking Resolution, Fast Metal Marking
Here is a decent review of it. (Note he talks about engraving, but it really is marking.)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqF7fbCeRcA
ETA: Note that while this laser is only rated at 2 watts, it is an infrared fiber laser, not a diode laser.
Unlikely it will do NFA engraving. For NFA it has to be .003" deep, into the metal not the anodized finish.
cathouse01
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Definitely not for ATF engraving, that's why I made it clear that the reviewer should have been saying "marking" rather than "engraving". See my post #50 in this thread. My cheap CNC router can easily engrave anodized aluminum to the required .003 inches if you are looking for something to meet NFA requirements (though it only works on a flat surface, like a magwell). See my post Decimal points are important in the Build it Yourself forum.
