Brass - Painted - Epilog Fusion M2 32 Manual

SECTION 14: MATERIAL ENGRAVING TECHNIQUES
• Some colors of anodized – red for instance – will not turn completely white when laser engraved. Red anodized will
produce a light pink color. Performing a second pass can result in some improvement, but usually a slight shadow
of color will remain.
• Engrave anodized aluminum at high speeds and low powers for crisp, clean results. Too much power applied to the
anodized coating will distort the engraving and tends to over-burn the image.
• Warning! Metals are reflective. Using full power with them can potentially cause damage to the
machine.

Brass - Painted

Since the frequency of the CO2 laser is not compatible with bare metals, uncoated brass cannot be laser engraved. For
bare-metal marking you will want to use an Epilog FiberMark system. In order to engrave brass with a CO2 laser you need
to use brass that has some sort of coating – typically paint. The laser removes the paint and exposes the brass substrate.
There are two basic types of engraveable brass available, but they are not all compatible with the laser.
• By far, the most popular laser brass is actually brass-coated steel. First, a steel substrate is coated with a thin layer
of brass. Next, the brass is polished to a reflective finish and a coat of lacquer is applied to the brass – Victory's
LaserBrite™ product has a lacquer finish. Finally, a paint coating is applied on top of the lacquer for the finished
product. When laser engraving brass-coated steel, you are removing only the paint and exposing the polished brass
coating that is protected by the lacquer. The lacquer prevents the brass from oxidizing and the bright reflective
surface will stay bright for years.
• Some manufacturers also sell painted brass that is solid brass, not brass-coated steel. If the brass is polished
before the paint is applied you will have a bright, reflective engraved surface. If the brass is not polished, the result
will be a dull, tarnished brass that will require a secondary polishing process after laser engraving. This is time
consuming and most engravers do not want to spend the time and effort necessary to turn this into an acceptable
product.
• Note: Always ask before lasering painted brass if you don't know the substrate! If you are unsure if your piece is
brass-coated steel or genuine brass, you can test the material with a magnet. A magnet will stick readily to brass-
coated steel, but since solid brass is not magnetic, a magnet will not adhere to solid brass.
Painted Brass Engraving Techniques
• Engrave painted brass with a high speed and low power setting. It takes very little power to remove the paint coating
and too much power will melt the paint and distort the image. If your mark on brass is turning out "fat" or has a
balloon appearance to it, you are probably using too much power. Reducing the power will bring back the nice sharp
images that are normally produced with painted brass.
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