I tried using my laser engraver to strip paint and mark the metal.

The paint stripping worked remarkably well.

I also tried using some dry moly lube as an engraving agent. This also works well. The laser can't touch metal, the metal acts like a mirror unless much more powerful than I have. 

In album 1/22/17

Using the laser to strip paint.

One pass doesn’t do a great job, but the 2nd pass does.

I did a test with a quarter of the tin at different number of passes. Top is 4, bottom is 1 pass. There is a cut across just to check the pass count.

Two passes at this speed and power.

I burned the tin to darken it. I also used moly lube to label it. I accidently labeled the wrong side.

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2 Comments

  1. I can't find a reference as to exactly what is happening to the molybdenum disulfide. I don't know if I am sintering it to the surface or if the heat from the laser is speeding up the atom swapping and I am effectively creating an alloy at the surface.

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