Has anyone tested doing colored engravings on metal with the H2D Laser? Does it work with the 10W or 40W version?
Laser edition doesn’t ship until the 25th
Because physics does not change…
edit: I forgot to mention these are stainless. Other metals don’t have this nice chromium oxide property.
40W (Creality)
courtesy of CSLDesign https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwM4wJb8IGA
10W (Xtool F1)
courtesy of ScrapbookMemoriesMY https://www.etsy.com/listing/1576680103/xtool-f1-engraving-and-cut-color-test
I’ve seen other 10W swatches, but can’t find the source - but it is pretty much relegated to the narrow blue band + burnt as well. Seemed more finnicky. Obviously, speed differences matter. F1 can get pretty fast. I’m going to assume you’re very likely not going to get the targets on the corexy on a 10W.
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Thanks for your reply. I got feedback from Bambu Lab support. Here is what they said: “Regarding colored engraving specifically, No information indicating theres ability to create colored engravings on metal with either the 10W or 40W laser modules.”
Titanium is the most vibrant temperature colorable metal I know of, any experience with that? (my experience is from the blacksmithing sector, so quite different from lasers)
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as @partferret mentioned, physjcs are the same in any machine, and since the coloration is a property of blank metal oxidising at x temperature, and the temperature is governed by power input vs speed, I see no reason why it wouldn’t work with the 10 and 40 watt bambu laser, if it works with other 10 and 40 watt lasers like @partferret showed us. So long as you have full controll over the speed that is.
Did someone already tested it?
I have not tested it but saw a video of a reputable youtuber. he explained that the type of laser used in the H2D is not suitable for colored laser engraving. also the BL support wrote me and said it is not working.
It most likely requires a laser towards the IR spectrum (1064nm).
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This would have been some unlock. I can imagine spending more time on metal designs.
CO2 lasers do not do a good job of marking stainless. Diode lasers are actually better for this than CO2 (at least, at our lower end of the laser market). The coloring comes from localized heating, so more power will always do a better job than lower power. Even if you go much slower, the lower power laser may not deliver enough energy to mark the metal since the metal is a really good conductor of heat.
I can’t imagine why BBL says their 40W isn’t capable, unless they’re running it with a less than 100% duty cycle and it’s not actually putting that optical power out through the beam.
There are chemicals you can apply to a metal surface before lasering to mark the surface. But you can’t control color. The material hit by the laser is “baked on” to the metal surface, the color you get is the color of the material.
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The coating has a secondary function. It dampens the reflection of the blue laser, letting more energy hit the metal itself.
And therefore improving the efficiency of the laser.
Still a laser in the IR spectrum is a better option as it’s less prone to reflection.