Hey thanks for the great vid. So nice to see someone not waffle for minutes, but give info in a logical, comprehensive and to-the-point manner. Appreciated!
I just purchased LBT-100 through Boss Laser. Then I found your very informative and thorough video. Glad to see that LBT-100 performed so well. You really covered all the bases with your video.
Phenomenal video. I used this to decide which marking solution to try first. Our requirement calls out Taber Abrasion (TA) resistance per ASTM D 4060 using CS-17 wheels, 1000 gram load, for 7000 cycles. This is a pretty stringent requirement. I wonder how it would compare with a 600grit wet sanding because TA testing is expensive.
Thank Paul for making such an informative and methodical video. I had not heard of LBT100 so have placed an order. Thanks for taking the time to run these tests and share!!
Thank you. Sorry, I don't know about toxicity, but that's a great question. They are all pretty toxic when applied, but the laser engraving process probably stabilizes them I'd think. But worth looking into for sure..
great video and thanks. Do you have a spreed sheet or something similar with the speeds, settings, and results that we might be able to use for reference? Thanks.
Very interesting video!!! In your experience do you think i gan engrave on brass also with a diode laser? I have an atomstack x7 and try to ask brilliance and cermark if his product can work for me on brass, but both say NO! Because his product is not for Diode laser. I'm searching for someone that have tested it! But it seems you have a professional laser....
There are some lubricant products shown here; Product Test: Etching on Stainless Steel with a 40 watt CO2 Laser Engraver ua-cam.com/video/za160j7cJP4/v-deo.html. As I understand it mustard also works bu I haven’t tried it myself.
Awesome. Thanks, Mark. I'm planning to do some more videos related to this topic. Hope you'll subscribe and come back for more. Good luck with the new laser!
Hi. I have a CNC plotter that might have a laser module mounted on it. What do you think should be the minimum laser power that would do the job according to your demonstration? Thank you!
Excellent video! Thanks! I just ordered a can of the LBT100 from their website. Seems like it would be the best all-arounder in my case and for my applications.
Thanks for making this review. Are they really all the same for clean up? We used to use Cermark and it was a lot more difficult to clean up than Enduramark. Cermark required physical wiping to remove the spray and would sometimes leave a kind of "ghost image" next to the actual marking that would require the use of a magic eraser to clean. Enduramark always cleans with just running water and nothing else. That makes all the difference in a manufacturing environment where it isn't practical to scrub all the items with a sponge.
That's a good question, and maybe I need to look more specifically at the subtleties between cleaning up the products other than Moly Lube. Compared to Moly Lube, they all cleaned up so quickly that it felt like any minor differences were trivial, but your point is fair in that I should look at them from the perspective of a production shop. I was using a cloth on all of them, and they all seemed to wash off effortlessly. I didn't do a test to see which ones came off with just a water rinse.
Excellent information. I noticed video was produced 4 years ago. Any update information since that time I should be aware of? have a few projects I am looking at wanting to put a metal label plate on, but after the engraving I would need to bend the metal to be able to mount. I am bending around a lineman's pole that is about 25" in circumference. Any issue with the marked areas possibly cracking or degrading while bending the metal? Obviously I need to find thin enough metal to bend.
Hi Ron, I actually haven’t done much with etching on metal since making this video, and I’m not much of a metal person in general so I’m afraid I’m not able to offer any assistance. Cheers
I'm curious about durability when heated. Will the marking burn off if the metal gets hot? I am considering using this for marking some 3D printer parts which will get very hot (over 300 degrees Celsius).
congratulations for the video, I would like to understand if it is also good for diode lasers and if there is someone who sells one of these products in Europe. thanks
Great video, never realized a low power laser could mark metal. Will the graphics stand up to uv from sunlight for outdoor use if clear coated. You keep adding tools to my want list. Thanks for sharing
From what I heard they can go a long time without fading. This process meets military standards as well as NASA from what I understand. At some point I imagine that it would fade, but it is supposed to be pretty durable. Sorry to create budget problems for you. :)
Please post your settings you used to run the products. So we can test them at your shop. I have Cermark 6000 and LBT and we have a 40 watt laser and 120 watt laser.
Hi Jamie, the settings are shown on each metal throughout the video. If you look at the shots where I show each metal and talk about the results, the numbers that are shown on each metal indicate the laser settings that were used to produce each line of text. For example, if you want to know the settings for stainless steel, look at the 4:12 point in the video and you can see the settings and how each product performed at the various settings. For example, LBT looks great all the way through 600 mm/sec @ 75 watts of power, while Cermark 6000 starts to fade at 600 mm/sec @ 98% power.
@@ToolMetrix Ive used cermark and brilliance laser inks, i think brilliance is just as good as cermark and a 12oz can is only $49. I really think you should do a review on them, many of your subscribers would love to see it. Thank you for making these wonderful and helpful videos! keep up the amazing work you do!
@@ToolMetrix I used them for a school project, with a Trotec laser but I would like to know how it compares to Cermark and what other lasers it works on.
Fantastic review!! Do you think the LBT100 would work with a diode laser instead of CO2?? I'm trying to decide between the Ortur Master 2 and a China branded K40
You Sir, is the best. This is the one of the best product comparison video i've ever watch. I am a hobbyist and new to the laser engraving / etching /marking world. I would to ask you if there's a similar product that would give a white color result, if I am going to engrave/mark a black background item. Thank you in advance!
Do you know of any product that will allow me to laser engrave fine black onto a white painted chassis? Or a white paint that will laze black rather than fully ablate away during engraving?
If you spray the whole thing white, then engrave the paint away where you want, coat in your marking product, then do a second laser pass, it should remove the paint where the lettering will go on the first pass, then mark the letters into each area not the second pass. final result will be a white background, with black marked letters in place. I just made that up though, so I wouldn't entirely trust my idea. . .
I actually found a product called LazerBlak, Lazer White & Laser-It. They are .025 sheets of Aluminum, metal coated, then powder coated in any other color. The metallic coating is the engrave color.
Hi Robert, Thanks for your comment. There's such a huge range of lasers out there in terms of price, power and quality, and I haven't thoroughly researched the market. I have a Laguna PL1220, which isn't the cheapest or most powerful, but it serves me well for my needs. There are so many options, however, that this purchase is worthy of a lot of homework.
Hello, this is a great video. =) So, I have a laser that is far less powerful than yours. It's just a little 1000mw laser, (which is equal to half a watt) however it did come with dog tags and wood, as if it is able to engrave on them. For a while I couldn't get it to engrave on the wood, but as I adjusted the laser, it definitely does, pretty well too. I've been trying to figure out how to make it engrave the metal dogtags. It came with a marker to I guess block the shine so it would engrave, but I couldn't get it to work, so I bought LBT100 and thought surely this would do the trick. Well I still haven't figured it out yet. I was wondering, are you able to adjust how many watts your laser uses at once? If so, would you mind just testing a stainless steel with lbt100 and just see if it is at all possible to engrave it (see if it works) at half a watt on your laser engraver and just let me know? I don't want to give up just yet. You seem to know what you're doing and I thought you might be able to make it engrave at that low of watt. Thank you. =) Blessings
I would have no way of precisely simulating 1kw. I can designate a percentage of the 40W to be applied, but it is a crude approximation at best. I would suggest contacting Paul at LBT. I’m sure he can tell you the lowest possible watts needed because they’ve tested everything. It probably even has this information on the web site. I doubt that it can do anything with your laser but it’s possible.
Three questions - First what lens size are you using? I've found I get vastly different results with a 1.5" lens (MUCH better for engraving) compared to 2.0" lens (much better for cutting but not as good at engraving due to focal length). A lot of people do tests on machines with the standard 2" lens that comes with their machine. Second, have you noticed a difference in engraving on polished brass compared to a mill finish? When I do polished brass I get a lot of post engraving tarnish due to the Cermark or water used to wash it off and I need to polish up the mirror finish again before clear coating (with polyurethane to prevent tarnish and protect the marks from wear). I've found that sometimes polishing with things like brasso will sometimes rub off nice black marks and fade them. Finally, what dpi were you doing these tests at? I get much better results with a 1200 dpi compared to 600 dpi or 300 dpi (obviously) Just curious what you were using so I can make comparisons or adjustments. Thank you. Great video!
Hi Justin, I'm just using the standard lens that came with the Laguna Laser that I use. Not sure what size it is. I haven't used any brass with a mill finish; just polished as shown in this video. DPI...not sure about that either. Sorry. I was pretty much just using default out of the box settings.
Hi, great video. Do you know how to make stainless steel have that nice shiny finish AFTER you engrave it? I'm learning how to engrave dogtags to sell them and want them to look nice once they're engraved with a nice very shiny finish. Since you have to do this on unfinished stainless steel, do you know is it possible to make it very professionally shiny after they're done? Thank you. =)
Hi Kathryn, thanks for your question. This is what I would try first: amzn.to/2pKgWh7. There might be better approaches out there, but this one should work.
Hi, i try it today with Cermark LM6000. It dont't work good direct on anodized aluminum but i do another way. First i laser the anodized away and than i use the LMM600 and laser the same a second time. I work very nice.
Very nice video and found it while looking for a video testing Brilliance. I think you should try it as it's half the price of Cermark and looks darn good. Not sure of all the edge cases you put them all through but that's why I brought it up. Hint hint. :-)
Hi Doug, thank you. I contacted the Brilliance folks a couple months ago about providing a sample for testing, and if they send something I'll definitely try it out.
Hi Kathryn, I'm sure that the machine can do it, so it's really a matter of the laser marking product that you are using can handle it. Given that LaserBond 100 worked well on other soft metals, I would think that it could handle it. I'd suggest checking out their web site or giving them a call to be sure. Or, if you send me a big chunk of gold I'll be happy to test it for you. :)
We have 2 quick questions: We own a 40W Trotec Speedy 100 that gives us the distance traveled/speed in inches (110 IPS). So how do we determine our MMPI? Math??? Ugh! ;-) And our follow up question: Does PPI come into play in this math party?
Hi Nick, sorry about the math. 1 Millimeter = 0.03937007874 Inches. I'm not sure about PPI. I kinda don't think it would come into play here but let me know what you find when you try it.
What? No Grey Poupon? ua-cam.com/video/B60nXwhK9gk/v-deo.html works on stainless steel only, per the video. Do you run the laser at the rated power levels indicated on your list, or are you adjusting the figures for the maximum safe level for your tube? Many Chinese lasers are rated much lower than the advertised figures and one has to use a milliammeter to proper set a safe top end power level.
Hi Fred, Thanks for your input. I simply ran the laser at each of the settings that were shown on each piece of metal. These were the settings that were configured in RDWorks, I didn't use a milliameter to calibrate, so good point that the settings might not directly translate. Yep, I've heard of using mustard, vinegar-soaked paper towel, and plaster of paris. I think I see another video in my future... :)
Even more important than the translated settings is that your laser may be overdriven beyond a certain power setting. I have a 60w laser that should not be operated beyond 65 percent, as it reduces the life of the tube. I hadn't heard of vinegar or plaster of paris. The mustard worked well in my brief tests, although the lumpier off-brand stuff had inconsistent results.
Interesting. I'll have to ask Laguna about operating the laser at higher percentages. They told me to not run it at 100%, but said that anything short of that should be fine, which is why I ran most of the tests at 98%. But I'll do some homework on that. Thanks again. And only the finest mustard for laser marking: check! :)
laguna was right. Laser tube life is fairly unaffected (for CO2 lasers) at power levels under 95%. there's very little difference in lifespan operating at 30 or 70 or 90%. But at very high utilization rates, the lifespan falls off a cliff. Most commercial & Makerspaces throttle their tubes to 95% or so in order to keep people from burning the tube out faster than necessary. A lot of lasers have configuration settings that allow you to set a maximum power so even if the usr specifies 100% it will only fire at 95%. There's no point in running it lower than 95% (for cuts) in order to save your tube's life.
Great review, thank you! I'm kinda surprised that someone hasn't come up with a much more economical way to coat these metals, something that we could mix up at home and then apply. This stuff reminds me of the way the printer manufacturers raped people for years for their printing inks. They made fortunes from that stuff, and didn't mind bending their customers over for it.
Seems to me that you should pick the best product that wins in most the categories most import to you and then send a sample out to a testing lab and have them test it with a simple mass spectrometer test to see what is actually in the stuff and in what proportions. (reverse engineering) I was an industrial photographer for many years and there was a spectacular solution for cleaning finger prints and dirt, oils etc off negatives and especially color slides, It smelled vaguely familiar but was hard to place the smell. It was absurdly expensive at about $30.00 for 2 oz. One of my customers was a chemical testing lab, and the chief chemist was an amateur photographer and we were talking one day about this cleaning fluid. He asked to I if I'd give him some to test for his own use. So I did. Three days l he gave me a complete chemical analysis of the liquid and instructions on how to make it! It turned out all of the chemicals could be bought cheaply at most hardware or paint stores except for one, and he gave me the name of a chemical supplier I could buy the liquid chemical in bulk. For the same $30 I could make a gallon of the stuff. It lased me for a number of years!! If you're in business you gotta do what it takes to reduce operating costs!! Everyone does it! I wouldn't for a minute doubt that the chemical that blackens when hit by the laser beam is the same type thermal set plastic possibly used used in laser printer cartridges for black ink. Actually I think I'll take one on my laser refill kits and experiment adding the dry pigment into a solvent, spray it and see what happens!
The black stuff in black toner is a combination of Carbon Black and Black Iron Oxide. This makes the powder magnetic. It helps to make the image in the printer. The stuff in the toner that makes it stick to the paper is a low melt point plastic. | Laser marking takes place at a very high temperature and it would be blown away or just burned up in the laser marking. Laser marking materials are all inorganic materials with very high fusion temperatures and very small particle sizes.
honestly, Why are these products so expensive? users are being taken advantage of. Yes these products work for what they are designed for. The sellers know what they can charge,
You answered your own question. They are expensive because they know what they can charge. The incremental cost on a per unit basis is negligible to someone who is running a laser engraving business.
Great job on the video. I would like to know the wattage of your machine that you ran the test on. As I have a 40 watt machine so I'm not sure that your 98% power would be the same as mine if using a different wattage machine.
ToolMetrix Good deal, thanks for the quick reply. My results with the moly lube were very Inconsistent. At 90 pwr & 20 spd one time perfect the next wipe right off. Waiting on the Cermark to come in hoping it does better.
Friggen awesome review man. I wish more people broke it down so matter of fact
Thanks 🙏! I appreciate your feedback.
Hey thanks for the great vid. So nice to see someone not waffle for minutes, but give info in a logical, comprehensive and to-the-point manner. Appreciated!
Hi James, thank you for the feedback, sir.
One of the best compare videos I’ve watched. This video hit all the questions I had on marking solutions.
Thanks!
I just purchased LBT-100 through Boss Laser. Then I found your very informative and thorough video. Glad to see that LBT-100 performed so well. You really covered all the bases with your video.
Thank you 🙏
you nailed every aspect of reviewing a product
Thank you Hudson. Cheers
Thank you for taking the time to do this, extremely helpful.
Thanks for watching and sharing your feedback Cory.
Very comprehensive and methodically worked out. Very helpful as a total newbie, so new my laser hasn’t arrived yet, on a boat. Cheers
On a boat? how did it go?
Glad it helped!
Phenomenal video. I used this to decide which marking solution to try first. Our requirement calls out Taber Abrasion (TA) resistance per ASTM D 4060 using CS-17
wheels, 1000 gram load, for 7000 cycles. This is a pretty stringent requirement. I wonder how it would compare with a 600grit wet sanding because TA testing is expensive.
Thanks! I’m not sure on your requirements. I’d suggest contacting Paul at Laser Bond. If anyone would know it would be him.
Thank Paul for making such an informative and methodical video. I had not heard of LBT100 so have placed an order. Thanks for taking the time to run these tests and share!!
Hi Warren, thanks for the feedback. Let me know what you think of LBT100 when you give it a whirl. Cheers, Paul
Would like to see how these work on different types of plastics
I don't know if they are intended for that use. I haven't tried it.
Very cool! Do you happen to know which one is best for food grade applications? knives, etc
Thank you. Sorry, I don't know about toxicity, but that's a great question. They are all pretty toxic when applied, but the laser engraving process probably stabilizes them I'd think. But worth looking into for sure..
Excellent! Thanks for taking the time. Great comparison and summaries.
My pleasure Scott. I appreciate your feedback, sir.
Thank you for this, I'm about to run a Cermark job for the first time at work and doing my homework 👍
Thanks for the feedback, and Good luck!!
great video and thanks. Do you have a spreed sheet or something similar with the speeds, settings, and results that we might be able to use for reference? Thanks.
I don't have a generic one, but if you watch my video on the Laguna laser you will see some settings that I came up with for that unit.
Very interesting video!!!
In your experience do you think i gan engrave on brass also with a diode laser? I have an atomstack x7 and try to ask brilliance and cermark if his product can work for me on brass, but both say NO! Because his product is not for Diode laser.
I'm searching for someone that have tested it! But it seems you have a professional laser....
Sorry I don’t have that experience. Best of luck Alberto.
Hi, I cant find any of those produt here in my country not even on marketplace. Is there any subtitute chemical materials to etch metal?
There are some lubricant products shown here; Product Test: Etching on Stainless Steel with a 40 watt CO2 Laser Engraver
ua-cam.com/video/za160j7cJP4/v-deo.html. As I understand it mustard also works bu I haven’t tried it myself.
Thanks for this I have just purchased a Cheap laser and was thinking about what spray products might be available . Timing is excellent
Awesome. Thanks, Mark. I'm planning to do some more videos related to this topic. Hope you'll subscribe and come back for more. Good luck with the new laser!
Hi. I have a CNC plotter that might have a laser module mounted on it. What do you think should be the minimum laser power that would do the job according to your demonstration? Thank you!
40 watt is what I have and it seems like a minimum for this.
For LaserBond 100 to work properly you'll need at least 25 watts for a CO2 laser.
Thanks Paul!
Excellent video! Thanks! I just ordered a can of the LBT100 from their website. Seems like it would be the best all-arounder in my case and for my applications.
Thanks Tom. Good luck with your etching. Cheers, Paul
Thanks for making this review. Are they really all the same for clean up? We used to use Cermark and it was a lot more difficult to clean up than Enduramark. Cermark required physical wiping to remove the spray and would sometimes leave a kind of "ghost image" next to the actual marking that would require the use of a magic eraser to clean. Enduramark always cleans with just running water and nothing else. That makes all the difference in a manufacturing environment where it isn't practical to scrub all the items with a sponge.
That's a good question, and maybe I need to look more specifically at the subtleties between cleaning up the products other than Moly Lube. Compared to Moly Lube, they all cleaned up so quickly that it felt like any minor differences were trivial, but your point is fair in that I should look at them from the perspective of a production shop. I was using a cloth on all of them, and they all seemed to wash off effortlessly. I didn't do a test to see which ones came off with just a water rinse.
Excellent information. I noticed video was produced 4 years ago. Any update information since that time I should be aware of? have a few projects I am looking at wanting to put a metal label plate on, but after the engraving I would need to bend the metal to be able to mount. I am bending around a lineman's pole that is about 25" in circumference. Any issue with the marked areas possibly cracking or degrading while bending the metal? Obviously I need to find thin enough metal to bend.
Hi Ron, I actually haven’t done much with etching on metal since making this video, and I’m not much of a metal person in general so I’m afraid I’m not able to offer any assistance. Cheers
do you know if the engraving would act as a resist in acid etching? basically you would engrave the area you wanted to protect from the acid.
Great question. I’m not sure.
Very helpful. My goal is photographic images on copper. Any comment on how these products would perform with a grayscale?
I haven’t tried it but I think it would work well.
Thanks for this great test and scorecard. Helped me make my decision on what to use.
Thanks for the feedback. Glad you found the video useful. Cheers, Paul
I'm curious about durability when heated. Will the marking burn off if the metal gets hot? I am considering using this for marking some 3D printer parts which will get very hot (over 300 degrees Celsius).
I haven’t tried it but I doubt that 300 would affect it.
Thanks. Great video - I know this is a bit old but have you tried OMTech? Curious how it fares.
Hi Scott, thank you. No I haven’t tried any other products. I know that there are some newer ones on the market now.
Great Video. Your method for testing was great and gave everyone a great breakdown.
Glad it was helpful!
You did a lot of of homework for a lot of people..Thank you. I'm going to try Cermark
Thanks for your feedback, John! Let me know what you think. Cheers, Paul
Best review I have seen on UA-cam!! 🤙
Thanks!
Hi, this was a very helpful video, thank you. Can you use a 5w CO2 laser, or do you need 40w to mark on brass with Cermark?
Hi Kate, thanks for sharing your feedback. I’m not sure; sorry. I don’t think 5w would be powerful enough, though.
Thanks for this video! I am new to all this and your information helped tremendously.
Thank you for sharing your feedback with me. Cheers
congratulations for the video, I would like to understand if it is also good for diode lasers and if there is someone who sells one of these products in Europe. thanks
Thanks Nicola. Unfortunately I don’t know these things. Best of luck. Cheers, Paul
Great video, never realized a low power laser could mark metal. Will the graphics stand up to uv from sunlight for outdoor use if clear coated. You keep adding tools to my want list. Thanks for sharing
From what I heard they can go a long time without fading. This process meets military standards as well as NASA from what I understand. At some point I imagine that it would fade, but it is supposed to be pretty durable. Sorry to create budget problems for you. :)
Please post your settings you used to run the products. So we can test them at your shop. I have Cermark 6000 and LBT and we have a 40 watt laser and 120 watt laser.
Hi Jamie, the settings are shown on each metal throughout the video. If you look at the shots where I show each metal and talk about the results, the numbers that are shown on each metal indicate the laser settings that were used to produce each line of text. For example, if you want to know the settings for stainless steel, look at the 4:12 point in the video and you can see the settings and how each product performed at the various settings. For example, LBT looks great all the way through 600 mm/sec @ 75 watts of power, while Cermark 6000 starts to fade at 600 mm/sec @ 98% power.
Do these products work with the xtools d1 makebox diode laser?
I'm not sure. Anything 40W or more should work.
Great video. Will try on my 45w and 60w lasers.
Thanks Rick 🙏
Excellent video and analysis - I thought Brilliance Inks might have featured in the tests, how would you rate that on the metals you tested. Thanks
Thanks David. I haven’t tried that one.
What about brilliance laser inks?
I hadn’t heard of them. Do you have any experience with them, or heard anything about the effectiveness?
@@ToolMetrix Ive used cermark and brilliance laser inks, i think brilliance is just as good as cermark and a 12oz can is only $49. I really think you should do a review on them, many of your subscribers would love to see it. Thank you for making these wonderful and helpful videos! keep up the amazing work you do!
@@ToolMetrix I used them for a school project, with a Trotec laser but I would like to know how it compares to Cermark and what other lasers it works on.
Extremely helpful and informative. Thank you for this comparison!
My pleasure. Thanks for the feedback, Malcolm.
Thanks Paul! Excellent video!
Thanks, Jan!
Fantastic review!! Do you think the LBT100 would work with a diode laser instead of CO2?? I'm trying to decide between the Ortur Master 2 and a China branded K40
Hi Cyber, thanks. I’m not sure but I bet the guys at Laserbond will know.
You Sir, is the best. This is the one of the best product comparison video i've ever watch. I am a hobbyist and new to the laser engraving / etching /marking world. I would to ask you if there's a similar product that would give a white color result, if I am going to engrave/mark a black background item. Thank you in advance!
Thanks for your feedback, Aztigs. Enduramark has a product that will mark in a silver color. enduramark.com/silver-laser-marking/
Do you know of any product that will allow me to laser engrave fine black onto a white painted chassis? Or a white paint that will laze black rather than fully ablate away during engraving?
No, sorry. I haven’t tried it and I’m not aware of anything that would work.
If you spray the whole thing white, then engrave the paint away where you want, coat in your marking product, then do a second laser pass, it should remove the paint where the lettering will go on the first pass, then mark the letters into each area not the second pass. final result will be a white background, with black marked letters in place. I just made that up though, so I wouldn't entirely trust my idea. . .
I actually found a product called
LazerBlak, Lazer White & Laser-It. They are .025 sheets of Aluminum, metal coated, then powder coated in any other color. The metallic coating is the engrave color.
For the Sq. inch cost did you actually use each product from a full container until it was totally empty (or not dispensing enough usable product)?!?
it's been awhile, and I don't remember exactly how that was calculated. Sorry.
I have a metal that is vacuum plated black and cannot engrave it off.
is there any spray that will engrave white?
Hi Tyler, these guys have a bunch of different colors: enduramark.com/.
Thank you, I just bought the LBT 100
Great. Let me know what you think, Lashawndla.
Great vid! Very useful information, you save me a ton of time and money not to mention frustration!
Awesome. Thanks for watching.
Great review. I am researching laser etching for stainless steel machine parts. Do you have a recommendation on a decent but cost effective laser?
Hi Robert,
Thanks for your comment. There's such a huge range of lasers out there in terms of price, power and quality, and I haven't thoroughly researched the market. I have a Laguna PL1220, which isn't the cheapest or most powerful, but it serves me well for my needs. There are so many options, however, that this purchase is worthy of a lot of homework.
@@ToolMetrix OK Great. Thank you for the quick reply.
Excellent data and presentation
Thanks for your feedback. Cheers, Paul
Hello, this is a great video. =) So, I have a laser that is far less powerful than yours. It's just a little 1000mw laser, (which is equal to half a watt) however it did come with dog tags and wood, as if it is able to engrave on them. For a while I couldn't get it to engrave on the wood, but as I adjusted the laser, it definitely does, pretty well too. I've been trying to figure out how to make it engrave the metal dogtags. It came with a marker to I guess block the shine so it would engrave, but I couldn't get it to work, so I bought LBT100 and thought surely this would do the trick. Well I still haven't figured it out yet. I was wondering, are you able to adjust how many watts your laser uses at once? If so, would you mind just testing a stainless steel with lbt100 and just see if it is at all possible to engrave it (see if it works) at half a watt on your laser engraver and just let me know? I don't want to give up just yet. You seem to know what you're doing and I thought you might be able to make it engrave at that low of watt. Thank you. =) Blessings
I would have no way of precisely simulating 1kw. I can designate a percentage of the 40W to be applied, but it is a crude approximation at best. I would suggest contacting Paul at LBT. I’m sure he can tell you the lowest possible watts needed because they’ve tested everything. It probably even has this information on the web site. I doubt that it can do anything with your laser but it’s possible.
@@ToolMetrix Thank you very much =)
You would need at least 5 watts of power for a diode laser and 25 watts for a CO2 laser for the bonding process to occur.
Very helpful video. Thank you!
You should upload the chart to Google Sheets!
Good suggestion. Thanks, Alex.
Wow, amazing video!! This is EXACTLY what I needed!
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching, Jonathan. Cheers, Paul
Thanks man, really helped a lot!!! Excellent video and explanations
Thanks for the nice feedback, Federico! Glad the info was useful. Cheers, Paul
Excellent information, well presented.
Thanks, Butch!
Where can I buy LBT in Canada? Or online that ships to canada? Cant find it anywhere :(
Doesn’t the Amazon link work that I provided?
No it is not amazon canada and also says it is currently unavailable. That's ok we will contact some distributors.
Ok. Gotcha.
Three questions - First what lens size are you using? I've found I get vastly different results with a 1.5" lens (MUCH better for engraving) compared to 2.0" lens (much better for cutting but not as good at engraving due to focal length). A lot of people do tests on machines with the standard 2" lens that comes with their machine. Second, have you noticed a difference in engraving on polished brass compared to a mill finish? When I do polished brass I get a lot of post engraving tarnish due to the Cermark or water used to wash it off and I need to polish up the mirror finish again before clear coating (with polyurethane to prevent tarnish and protect the marks from wear). I've found that sometimes polishing with things like brasso will sometimes rub off nice black marks and fade them. Finally, what dpi were you doing these tests at? I get much better results with a 1200 dpi compared to 600 dpi or 300 dpi (obviously) Just curious what you were using so I can make comparisons or adjustments. Thank you. Great video!
Hi Justin, I'm just using the standard lens that came with the Laguna Laser that I use. Not sure what size it is. I haven't used any brass with a mill finish; just polished as shown in this video. DPI...not sure about that either. Sorry. I was pretty much just using default out of the box settings.
Outstanding content and delivery ... Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your feedback, Chris. Cheers, Paul
Hi, great video. Do you know how to make stainless steel have that nice shiny finish AFTER you engrave it? I'm learning how to engrave dogtags to sell them and want them to look nice once they're engraved with a nice very shiny finish. Since you have to do this on unfinished stainless steel, do you know is it possible to make it very professionally shiny after they're done? Thank you. =)
Hi Kathryn, thanks for your question. This is what I would try first: amzn.to/2pKgWh7. There might be better approaches out there, but this one should work.
Awesome! Thank you so much! =)
great video ,talking straight to the point, thanks
Thanks for the feedback, Vicente! Cheers, Paul
Hi Paul, great video. Are you using "anodized" aluminum for your test?
Hi Jorg, Thank you. No, the aluminum is not anodized..
Hi, i try it today with Cermark LM6000. It dont't work good direct on anodized aluminum but i do another way. First i laser the anodized away and than i use the LMM600 and laser the same a second time. I work very nice.
Yes, that will work. LaserBond 100 supposedly works on anodized aluminum but I haven't tried it.
Fantastic video! Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback, Crystal!
anyone used drymoly on nickel plated SS? I have a request to do it, but can't find any info on if it will work...
Hi Susan,
I have not tried that. I'm guessing that CBT would handle that.
Thanks new to laser and this helps a ton.
Thanks for sharing your feedback with me, Joanna. Glad that you found this information useful. Cheers, Paul
manganese dioxide in alkaline batteries is what I use
Thanks for sharing.
@@ToolMetrix your welcome
Super useful video! Appreciated.
I tried the Moly lube based on your review, but I'm having a hard time getting it all to wash off after lasering. Any suggestions for me? Thank you!
It can require some light scrubbing.
Thank you for this video. Very helpful.
Thanks 🙏!
Really interesting, Paul
Thanks, Charlie. This was some fun research.
Good video! Nice info! Thanks man!
Thanks for the feedback, LTD! Cheers, Paul
Did you ever try the molybdenum by itself, I know in a past video you had a lab container of it.
I never did. I had actually forgotten all about that until you mentioned it.
ToolMetrix thanks for the reply!
Does any of these work with an xtool 10w diode laser?
I doubt it. I believe you need more power.
They market laserbond 100 for “all laser engravers” guess it’s false advertisement
I’ve only tried it on 40w and I’m just speculating. They can tell you for sure.
Very nice video and found it while looking for a video testing Brilliance. I think you should try it as it's half the price of Cermark and looks darn good. Not sure of all the edge cases you put them all through but that's why I brought it up. Hint hint. :-)
Hi Doug, thank you. I contacted the Brilliance folks a couple months ago about providing a sample for testing, and if they send something I'll definitely try it out.
Awesome video
Thanks Big Wanda!
Great Review! Thanks!
Thanks Adi!
This is exactly what I was after, thanks!
Awesome thanks 🙏
LBT must have upped their prices after your review! 60 bucks for Enduramark VS 80 bucks for LBT.
Yeah price is up on everything! Ugh.
Wonderful video, just subbed and thumbsed up.
Thanks and thanks 🙏!
By the way, great review - Thanks!!
Thanks John!
Thanks
My pleasure, Nabil. Thanks for the feedback. Cheers, Paul
Great vid! Have you thought about doing some tests on different low cost DIY concoctions people are mixing themselves, like plaster and alcohol etc.?
Yep. It’s on my very long list of things to do someday. So hopefully I’ll get to it at some point.
dishwashing liquid or engine oil work really well !!
no sharpie test?
No, but good idea.
May I ask one more question? I'm about to do this on jewelry. Do you know if this machine can do this on silver or gold? Thank you.
Hi Kathryn, I'm sure that the machine can do it, so it's really a matter of the laser marking product that you are using can handle it. Given that LaserBond 100 worked well on other soft metals, I would think that it could handle it. I'd suggest checking out their web site or giving them a call to be sure. Or, if you send me a big chunk of gold I'll be happy to test it for you. :)
Awesome! Thank you. =)
We have 2 quick questions: We own a 40W Trotec Speedy 100 that gives us the distance traveled/speed in inches (110 IPS). So how do we determine our MMPI? Math??? Ugh! ;-) And our follow up question: Does PPI come into play in this math party?
Hi Nick, sorry about the math. 1 Millimeter = 0.03937007874 Inches. I'm not sure about PPI. I kinda don't think it would come into play here but let me know what you find when you try it.
thanks !!
You're welcome!
What? No Grey Poupon? ua-cam.com/video/B60nXwhK9gk/v-deo.html works on stainless steel only, per the video.
Do you run the laser at the rated power levels indicated on your list, or are you adjusting the figures for the maximum safe level for your tube? Many Chinese lasers are rated much lower than the advertised figures and one has to use a milliammeter to proper set a safe top end power level.
Hi Fred, Thanks for your input. I simply ran the laser at each of the settings that were shown on each piece of metal. These were the settings that were configured in RDWorks, I didn't use a milliameter to calibrate, so good point that the settings might not directly translate. Yep, I've heard of using mustard, vinegar-soaked paper towel, and plaster of paris. I think I see another video in my future... :)
Even more important than the translated settings is that your laser may be overdriven beyond a certain power setting. I have a 60w laser that should not be operated beyond 65 percent, as it reduces the life of the tube.
I hadn't heard of vinegar or plaster of paris. The mustard worked well in my brief tests, although the lumpier off-brand stuff had inconsistent results.
Interesting. I'll have to ask Laguna about operating the laser at higher percentages. They told me to not run it at 100%, but said that anything short of that should be fine, which is why I ran most of the tests at 98%. But I'll do some homework on that. Thanks again. And only the finest mustard for laser marking: check! :)
laguna was right. Laser tube life is fairly unaffected (for CO2 lasers) at power levels under 95%. there's very little difference in lifespan operating at 30 or 70 or 90%. But at very high utilization rates, the lifespan falls off a cliff. Most commercial & Makerspaces throttle their tubes to 95% or so in order to keep people from burning the tube out faster than necessary. A lot of lasers have configuration settings that allow you to set a maximum power so even if the usr specifies 100% it will only fire at 95%. There's no point in running it lower than 95% (for cuts) in order to save your tube's life.
This is great information. Thanks for sharing, Jim!
Great review, thank you! I'm kinda surprised that someone hasn't come up with a much more economical way to coat these metals, something that we could mix up at home and then apply. This stuff reminds me of the way the printer manufacturers raped people for years for their printing inks. They made fortunes from that stuff, and didn't mind bending their customers over for it.
Thanks! That’s a good analogy to printers.
if printer ink was so easy to make and inexpensive why didnt you make it yourself and not be a bitch about it?
Cool
🙏
in your other video, the DryMoly gives the best result while it is the worst in this video
That is correct. It’s the best of the cheap products but not as good as the products that are specially formulated for this.
Seems to me that you should pick the best product that wins in most the categories most import to you and then send a sample out to a testing lab and have them test it with a simple mass spectrometer test to see what is actually in the stuff and in what proportions. (reverse engineering) I was an industrial photographer for many years and there was a spectacular solution for cleaning finger prints and dirt, oils etc off negatives and especially color slides, It smelled vaguely familiar but was hard to place the smell. It was absurdly expensive at about $30.00 for 2 oz. One of my customers was a chemical testing lab, and the chief chemist was an amateur photographer and we were talking one day about this cleaning fluid. He asked to I if I'd give him some to test for his own use. So I did. Three days l he gave me a complete chemical analysis of the liquid and instructions on how to make it! It turned out all of the chemicals could be bought cheaply at most hardware or paint stores except for one, and he gave me the name of a chemical supplier I could buy the liquid chemical in bulk. For the same $30 I could make a gallon of the stuff. It lased me for a number of years!!
If you're in business you gotta do what it takes to reduce operating costs!! Everyone does it! I wouldn't for a minute doubt that the chemical that blackens when hit by the laser beam is the same type thermal set plastic possibly used used in laser printer cartridges for black ink. Actually I think I'll take one on my laser refill kits and experiment adding the dry pigment into a solvent, spray it and see what happens!
Thanks for the suggestion. That’s not my style or philosophy though.
The black stuff in black toner is a combination of Carbon Black and Black Iron Oxide. This makes the powder magnetic. It helps to make the image in the printer. The stuff in the toner that makes it stick to the paper is a low melt point plastic. | Laser marking takes place at a very high temperature and it would be blown away or just burned up in the laser marking.
Laser marking materials are all inorganic materials with very high fusion temperatures and very small particle sizes.
@@inkmaker01 thanks for the informative update! I learn new things every day or at least try to get the truth!!
honestly, Why are these products so expensive? users are being taken advantage of. Yes these products work for what they are designed for. The sellers know what they can charge,
You answered your own question. They are expensive because they know what they can charge. The incremental cost on a per unit basis is negligible to someone who is running a laser engraving business.
Yeah so I’m replicating your experiment and not getting the same results lbt100
Same laser?
At $60+ a can, wouldn't take much to pay for a new 60-80 watt laser for your machine..
Thanks for your input. Cheers, Paul
Great job on the video. I would like to know the wattage of your machine that you ran the test on. As I have a 40 watt machine so I'm not sure that your 98% power would be the same as mine if using a different wattage machine.
Thank you, Patrick. Mine is a 40 watt machine as well.
ToolMetrix Good deal, thanks for the quick reply. My results with the moly lube were very Inconsistent. At 90 pwr & 20 spd one time perfect the next wipe right off. Waiting on the Cermark to come in hoping it does better.
Interesting. Cermark should definitely definitely work better. Did you see my video where I tested cermark and other competing products?
Yes, but after I ordered the Cermark. I'm thinking I should have gone with the LBT.
For most applications LBT would have been my pick.