Laser + Acrylic + Powdercoat

Saw this and, since I hadn't seen anyone here talk about it, figured I'd pass it along...

http://frankieflood.blogspot.ca/2015...n-acrylic.html

Interesting post Eric...but can you imagine the mess it would cause inside your cabinet with air on?

yes turn the air off. I've tried powder coat on wood with mixed results. I find that black works best on wood, don't know why but colors tend to burn off. I guess it needs more experimenting. I think the depth of the engraving has a lot to do with the results also. Very shallow engraving then add powder then fast speed low power. Also you want to make sure the wood is sealed really well so the powder doesn't get in the grain. Not a problem with acrylic of course.

It is messy but since you only need ~200C for curing powder coating, you can defocus and run at higher power and higher speed, with some experimentation you can figure out the right combination of all three. Turning air off may not be an option for some lasers because the cooling of the laser head is done with the exhaust airflow.

I've done a fair amount on wood, and like Bert I have had mixed results with colors other than black. I found that low speed and low power work the best. It's really difficult to get an even laser on large areas, I primarily use it as an alternative to paint filling letters. It works really well if I laser fairly shallow, sprinkle the powder with a pepper shaker, "squeegee" it in with a business card, then laser. Cleanup is easy if you use a shop vac with a brush nozzle - wiping will create a huge mess (trust me on this one...)