Forget Cermark and Plaster of Paris, try this

[Steve Crawford]

Don't know why my posting I made earlier was not added to the bottom of this thread?
Anyway, check out the steel hammer head I marked in no time at all (whole process including Corel design, in less than 5 mins). Simply some alcohol to clean, quick spray with cheap dry moly spray, lasered and then cleaned with alcohol again. Picture in posting above.

[Keith Upton]

That looks really good Steve. I got my can in last week but have not had a chance to try it yet.

[Andrei Georgescu]

We don't have Dry Moly around here. I tried today the motorcycle chain grease spray I use for the lifting table chain belt. It was about $5/ can. It took 6 minutes at 80 power 3mm/s speed and came out like this:
xx.jpg

[Steve Crawford]

Andrew, is it totally engraved INTO the surface like on my hammerhead. Just to ensure it was permenant I rubbed it like hell with an alcohol cloth and then some abrasive pads. I'm very please with the detail I managed... It took like 40 seconds too.

[Andrei Georgescu]

I rubbed it with isopropyl alcohol to clean the grease. It seems to be permanent but tonight I will engrave a kitchen knife that I use daily and see how it holds.

[David Somers]

Is anybody sticking a dry moly piece out in the sun for an extended period to test its UV resistance? Just curious. This has been fun to read about. Wonder what else will surprise us when lasered?

Dave

[Kev Williams]

What I'm wondering is what happens when the moly-engraving is sanded with 120 grit?

[Ross Moshinsky]

I think someone should sit down and actually try to find out what power/speed works. At 6% power on a 40W machine, I can't imagine this being worth the savings. Cermark would be over 6x faster to mark. That's considerable. A 10 minute job would be over an hour. The difference in actual cost might be $.50 in that situation. So you're losing out on a potential profit, assuming $2/min, of $100 to save $.50. I just don't see the sense in it.

Something to use in a pinch? Absolutely. Better idea? Keep some Cermark on the shelf.

[Andrei Georgescu]

Next picture of the knife - a month from now.
20140519_210813.jpg

[Mary Geitz]

These picture are amazing! Andrei, can you give me the name of the product you used and where you got it from? I don't ride motorcycles and wouldn't even know where to look. And, thank you all for your input. It was quite helpful.

[Mike Null]

Steve

With the power you have you can engrave the item without any chemicals. Just slow the speed a bit more.

[Andrei Georgescu]

I will look at the brand name in the morning but it's not likely you'll find it in the US. It's a grease spray, the cheapest I could find at the motorcycle shop. The grease is for protecting the chains from dirt and solidifies like cold butter (but it's more transparent) on the surface in a few seconds. I used a piece of paper towel to even it out on the surface. I hope that helps.

[Andrei Georgescu]

This is it. 112_0_caramba_kettenspray.jpg

[Michele Welch]

Hey Greg,

I am so excited that I found this post. My husband works for an electrical supply warehouse and he carries the Dry Moly lube by CRC (I think?) and I had a flask in my stash and decided to try it last night. Don't know what I did wrong, but you could barely see the image once put through the laser. I followed your steps to clean with alcohol, 2 coats of Moly, let dry thoroughly and then laser. I didn't come out anywhere as good as your flask. Any suggestions? I did try one of my husbands wrenches and it came out pretty well, but it was more gray than black. Does the brand of Moly spray different colors maybe? Even adding additional coats never really darkened my flask. I tried multiple (4) coats just to see, but it stayed the same darkish gray color.

I'm up for any suggestions as this would help me a ton. I used the 6 speed/ 100 power settings and I'm working with a 45 watt machine.

Thanks,
Michele

[Chris DeGerolamo]

Slightly off topic, but I found out today that Cermark stings if it gets in your eye.

Yep, found out the hard way.