Re-anodising erroneously laser marked aluminium (aluminum) sheets.

[David Somers]

Dan,

A few more thoughts on Henri's comment about trying to reduce your mistake rate? Obviously proofing on any hand drawn paper copy is the first place to start. Then proof the computer file before doing your output. Sometimes allowing some time between finishing the computer file and proofing it can help you spot problems better.

For myself, there are some things that I see immediately on a computer screen and some I don't. For example, something in my mind prevents me from seeing that Recieve is spelled wrong if I see it on a computer screen, but if it is printed on paper I see it right away. Other words are just the opposite. I see the typo on screen like a bright flashing light, but on paper???? Nope! I can KNOW that I did it wrong and look right at it and not see it. Go figure.

So for important things I have a macro done up that takes all my common typos and misspellings and looks for them and replaces them throughout a file or document. This is in addition to any spell check or grammar check. That has helped me a lot.

And of course, you can always run the final draft by the buyer for a last check of content. It is possible they gave you the wrong details and this is their chance to catch it.

And for a graphic that is bound for the laser....make a check list of things to do on each file to check for duplicate layers, spotting multiple lines that are hidden, etc. Get anal if you will pardon the phrase, and make yourself go through that list each and every file before it heads to the laser.

I will often print a draft on paper and go through it before the final output. In the case of a laser, you might burn it to a cheap material as a test run to be sure of the output, though that doesnt help with the settings you need for the final material.

And since you will still have bad runs, save the material and use small portions of it to run a fast test of the settings you will use on your full run. May as well get some use out of it as a test material to be certain you have covered all your bases.

That seems like a lot to do, but if you find your costs for shot materials is getting unreasonable the cost of doing this level of QC may not be too bad in the long run. And you will get quicker at it if you have a firm process in place to follow.

Dave
he who has so many typos in his forum posts he spends more time in Edit than doing the original post. Sigh. <grin>

[Mike Null]

I used to have a customer I marked anodized parts for. He would send batches in large tubs. the quality of the anodizing was such that sometimes i'd have to send half back undone. I charged for time on those. He ultimately switched to powder coated material.

The anodizers process seemed to be contaminated and he was putting out some ugly stuff. I buy my anodized sheet stock from Johnson Plastics and have never had an issue.

[Kev Williams]

You can anodize an already anodized piece, but simply doing that won't 'erase' the engraving. If the metal is thick enough a sheet metal shop MAY be able to run it thru their Timesaver and sand it down and then have it re-anodized, but the downside is the edges can get sanded too much, and whether or not the sanded finish is suitable. If not, then more work is needed to prep the surface...

My suggestion: Keep all your scrap pieces and use them as setup and test engraving parts. Recycle them when they're 'used up'.

Also Have a second set of eyes proof read the job. It's easy to get 'temporary dyslexia' when working with text & graphics on a computer screen all day. If you have several different jobs or layouts, do several of them and job-save them, TAKE A SHORT BREAK to give your eyes a rest, then carerfully proof the layouts. Run a test job first on some scrap to make sure the laser's doing it's job. All okay, then run the saved jobs, start on the next layouts...

My biggest issue is NOT TAKING A BREAK before proofing or running a job. Your eyes and brain do funny things when they're tired! Like typing "Neil" instead of "Niel", or "2014" when it should've been "2013". A tired brain can cause you to type words or numbers the way you're most familiar with them, rather than verbatim. Tired eyes may not catch the mistakes, but a fresh or second set of eyes usually WILL.

[Dave Demaree]

Hi Dan,

I anodize at home and have to strip parts often. I'm not sure what kind of polish your original plaques had, but the problem with stripping is that it usually removes all polish from the part. You'll end up with a very dull/matte plaque if you strip it and try to re-anodize without first polishing the parts.

Obviously, this will add more time and $$ to the process.

[Michael Reilly]

I have a client that brought me some parts his company had milled and then had anodized. Due to the confusing nature of the drawings, they got engraved upside down. And although we did a batch of 10 that made it all the way to the client and onto the product assembly line before someone noticed, word didn't get back to us until we'd done the balance of the job. But they were able to bead blast and re-anodize them. Luckily not at our expense... the client acknowledged that he should have spent the time to walk me through the drawings and make sure I understood them. We aren't charging for this job, but because we handled it well, there is plenty more business coming our way. In fact, apparently the same is true for our client. Because he was able to call on his anodizer to get 10 of the parts redone and have Fedex deliver them here same-day and we engraved them at 11pm when they arrived, the client is bringing him more business. Mistakes suck, but sometimes handling them well builds greater trust.