Hey Guys!
Inexperienced laser guy here. I did some searching and reading for about an hour but didn't see any specifics to what I'm trying to determine.
I had been using some marking chemical I bought it 4 or 5 years ago off eBay. Was less than $30 for 4oz. It was from Color Laser Productions. It worked pretty good I thought but is no longer available. I sometimes don't turn on my laser for a couple months at a time so am no expert on this stuff! Anyway, I was looking for a replacement because I'm going to be doing several stainless Yeti cups here in the future. I bought some Cermark and did some testing. What I was really shocked about is that it looks good but is not as BLACK as the cheapo stuff I was using??? I was shocked because I thought Cermark was "the best".
Anyway, before I spend a lot of time doing different tests and maybe wasting material, if your power is not dead on right, can it affect the "blackness" of the marking? I did two Yeti cups and it looks pretty nice but when I compared it to the same logo I did on another cup using the cheap marking stuff from eBay, it was just ever so slightly not as black. I *thought* if the power wasn't right it just didn't work... meaning it would stick or would be terrible. Just wondering if I spend time playing with the power will it change the darkness of the marking? Also, does too much power make it not as "crisp"? It seemed like the Cermark didn't give quite the detail as the cheap eBay stuff... but close. I'm using an Epilog 75 watt laser and had it on 100% power and 60% speed. Tried 50% speed too and no noticeable difference.
Thanks!