Finishes that look the best after being laser engraved?

[Tnfalconer]

Ok this might be a long shot but has anyone dealt much with laser engraving? I have a gun manufacturer friend that has just acquired a couple of laser engravers (Co2 and not sure on the other). He is designing different things and I have so far sent him a 1911 slide to engrave that turned out really nice. The slide was coated with IONBOND and the engraving came out a nice copper color. Have any of you tried laser engraving on various other finishes? He isn't sure what finishes will promote the engraving and which it will destroy. I am thinking of having a few more things laser engraved but not sure what to send. He has not tried it over blueing, yet. I am tempted to send something to him just to see what happens. Thoughts and opinions?172665

[W.R.Buchanan]

Black Anodized Aluminum comes out good and bright stainless Steel works well. I will be trying engraving Black Cera Kote soon an anticipate that it will burn perfectly as well.

The place to be looking at on your test pieces is how sharp the actual lines are. fi they are fuzzy and not sharp a mechanical type of engraving might be in order.

I worked closely with my friends Laser Engraving shop to get exactly what I wanted for my Hand Press, however I knew from past experience how the stuff would look.

If you have surface finishes you haven't done before you might want to supply some sample/test pieces to run thru the machine before committing a 1911 slide which is not a cheap piece. If it doesn't come out good you can't just repaint it and hit it again. It literally burns into the metal and is on there for good. People don't seem to realize that Engraving of any type, physically removes metal.

An engraving tool cuts the metal but a laser burns the metal. Either way that metal is gone.

Here's some pics of stuff I've done.

Randy

[Tnfalconer]

In this case I am "Wanting" to use molyresin for the finish. Not sure to apply it before or after the laser engraving. I have been having a lot of success coating with it and I really like the effects on the steel that it has.

[W.R.Buchanan]

If you plan on doing a lot of this type of coating it might behoove you to invest in some sample pieces for the engraver and see exactly what happens.

Once you know exactly what to expect, you can plan for the best end result. Prior to that you are just guessing, and that can get expensive.

Randy