UK Monster Owners Club Forum » .: Technical :. » Mods & How To's » Laser engraving

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Old 12-07-2019, 09:18 PM   #1
Luddite
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Laser engraving

Regular readers of this http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/s...ad.php?t=55168 will know by now that most of my mods fall into the category of "frivolous cosmetic fripperies" and this latest tweak is no exception!

For some time now, one of my Termi stickers has had a bubble behind it, which bugged me a bit, (I know, "first world problems!"), but what can you do? So I went on the Termignoni site to see what decals were available and saw that some of their latest exhausts had laser-etched logos rather than stickers.



A classy look, I thought, then moved on to the stickers. Then a couple of days later, the 12-year-old son of a friend of mine showed me his project for "engineering" (or "metalwork" in the good old days!). One of the things he had to do was to laser-engrave a design to on an object.

I thought back to the Termis and reckoned that, if a state school has an, albeit, basic laser engraver, then there must be firms out there offering a similar service. A quick Google brought up these people a mere 30 minutes from me.


https://www.pmplasertechnology.co.uk/

A very pleasant trip down over Portsdown Hill took me to their works and a meeting with Sean O'Flynn who explained what they could do and what would work on my exhaust.

They can do virtually any design you want. If it's for a global brand, like Termignoni or Ducati, then the various logos are available off-the-shelf. If it's a lesser-known logo, or you want a custom design, then they can create one for you from scratch, although that would obviously take a little longer.

I initially wanted the laser etching, where the surface remains smooth and the laser changes the colour of the metal to whatever the chosen design is. However, Sean felt that the stainless exhaust skin was too thin, (at under 1mm), to take the heat of the etching laser. (Perhaps that's why you only see this etching on the titanium models.)

Instead, he recommended laser engraving, where material is actually removed from the surface and the resulting relief is coloured to bring out the design.

The process was surprisingly quick. The first step is to agree the design. I went for an unfilled outline logo like the Termi titanium above.



The next step is to finalise the position and see whether you are happy with the proposed design. With a sticker that's easy - if you don't like it, just peel it off and put another on. The laser logo is, of course, permanent but there is a way of "printing" the design in a non-permanent way so that you can still make changes if necessary.

What they do is spread some special ink on the workpiece and then pass the laser over the area on a low power setting. This evaporates the ink to reveal the design. It is, effectively, a negative image of the final design.



If you're happy with the test, then the fun starts!



The speed that the laser skips over the object is amazing and quite hypnotic. It first sets out the outline and then starts to remove material from the surface. The process took about 30 minutes for each logo. If you want to see a one minute clip of the laser in action, click on the link at the end of this post (note it's only available until 11 August).
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Old 12-07-2019, 09:21 PM   #2
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Part 2

And, once the laser has finished its magic - the finished article!



A close-up of the detail



And fitted to the bike - compare and contrast...



I'm really pleased with the result. I think it's really modernised the look of the exhaust and the engraved effect, in my opinion, is even nicer than the etching.

Yes, this was more pointless cosmetic tweaking but, at £40 for both cans, not overly extravagant (for me anyway!).

Sean said they can do designs on most materials including things like this.



(That's not actually one of theirs but Sean said they've done similar for a local company.)

So, if you want to add that personal touch to your Monster, get in touch with Sean sales@pmplasertechnology.co.uk

Mr Gazza, perhaps this might be useful for trophy engraving for next year's weekender?


Video link

https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u...V&sz=105731340
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Old 12-07-2019, 09:30 PM   #3
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Very impressive, and reasonable cost.
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Old 12-07-2019, 10:04 PM   #4
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That's very interesting Luddite, and it's strangely clairvoyant to see my name mentioned at the end of your article.
The local engraver that I use is a terrific chap and very versatile indeed. He went to a lot of trouble with the engraving I commissioned for the 2018 trophies and I was very pleased with the results.
The trouble with engraving metal is that the engraving is always the same colour as the metal and it's difficult to get some decent contrast with textures alone. I was tempted to wipe paint into some of the textured lettering, but was afraid of messing up any expensive engraving... future polishing would probably ruin the effect anyway?

The laser etching, colours the etch as it goes so this is a big advance and a very attractive feature.

As for the clairvoyance, I happen to be planning some engraving on my bike for exactly the same reasons as yourself and just as shamelessly shallow. (Although incredibly cool!)
Laser etching/engraving might be the way to go for my idea.

I have no plans or commissions as yet for any trophies for 2020, but Moco1961 and I are trying to design a particularly special one off to be ready for the 2020 Weekender and I think your new find will be on our menu.

Thanks for posting this up. Your silencers look pretty damn cool... Trouble is, no one will believe they didn't come out of the factory like that.
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Old 13-07-2019, 10:32 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Gazza View Post
Trouble is, no one will believe they didn't come out of the factory like that.
I'm glad they meet with your approval, damien and Mr Gazza, and I'm actually pleased you said that as it was precisely the effect I was looking for (different but still 'factory').

I look forward to seeing what you have in store for your one-off special (I have a feeling I know who it will be named after!).

Did you watch the video clip? (Does the link even work?) It's quite spectacular!
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Old 13-07-2019, 10:50 AM   #6
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Of course you know who the trophy will be dedicated to, so you realise how high the bar is!

I did watch the video, even though it took a while to load up on my steam computing machine (amazed that it managed it.)

Wow that laser does scan fast! I have watched lasers cutting balsa quite a lot, and the feed is much slower than that.

Chappie was setting the laser cutter up once when I happened along, and he offered for me to witness one single unfocused laser pulse. I held a piece of 1/4" balsa VERY carefully at a carefully chosen spot. He fired the shot and about an 8mm scorched hole instantly appeared through the balsa, it was like the wood had been lightly flicked with a cocked finger, I felt a physical impact on the wood!
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Old 13-07-2019, 03:48 PM   #7
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Cool

Now that is a tidy bit of work. I like that a lot.

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Old 14-07-2019, 09:39 AM   #8
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I like the work and the effect but I have to say I prefer the look of the original stickers, sorry.
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Old 14-07-2019, 04:27 PM   #9
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Absolutely Mr G, we must incorporate into the final design, can you etch carbon???

What a fantastic job that looks Luddite, really spot on , very impressive.
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Old 14-07-2019, 05:56 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Moco1961 View Post
Absolutely Mr G, we must incorporate into the final design, can you etch carbon???
It's quite a cool process, Mike. I'm sending Sean an email tomorrow with a picture of the cans on the bike so I'll ask him whether they can do carbon fibre at the same time. I know they can do plastic so you might be lucky.
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Old 15-07-2019, 02:21 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Moco1961 View Post
Absolutely Mr G, we must incorporate into the final design, can you etch carbon???

What a fantastic job that looks Luddite, really spot on , very impressive.
I've had a reply from Sean and, while it is possible to engrave carbon fibre, it can be rather hit and miss as there are many different qualities of carbon. Certainly, they'd have to see the item before giving a considered opinion, but it does sound as though it might be a bit risky.
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Old 15-07-2019, 03:18 PM   #12
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That's really neat.
And of course, although functional engineering scores more highly in many respects, cosmetic engineering very definitely has its essential place in the grand scheme of things.
And in this case, the engraving has a subtle coolness which is less brash than the coloured stickers.
Nice job.
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Old 15-07-2019, 04:09 PM   #13
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What a great quote, utopia! Would look good on a tee-shirt...

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Old 15-07-2019, 06:09 PM   #14
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Yeah. I'll have a medium please.

Thanks for doing the homework with carbon etching Luddite. I'm not too surprised at the answer, although I did think that the answer would be more to do with the stench kicked up by scorched epoxy, but I guess they have adequate extraction in place?
There are of course, so many different types of carbon sheet and surface finishes too, but metal is a known quantity so there's always that option.
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Old 15-07-2019, 08:37 PM   #15
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If you're seriously considering laser etching/engraving, Mr Gazza, discuss your design with the engraver before committing yourself. Although, as you say, metal is a known quantity, how it reacts to the laser depends a lot on its thickness. For example, my stainless exhaust skins at 0.7mm were too thin to be safely etched, so they were laser engraved instead.

If you tell the engraver what metal you plan to use and then ask what the minimum thickness should be, you can then order your materials accordingly.

I'll be interested to see your artistic vision!

Last edited by Luddite; 15-07-2019 at 08:41 PM..
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