Engraving powder coated tumblers

[bLouChip (Lou Cipriano)]

I’m getting excellent results ablating powder coating on stainless steel tumblers. I have yet to find a brand or color of tumbler that does not yield good results. There are a couple keys to success,

1. use the least amount of laser power as possible, as too much power will tarnish the stainless steel reveal.
2. dial in your raster scan (Fill) settings, or use a sublayer to outline the raster scan shapes to sharpen the edges.

Yeti tumbler etching

After etching several dozen powder coated tumblers for various brands, I’m using the same settings for all brands and colors. My settings and cleanup process are revised slightly, but general guideline is the same, less power in this etching application is better than more power. Too much laser power tends to leave “laser tracks” on the stainless steel that do not clean off. This may be why some claim that 15W dual and 30W quad diode lasers can etch (using high power) onto bare stainless steel,…

I have since gotten my CNC laser dialed in with LB’s ‘Scanning Offset Adjustment’ feature such that the edges of 0 deg angle (X axis) raster scans (Fill) are crisp and smooth where I no longer use a finishing sublayer Line pass to outline the raster scanned shapes. The dial-in settings also eliminate the need to cross-hatch Fill.