I’m trying to make a foray into this area as well, with so far no success.
I blame my cheap sprayer for my current dearth of success. I might need to try something that does a better job of misting. So far, my 5W diode doesn’t seem to have the power to do much with the thickness of TiO2 that the current sprayer lays on.
I’ll see about getting a better spray bottle and try again.
I don’t want to go to the trouble of cleaning off spray paint though, I realize that it can be done, but it greatly increases the cost and time involved. If I wanted to do this to make money, both outlay of $ and time increase the inventory cost heavily.
I have a 10W Neje laser diode as well, currently running on a Duet Wifi board, which seems to work OK using Marlin output from LightBurn, I’m working on a setup using FluidNC for another one of those, which should work fine using GRBL output.
Hi Supraguy. I’ve been going through some trials myself. So far, on white tile (I recently got 4in x 4in white tile from Menards for 13-cents) I’ve tried Rust-Oleum high gloss white (said by their company rep to have the highest percentage of TiO2) and a recipe of TiO2 powder (from Amazon) mixed with water and Elmers glue.
I am using a Creality Falcon 10W diode laser.
So far, using various laser settings (I need to document those) I’ve gotten better results with the powder-water-glue mixture . . . but I don’t like having to scrape of the dried mixture which does not get lasered.
I’ve tried lighter and heavier coats of paint. I think I’m tending toward lighter coats - but need to document this.
I’m also going to try aTiO2 power-and-isopropyl alcohol mixture from a spray bottle.
I’ll be watching some more YouTube videos, run a few more trials, and try to post some detailed results here by the end of next week with some photos.
I saw a similar mix. Basically just IPA and TiO2 powder. The proportions are slightly different, 2TBSP TiO2 powder to 150ml 99% IPA. so that is a lower concentration, but with the dollar store sprayer, it still went on too thick (I think) to laser properly with the 5W laser I was using.
I still have lots of that mix left, and have decided that I need an airbrush for other projects, so I’ll be trying to apply the TiO2 solution with that when it arrives…
I bought the Harbor Freight touch-up sprayer and found it sprayed too heavy. I then got the H.F. air brush and found it much easier to control. Now I just need to find a local source of 4" tiles.
My S30 does not do well with just TiO2 and alcohol. The downdraft from the laser blows the white powder off before it gets fused into the tile. I am going to try a new mix (if nobody beats me to it) of:
1/3 - Gum Arabic solution (1 tsp in 1 cup water)
2/3 - 91% alcohol
3 tbsp TiO2
These 6" porcelain tiles were done with the same settings on my fiber, with TiO2 + water (left) and a commercial product LBT100 (right). The TiO2 was applied with an airbrush…
I tried using ethanol, not as toxic as ipa. Living in a very dry area it would evaporate out of the holder with a lid on it. I have one of my air brushes sitting on the shelf that’s plugged from this.
LPT100 is a great product and I’ve had great results…
Here you can see some problems, that seem to occur in all of these similar coating processes.
LBT100 usually comes out black. This is more brown and is because of the coatings thickness of the product…
A thicker coating, as in the LBT100 side
a. requires more exposure or heat to cause a molecular bond with the glass.
b. has an inherently lower resolution ability
c. may not fully bond
A thinner coating shows up like the TiO2,
a. right hand side of art where the coating thinned out, isn’t enough material to cause the deeper blacks we’re looking for.
b. You can also see the better resolution with the thinner coat of TiO2 and water.
c. seems to produce a better bond
Not really a problem for the ssl types, with a fiber or co2 you can heat it past the bonding state and actually shatter the glass you wish to bond with… It’s kind of tale-tail in the fact you can feel where the porcelain has chipped off along with a more dull result.
This may also be possible with some of the higher power ssl modules out there currently.
I learned to put a couple drops of food coloring in my mixture so I will have some chance of seeing how thick and even it is. It also comes off pretty easy… I use very low air pressure and low power on the co2, the fiber isn’t a problem except it’s a bit messy.
One thing about the IPA + TiO2 mix which people might note: once the alcohol evaporates, the remaining powder can get all over your hands and anything in close proximity. It might not be hazardous, but I would wear nitrile gloves when working with this mixture.
I had thought about spraying a light coat of Rust-Oleum high gloss white over the top of the TiO2 + IPA layers (since the paint also has a high percentage of TiO2) just to hold the powder on, but haven’t tried that yet.
What airbrush(es) have you guys been ordering? What is cleanup like? Are you going to use it only for TiO2 . . . or other things? Powder coating?
Might want to note the manufacturer if you are using a jig. I have two jigs each for 6" and 4" tile. Some have nubs on them to assist in spacing, some don’t. Ones with nubs don’t fit in the one that holds the non-nub type.
