Engraving Alluminium

[Len-Tikular]

Can I laser engrave text on to Aluminum ?

[Tex_Lawrence]

Depends on your laser power. I’ve not had occasion to do bare aluminum, but I’ve done a bit of ceramic tile by painting it with bright white Rustoleum spray. The titanium oxide creates the burnt marks.

[Leo]

Commonly in the hobby laser world we have CO2 laser machines. CO2 is good on organic materials - wood, paper, cloth, leather and other such organic materials. CO2 can also do "some" plastics, but great care must be taken about fumes.

Metals are best suited for a "fiber" laser.

There are techniques that can be used to engrave on metal surfaces like painting or using special coatings that help the laser to "engrave" the surface. If aluminum is anodised, which is a coating, is can be engraved.

[TReischl]

Commonly in the hobby laser world we have CO2 laser machines. CO2 is good on organic materials - wood, paper, cloth, leather and other such organic materials. CO2 can also do "some" plastics, but great care must be taken about fumes.

Metals are best suited for a "fiber" laser.
.....

Long before fiber lasers came along, literally thousands of sheet metal shops cut metal with CO2 day in and day out dating back to about 1985. I worked for one of the largest producers of laser cutting machines. We cut aluminum, steel, stainless steel. When I retired in 2002 they were cutting steel up to 1 inch thick. So much for the "hobby world".