Marking logo on aluminum

Anybody have suggestions for marking our company logo on polished aluminum? It is NOT anodized so using a laser does very little. A steel stamp could be made & the impression can be punched or pressed into the part.

Marlking Methods makes a small electro-etching kit that will etch your logo into any metal.

They are used to mark guns, milling cutters, knife blades, jewelry, hardware....also sorts of stuff.

Electroetch. We get our custom stencils from Monode.

Silkscreened epoxy ink. Standard in the electonics industry for panel graphics.

Vinyl or rubber mask and sandblasting. Very cheap.

Very weak solution of ferric chloride and water has worked for me in the past. But be careful as this PCB etchant is volatile on alu, if too much ferric chloride is used.

Gadget

snipped-for-privacy@cableone.net scribed in :

template, like a stencil, sandblast

swarf, steam and wind

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Chemical Milling is used in the aircraft industry, and its a simple process. Mask the area you don't want reduced. immerse the part in hot caustic soda solution and agitate it. Rinse thoroughly.

If you thoroughly clean the part and paint the surface with a caustic resisting paint or a rubber solution (contact adhesive), then use a hobby knife to define the limits of the area to be milled and remove the coating from inside those cut out lines, you should get good results. There is a certain amount of undercutting as you can imagine so a test piece to the required depth will let you allow for this.

Wing skins are milled in this manner after forming to shape, so if you want curvature in your logo do that first. Using a rubber solution will preserve the polished finish but the eched area will have a matt finish.

Hope this helps you.

Glenn.

If it doesn't have to be all that durable, pad printing or silk screening will do the trick. Pad printing is possible on even very uneven surfaces (golf balls, walnuts), and silk screening is possible on flat and cylindrical surfaces (in the latter case, I believe the product is "rolled" on a fixture under the screen synchronous with the squeegee motion.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Hi

If it's a flat 2d logo then laser ect

but if it's 3d cast it using a polystiren master we have a local company that does this

Thank you

John O'Connell Customer support ------------------------------------- O C Fabrication Web page

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Depends upon your standards, that is, how critical the look of this marking is with respect to the product. But a custom stamp isn't very expensive, either in straight impact impression, or roll marking. I looked into this some years ago for a former employer. Don't recall the names, but a Google search on roll marking will give you a lot of options. Anyone making roll marking dies will also do regular stamps. Heck, here's a quick Google search result:

There are also dot matrix impact printers that are pretty quick but I'd suspect they won't give the impression of quality you want, they are geared more for part/lot number marking, etc.

Jon

I have agree with Gadget. Chemical etching to the only good way to protect the polished aluminum. However if you have it done, its not cheap. You could try to do it yourself. If you want it done by someone else let me know. I do chemical etching on Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Brass, and some Copper. No PCB boards, To much competition. We Manufacture control panels, nameplates, custom boxes, etc..

Just respond here if you want it done.

Glenn G.

I beg to differ Frank.

Best Regards. Neil George

954-572-5829

I beg to differ John. Granted the samples are in the negative, but the solution remains the same. I am referring to the 3D aspects. You already answered the 2D.

Best Regards. Neil George

954-572-5829