Yesterday I machine a front and rear panel
for a custom combination VFD and G540 system. After machining I wanted to label the various switches. The problem was that machine engraving is slow. I have a laser but lasers don't engrave unanodized aluminum. It would have cost $105 for a lot charge to anodize 4 panel. That was too much .
There is a marking fluid for aluminum that lasers do work with but again they are only good on series 5,6 and 7000 aluminum. The aluminum on my front panel is pretty soft and probably only a 2000 series so that was not an option.
So what I did was to leave the protective film on the aluminum panels and then I laser cut/engaved the letters into the protective film after machining to serve as masking tape. Now all I have to do is peal away the protective film where the letters are and spray paint the panel. Last remove the protective film. I tested this method on a test panel and it worked great.
I know not every one has a 30 watt laser but for those that do this tip may be helpful
Dan Mauch
www.camtronics-cnc
