Will a Diode Laser Engrave Steel? | xTool D1 Testing

Today we're testing an xTool D1 laser engraver to see if it can mark stainless steel. We'll also try out some CerMark laser marking spray.
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00:00 Intro
00:40 The xTool D1 Laser
03:08 The Project
04:11 Making Artwork
11:33 Lightburn
19:47 Direct-Marking Stainless
24:27 Initial Results
25:32 Cermark Spray
27:12 Lasering Cermark
27:49 Washing and Comparison
30:20 Results

Other stuff used in this video:
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Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

[IceCreams]

You can use T1/T2 layer instead of 02 layer so you can frame without really burn the path.

[joopterwijn]

Damn (sorry for the expression 😔) you are for me one of the most serious fabricators on YouTube. You work ethic, detailing, explaining, … and so much more are through expiring!

[troywahl]

The whole issue of the metal warping here is essentially the same issue when welding or surface grinding thin metal: too much heat concentrated into too small of an area at once.

Two suggestions to reduce metal warping. The first is to back the workpiece with a block of a good conductor (such as aluminum) instead of the wood. The other is to change the order of operations so no area is heated for long periods (do a little engraving in an area then move to the opposite end of your work piece) - this may not be practical with the software you use (it would be trivial with MasterCam).

[KizmitMakesIt]

I've only recently discovered your channel and have been watching a lot of your past videos. Just wanted to give you props on having a ton of really great projects and very engaging style of presenting them! I'm in the process of acquiring all the bits necessary for both the lathe vfd upgrade, and the electronic lead screw. Thanks for taking the time to put together these great videos.

[johannglaser]

Looking forward to your aluminium engraving video! Also, I would be interesting in seeing a very close zoom (and/or microscope image) of the markings.

[GregBadabinski]

So after watching the whole video, I have a quick question. What would happen if you tried to engrave "regular" steel? I'd love to be able to laser a makers mark onto my parts, but I typically only use 4140, reaching for other steels as needed (like 303 stainless for things like dumbbell handles). Would it cause excessive oxidation? Or is there another reason you can only use stainless? I should probably just Google this, but other folks may be wondering the same thing so I figured I'd ask here.

[ttfranks]

I like that you uses mutable programs and different applications to get this job done. You are very knowledgeable and a good narrator. When you do have something go wrong you show it so people know it happens and can make adjustments with some help from you. Thank You for your time and expertise.

[jonjingleheimerschmidt]

"Artisan Robot" - The best two word description of the XTool D1 that I've ever heard.

[paulsim]

My top tip for using the 'paint' type spray can, is once you have finished using it flip it upside down and give it a quick press. This will clear the spray head and stops it blocking up.

[LitchKB]

Metals (overall) tend to be more reflective of light, as the wavelength gets smaller (ie. towards and beyond UV), but inadvertently - it's quite difficult to make lasers very powerful in the small ("Hundreds of nm") wavelengths. But as it happens to be, around the 1, 000nm wavelength (Near Infrared) are fibre lasers - which is a technology that basically consists several meters of coiled fibre optic wire, doped in special elements (eg. Ytterbium "Yb"). We then use a primary diode lasers (pump or feed lasers) not unlike your blue ones there, in that they are frequently combined in parallel, but more powerful and typically in the 910nm (+/-) range. These are focused down the doped fibre optic and bounced back between two mirrors, this excites the Ytterbium in the fibre optics, and then that lets go of a slightly longer wavelength (1000-1100nm). The mirror at one end will permit some of the long wavelength light, but still bounce the 900's back and forth. This is fairly efficient in terms of energy saturation, and allows these lasers to be VERY powerful - in the order of dozens of kilowatts, where (with the assistance of compressed oxygen) can cut through inch-thick steel. Fibre lasers are not quite "Hobbyist friendly" yet - the price is still quite high for powerful models (mainly due to the rare element doping requirements and high power optics), but they're coming down. Slowly. Have a look at the OMTech 20W.

[Snugggg]

thank you for showing your errors - so helpful for people learning to troubleshoot for their own projects

[Metalloys]

Hey, great work.
I used to make control panels like these, but I used a different technique :
I simply printed on a transparent film, with a high quality inkjet printer, then sandwitched the
film between the metal panel and an acrylic (2mm thick) plate with the same openings as in
the metal panel and screwed everything together.
That tech. gave me 3 advantages : can print in color, and being able to recover/modify and just throw away the old film,
and finally the outer acrylic layer is postive protection that can be cleaned easily without worrying about the legends being
wiped away.
Hope this helps.

[samrogers]

Looks great! It's funny how we often miss the little details like the sanding direction that seem obvious in hindsight. Anyone else notice that the ATC frame isn't lined up with the LMIT frame? =P

[hansenprecision]

All of your videos are terrific, James! I am extremely impressed by the breadth of your knowledge and the wide variety of builds you successfully execute. Only problem is, I see you using something and am sure I need the item you are using!! I guess a xTool is now in my future!

[Dudley]

As usual, you have impressed me with your ability to absorb an unfamiliar chunk of software, learn all its buttons, and then remember it all well enough to narrate its use in real time. Dunno how you do that…

[jfl-mwrp]

Outstanding James! Perfection is in the details. The older you get, the more appreciate it. Can't wait for the anodized aluminum.

[MichaelLloyd]

Very nice work! The added text and outlines enhanced the look of the panel a lot

[spudnickuk]

Thank you for sharing,
your video shows a diode laser actually burning on stainless and for a hobbyist this is good to know.
I have been looking into getting a laser cutter for ages but the cost of getting a Co2 laser is to much for what I intend to use one for, and this type is at good price.

[Preso]

That's great. I didn't realise that diode lasers could mark stainless directly. I can get a similar result by spraying "Coldgal" zinc based paint onto the bare metal and then running my CO2 laser hot and slow. It's about 5% of the cost of Cermark!

[PurpleJersey]

i know im whining but man... nowadays, every video that's interesting (including this one... thats a compliment) is a 15-20-30 min video. i just dont have time to download all this into my brain 🤣 Great video. Very informative. You have a new sub.