Laser engraving

[LiftedDisco]

OKey doke… stupid question of the week in the hope that the collective wisdom on here might be able to help and advise!

I’m currently building a Land Rover derived vehicle and need to create some bespoke switch labels - engine fan isolator etc. I can get switch blanks and then use a label printer over these with clear sticky label material but it looks rubbish and the labels don’t stick properly to the profiled face of the switch blank.

So…. I’d been thinking about engraving the switch blanks - our local key place can’t ‘engrave’ as they are concerned about the differing levels across the switch blanks and so I’d wondered about looking at laser engraving.

Potentially the same challenges of differing levels but I wondered if we can overcome this somehow?

Of course, the plastic blanks might just melt into a fizzing, smoking mass, but where would the fun be in not trying something slightly different!

Any thoughts?

 

[julianf]

There are some K40 groups on FB. Hobbiests (and otherwise) always looking for work.

The reason your local place is cautious about depth difference is that their machine (I'd guess) can't regulate according to the surface.

With a V cutter, of course, the width of the cut is directly dependant on the depth.

A proper engraving machine (as opposed to a mill) will reference to the material surface rather than any pre-programmed depth, thereby keeping the cut width constant.

If you check my avatar image, that's a penny. So the line / cut is very narrow. At that sort of size, without surface reference, even a tilt on the work would cause issues, so it's essential to reference off the job, rather than the z axis.

 

[daedalusminos]

It can be done with an engraver that has active focus, you essential load up a 3D model of the part with the engraving on

 

[stuvy]

OKey doke… stupid question of the week in the hope that the collective wisdom on here might be able to help and advise!

I’m currently building a Land Rover derived vehicle and need to create some bespoke switch labels - engine fan isolator etc. I can get switch blanks and then use a label printer over these with clear sticky label material but it looks rubbish and the labels don’t stick properly to the profiled face of the switch blank.

So…. I’d been thinking about engraving the switch blanks - our local key place can’t ‘engrave’ as they are concerned about the differing levels across the switch blanks and so I’d wondered about looking at laser engraving.

Potentially the same challenges of differing levels but I wondered if we can overcome this somehow?

Of course, the plastic blanks might just melt into a fizzing, smoking mass, but where would the fun be in not trying something slightly different!

Any thoughts?

Separate thread on the Landy please

 

[Tom O]

How about taking them to a jewellery shop or someone that makes trophies failing that etch them with solutions for the metal used.

 

[julianf]

I have a few landrovers, and do this kind of stuff to pay for them.

I think that, if i wanted to do the same for one of mine, i would lay out some of the switch surrounds on a sheet, engrave them, and then route out the metal around the engravings to make the tags.
The man-hours spent in jigging up the pre-made blanks wouldnt be worth the effort. It would be quicker to make them from scratch.

But...

This would be if i was doing it for myself. To do it as a commercial job wouldn't be feasible, as the cost of each part would just be too high.

If, on the other hand, i already had a draw full of blanks, id probably make up a simple jig for screen printing them. But that would still be pretty tedious.

On a laser you wouldnt have the physical force, so the part could be swapped in and out much easier, but you would still need someone sitting there, loading your part, loading up the file, hitting "go", waiting, unloading, repeating.

I cant see any quick and cheap solution.

Did you have a target price in mind? I mean everyone wants to spend as little as possible, but i suspect you're probably thinking a couple of quid per switch or something (which is what i would probably think if i didnt know the situation - so its by no means an insult to you! : ) I dont even know how quick the lazers run, but i wonder if someone with the hardware and the skill would sit and operate the machine, do the invoices, etc. etc. for that sort of money?

 

[Wildefalcon]

Ask Charlie emberton on eBay?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272353236124

 

[Agroshield]

How about taking them to a jewellery shop or someone that makes trophies...

That is a good point. It is not clear whether the parts are curved only in one plane (cylindrical) or in two planes (spheroidical).

A good way forward for the OP would be to think of another object of the same shape characteristics that is engraved* and then find someone who does that kind of work.

* e.g. the inside of a hemisphere presents a completely different set of challenges to a flat plate.

 

[daedalusminos]

Can you post a photo of what you're trying to replicate?

 

[LiftedDisco]

This is the style of switch - whilst it’s a standard hazard switch, you can see the bevel shape in the centre which is causing me so many challenges!

The switch fronts snap off, so I can get to the point where I have a series of blank switches that would be relatively simple to position under a laser or similar.

I was thinking that I could 3D scan the switch blank, including the depression, and then use this to create the model within a text editor to create the logo / switch title for each switch… seems mighty simple when I put it like that…

Mudstuff do some non-standard LR switches, the nuisance is they don’t do the ones that I want/need.

I can do sticky labels using my printer - I can get a cassette that does clear labels with white print, but the depression in the centre means they look meh (!) as the labels don’t sit nicely on the switch.

The plastic finish is grey on the top with a white substrate - I was hoping that doing something that removes the top layer would leave the white element showing through.

And before anyone asks, I do actually have a dremel type thing but the plastic finish is as hard as a hard thing and my skills in scribing the right words wouldn’t be worth thinking of…! Also, I will need to IVA the vehicle so want it to look as good as possible…

Thanks everyone for input and suggestions.

 

[julianf]

Yeah, cheap K40 laser and an operator will do that, so far as i can tell.

 

[stuvy]

Could someone just 3d print them with the required shape?