Engraved my name on the back of my iPad today. …it did great on this aluminium.
That’s very nice. I like how it lightens the aluminium.
@scott thorne - Scott, what settings did you use for that? I want to do something similar for some work iPads but don’t want to trash them with an errant laser etch 
300 mm/s at 25% power.
Great. Thanks! Figured I’d have to trial & error it otherwise start low & fast. This helps cut the process time
Maske sure you out it on a towel or something…it will slide around if you don’t…I always run a practice test with my laser off…it slid all over the place.
Thanks. I would have missed that.
Oops…that was supposed to read…sit it on a towel…lol…sorry Jim.
LOL I figured it out. I didn’t even read the “out it” - read it as “put it”. Did see the “Maske sure” but I’m always making typos on the phone.
Lol…missed that one…I hate this new phone…hard to type on.
Did 2 iPads & an iPad mini. Your settings were spot on. I did try speeding one up (and bumped up the power a bit) but it didn’t turn out as well. I think I needed more power - I’m going to create something that gives me power/mm/s so I can take something like 25% @ 300mm/s and turn it into a new % for 500mm/s for instance (I used 30 but I think I needed to go closer to 35-40% since I was jumping the speed by 67% I should have jumped the power by that too).
@Jim_Hatch I’d imagine that going 2/3rds faster would require 2/3rds more power to give the same result. Based off your values, 2/3 of 25% = ~16.6%, .: you would require ~41.6% power @ 500mm/s. But it is a good idea to create some sort of calculation chart. Also, you may find that things don’t scale linearly (although I’d imagine that they would).
@Jim_Hatch …Yuusuf is right…there is a speed to power ratio that needs to be applied when marking aluminum…using different types of wood as well…for example…I can engrave birch plywood very deep at 500mm/s at 25% power but when I engrave cherry or walnut I have to slow down to 300mm/s @40% power…glad I could help you with the project.
My daughter wants a customized cartoon on the back of hers. And my wife asked if I’d be willing to do 250 of them for the parochial school she works at I haven’t volunteered for that. LOL
I would be hesitant as well.
@Scott_Thorne I’m trying this on an iPad but for some reason almost no register on the ammeter even wen dial at 15, speed was at 320
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty …that’s odd
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty that doesn’t sound like it’s related to the iPad. The laser doesn’t know what you’re etching. Does the same file work on any other material like cardboard or plywood?
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty Does your machine have the pot instead of digital % buttons? My pot is touchy. Sometimes when I set it to a value, when lasering it fluctuates strangely. I have to hold down the test fire button for like 5 seconds to do a proper test to get it at a stable amount on the ammeter, whilst I adjust to the value that I wish to receive (e.g 10mA). I think it’s probably one upgrade that is worth doing as a few other’s here have replaced the pot with a better one & seem to not have those issues.
@Jim_Hatch I’m testing new auto recognize features of LW lol.