Has anyone used this kind of material with a diode laser for making labels?
I want to make labels for my RV.
I am assuming I can ablate the top material leaving the underlying white color as the text.
If you have any information on setup (speeds/power etc) would be valued.
I have had very good results with this sort of material and a diode laser; Little keytags and a couple of larger signs.
I’ve only tried on material with a dark upper layer and white background, start with a test piece and high speeds at full power, then work down to tune the settings. Use a fairly close line spacing, I use 0.1mm lines and 1500mm/min on a pseudo-‘40w’ unit.
The level of detail is good; the biggest issue being scan lines appearing in the lower layer and you should plan on making at least 2 passes at right-angles to each other; with the second faster to clean up the already etched areas… I actually do four; horizontal, vertical, then diagonal in each direction. This is something you should experiment with too; It helps lighten and smooth the second layer.
Cutting out the tags using the laser was possible, but the white plastic is somewhat transparent to blue light and whilst I was successful after many passes, the edges needed considerable finishing. You can see this in the images below, the material is quite durable, a whole summer kicking around in my boat and pocket has not left too much damage. For my latest sign I laser scored out the outline, then cut + folded the material with a craft-knife along that. This produced better results in less time.
The material I use is this: Laser XT Outdoor/Indoor | Duets by Gemini , it’s not too hard to source on-line 
Edit: I should also point out that you need good airflow to deal with the fumes (don’t breathe!) but also to stop the flashed off fumes discolouring the cut and uncut material.
Thanks looks like my local plastics shop carries this stuff :)!
