First try at laser marking steel. I sanded the surface to provide a tooth and sprayed on some dry moly lube. 40w CO2 at 90% 400mm a minute. Then sprayed the part with wd40 and scrubbed off the moly lube with a scotchbrite pad.
I have Got to try this!
I did a bit of research about marking metal. I don’t have a link ready, but, the idea was a grid of percentages. One axis was speed incremented in 10 percent steps and the other axis was power. When finished you could see a cluster of blocks that were acceptable. I wonder if it changes by material and/or thickness.
Materials fo have some affect on you marking capability, but the refractive properties have a larger affect. Why the moly coating? Were you concerned about the scattering of reflected radiation or were you thinking it would act as some sort of fire retardant?
I read somewhere that the ingredient in the moly lube was very similar to cermark. So I had some on hand and thought why not try it out.
I too have read that dry moly lube is similar to cermark. $16 vs $73 means hackers/makers have to try. 
nice result!
The grid concept minus the speed variation: http://tinyurl.com/m3q5tp8
The site I recall reading about this from: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/2013/laser-moly/
I can’t seem to locate the page that went in to a fair bit of detail on setting up and making use of a laser. Maybe I will find it again someday.
@Kyle_Kerr yes I remember reading that same article when it came out. Thanks for digging it up.
Nice result. I’ve got a can sitting in the shop, just haven’t gotten a chance to test. I’m motivated again.