Cermark, Thermark, or ??? on brick & stone

[aocarving]

I sandblast bricks for fundraisers and would like to move up to the 21st century. What is the best laser marking material to use on bricks and limestone? Cermark, Thermark, LMM or (???) ? Will a 40 watt CO2 laser work out OK, on brick?

[zax15uk]

I would stay in the dark ages with this project.

Use a plotter to cut the sandblast mask and have at it with the abrasive.

The results will be much better than a small laser could achieve, both in contrast and longevity.

Zax.

[aocarving]

Zax, Thanks for the input. Would a larger laser work better, like a 60 watt. Have you used a laser on bricks or stone? I have seen where others etched bricks with a laser, but I haven't found out what they use. Any info would help. Thanks, AO

[Litografa]

Bad contrast, but reasonable good engraving depth. So you can fill engraved areas with more contrast paints.

[aocarving]

Litografa, Thanks for the post. I could not tell much in your picture, I am buying a new monitor soon. My original question was, will Cermark, Thermark, or any other similar laser marking material, bond to bricks with a 40 or 60 watt laser. Have you had any experience with bricks or stone? I have seen laser etched bricks and they look fantastic! I just need to know what it takes to do it myself. Thanks. I appreciate any input you can offer. AO

[Litografa]

There is two types of red bricks here in Lithuania - porous and glossy.
Porous looks not good, but engrave well in depth. With 30 Wt laser two pass at 100% power/30% speed you can reach up to 1 mm in depth. Later usually my customers fill engraved areas with paints as engraving is grey/brown color.

Glossy bricks have something like glossy glass covering on top. Direct engraving is very difficult and you can change only color of brick from red to light grey.

We have some products for engraving on glass/ceramics
LITOSCRIPT spray’s for metal, ceramics and glass | LITOGRAFA : GLOBAL VIEW - LOCAL TOUCH
Black spray work good on bricks, but sometimes there is areas on brick, which have (I think) something wrong with coating. In this areas image became not black, but grey/light grey.

Now we are working on special spray which will allowed engraving on stone with laser. Possible colors - black, white, gold, silver. We already have first results and I expect products ready for sale will be available in June 2011.

[zax15uk]

Originally Posted by aocarving Zax, Thanks for the input. Would a larger laser work better, like a 60 watt. Have you used a laser on bricks or stone? I have seen where others etched bricks with a laser, but I haven't found out what they use. Any info would help. Thanks, AO

I have done a fair bit of work with polished stone and the results are excellent, but bricks (at least the ones I have tried) do not work well.

I have not tried Cermark due to it's cost.

Zax.

[aocarving]

Litografa,
Thanks, so much, for the info. This is what I was trying to get an idea about. So if I used a 60 watt laser, I could probably go a little bit deeper then use a marking material (Such as yours or another brand) to fuse it to the brick, as the last stage, correct? I engrave bricks for fund-raisers (among other things)and what most people want is to be able to read it and for the spelling to be correct. It doesn't have to be picture perfect. I know when to be precise because I also carve portraits in granite, glass, ceramic etc., life-size on down to the size of your thumb, as pendants. If this sounds like I'm on the right track, or wrong track, please let me know? Thanks, AO

[aocarving]

Zax,
Thanks for the reply. I just posted a reply to Litografa, that may shed some light on the problem I'm trying to solve. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks, AO

[Litografa]

My advice to you do not use any special chemistry, but engrave MAY BE multipass to reach engraving depth which will be enough for paint filling. After engraving fill engraved areas with contrast paints and everything will be fine

[aocarving]

Litografa,
Thanks again. Not sure what you mean by "special chemistry" ? Engrave the brick to depth (with multiple passes, if needed), then fill with paint, then set paint with the final pass with the laser, correct ? Thanks, AO

[Litografa]

Special chemistry = Termark, Cermark, Litoscript

Process = Multipass engraving, filling with paints, MAY BE cover with UV protection (car laque)