Laser "Etching" H440 Sidewindow

[_Mish]

Hey there!

 

Was just wondering if anybody here had some previous experience with etching their side windows?

 

Will pots pics after advice, am doing a Back to the Future themed build!

 

Thanks guys

 

[XTankSlayerX]

Hey there!

 

Was just wondering if anybody here had some previous experience with etching their side windows?

 

Will pots pics after advice, am doing a Back to the Future themed build!

 

Thanks guys

O_O

 

That sounds awesome, can't wait to see it. 

 

As for laser etching, i imagine every place that does laser etching could etch your window too.

[_Mish]

O_O

 

That sounds awesome, can't wait to see it. 

 

As for laser etching, i imagine every place that does laser etching could etch your window too.

Thanks! At my UNI they have a technology department where I can get it done for free

[zool]

I don't think poly-carbonate can be laser engraved. But glass or acrylic is good to go. (i think yours is acrylic)

 

Pop the panel to be engraved out and measure it precisely, (if it doesn't pop out, mask precisely around the window  with painter tape, measure measure that and leave the tape on)

 

punch those dimensions into the program you use (illustrator/corel draw/inkscape/auto CAD etc) as a box on the artboard

and paste in the artwork you want to engrave! some lasers can use .jpg or 1bit .BMP to engrave. all can use vector artwork 

 

reverse your artwork if you want the engraving on the inside of the PC 

 

time to engrave - if you have to do it yourself

 

engraving something where you only have one shot is tricky. Get it square to the bed, focus the lens and run the square we drew on 0% power to make sure the laser is centered. The put the artwork in setting the box we drew to do not engrave.

 

run it once at 10% power 50+% speed and see what you get. DONT MOVE IT THOUGH! up the power 2-5% at a time and run it again until you're happy, or just go for gold with the setting usually used for acrylic with your laser....

 

what laser is it? Ive used a few different ones. and what software?

 

Anything you want explained more, just let me know. But you better post pictures when you're done!

[zool]

looked into it a bit more. Now i think your window is poly  unless you already bought an acrylic replacement.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD37bX-k_9Q

 

 

I threw an old CD case (poly-carbonate) in my laser to see what happens and it wasn't pretty.

So you can either get an acrylic replacement, if you haven't already or sand engrave it instead

 

Also worth noting that video says the panel goes in only one way round, so mark the side you do not want to engrave with some masking tape and draw the orientation on it

[_Mish]

I don't think poly-carbonate can be laser engraved. But glass or acrylic is good to go. (i think yours is acrylic)

 

Pop the panel to be engraved out and measure it precisely, (if it doesn't pop out, mask precisely around the window  with painter tape, measure measure that and leave the tape on)

 

punch those dimensions into the program you use (illustrator/corel draw/inkscape/auto CAD etc) as a box on the artboard

and paste in the artwork you want to engrave! some lasers can use .jpg or 1bit .BMP to engrave. all can use vector artwork 

 

reverse your artwork if you want the engraving on the inside of the PC 

 

time to engrave - if you have to do it yourself

 

engraving something where you only have one shot is tricky. Get it square to the bed, focus the lens and run the square we drew on 0% power to make sure the laser is centered. The put the artwork in setting the box we drew to do not engrave.

 

run it once at 10% power 50+% speed and see what you get. DONT MOVE IT THOUGH! up the power 2-5% at a time and run it again until you're happy, or just go for gold with the setting usually used for acrylic with your laser....

 

what laser is it? Ive used a few different ones. and what software?

 

Anything you want explained more, just let me know. But you better post pictures when you're done!

 

 

looked into it a bit more. Now i think your window is poly  unless you already bought an acrylic replacement.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD37bX-k_9Q

 

 

I threw an old CD case (poly-carbonate) in my laser to see what happens and it wasn't pretty.

So you can either get an acrylic replacement, if you haven't already or sand engrave it instead

 

Also worth noting that video says the panel goes in only one way round, so mark the side you do not want to engrave with some masking tape and draw the orientation on it

Thats super unfortunate! Thanks so much for looking into it for me so thoroughly! It must have been a lot of effort for you!

 

Here is my solution... Im going to go out and buy a replacement side window and give it a shot, as my current is already scratched... so consider the scratched one a sort of experiment! 

 

So sorry i didnt get back to you sooner, I have been in DEEP with study  

 

Will reply back to this topic with updates soon  

[zool]

no probs mate. Lasers are my jam, like i said i own one and have used a few others in depth.

 

If you need more help just post up. The laser make (very important), what software controls it and the the software you want to design in (these two are less important) would be helpful though.

 

Good luck!