Tool Marking

[tgbto]

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd share with you my findinds pertaining to laser engraving. I started with a 5W output 455 nm, and I managed to get sub-par results by coating the blade beforehand (sharpie, mustard, painter's tape...).

I recently acquired a USD 400ish 2W 1064nm IR head, and the results are amazing. I can engrave knife blades with the sharpening angle or with their owner's name. I can also put a straight mark on a chisel right where I want. It can also mark plastics (preferably light or dark as the result is kind of greyish), so handles can be marked too.

It might be a nice addition to a premium sharpener's toolset. Mine is an open-frame one, so quite bulky, but there are also portable versions that will engrave up to 70x70 mm.

Cheers,

Nick.

[Ken S]

Nick,

I like your idea of using laser engraving as a premium sharpening service. I can see the customer's name as being very popular. Somewhat related, for sharpeners who also have a knife rental service, I think being able to identify the rental knives with a laser engraved name would be very useful.

I do have reservations with engraving lines on a chisel, if they are part of a quick setup scheme. Multiple sharpenings will shorten the chisel, thus making the lines inaccurate. Bevel angles also seem iffy to me. If obtained from the knife manufacturer, are they chosen for best cutting or minimum customer complaints. I think I would rather rely on the sharpener's experience.

I do think name engraving is an excellent idea, both for providing an extra customer service and enhanced revenue.

Ken

[RichColvin]

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd share with you my findinds pertaining to laser engraving. I started with a 5W output 455 nm, and I managed to get sub-par results by coating the blade beforehand (sharpie, mustard, painter's tape...).

I recently acquired a USD 400ish 2W 1064nm IR head, and the results are amazing. I can engrave knife blades with the sharpening angle or with their owner's name. I can also put a straight mark on a chisel right where I want. It can also mark plastics (preferably light or dark as the result is kind of greyish), so
handles can be marked too.

It might be a nice addition to a premium sharpener's toolset. Mine is an open-frame one, so quite bulky, but there are also portable versions that will engrave up to 70x70 mm.

Cheers,

Nick.

What laser do you use?

[tgbto]

What laser do you use?

The IR one is the Atomstack R30 V2.

I do have reservations with engraving lines on a chisel, if they are part of a quick setup scheme. Multiple sharpenings will shorten the chisel, thus making the lines inaccurate. Bevel angles also seem iffy to me. If obtained from the knife manufacturer, are they chosen for best cutting or minimum customer complaints. I think I would rather rely on the sharpener's experience.

The use for chisel I'm not sure about. It takes about 5 seconds to engrave a fine line on the back of my chisel so I'll see how it goes. I don't use them often, but the idea would be to always reference to the line that is closest to the handle.

For knives, I - most of the time - don't use manufacturer angles. I agree they're often chosen for minimum customer complaints with customers who have no idea how to maintain knives, and so the cutting experience is significantly degraded. Even for Shun knives where 16° seems a perfect choice, I slightly changed the angle to 15 dps so I can quickly resharpen a bulk of 15 dps knives without having to change projection distance. I mostly use 12.5, 15 and 18 dps. Knowing what angle to input to the calculator allows to get a burr in a couple of passes with minimal material removal. I use the knives library of my beloved TormekCalc spreadsheet when I'm not sure what angle to set, then engrave it when I'm done.