Engraving on pens

[Stephen]

I have an order for 50 Gatsby (Sierra clone?) pens in TN Gold with 25 barrels in Dymondwood and 25 in BOW. All finished with CA/BLO and Ren Wax. I have almost completed them.
The customer requires their corporate name (no logo) engraved on the barrel in gold. I am completely ignorant in the engraving/lazer processes. There are many shops in Singapore who do all kinds of lazer/silk screening etc which is alien to me. I need to understand before I approach them.
I would be be grateful for advice on how to approach this.
These guys here only take instructions and I must be clear or they may ruin my pens.
Questions. Can Lazer be finished in gold? Are there alternatives?
What other ways can it be done , what do I have to do on top of the engraving to prevent the gold from flaking or just leave it as is? Just many thoughts come to my mind.
I would be grateful for any thougts on this or other appoaches to this problem.
Grateful for guidance .
Stephen

 

[altaciii]

I have used a product I purchased at our local hobby lobby called "rub and buff"

http://www.misterart.com/store/view/003/group_id/467/RUB-N-BUFF-The-Original-Wax-Metallic-Finish.htm

its used mostly for plaques and such by trophy houses to fill the lasered lines in different colors. The laser will "cut" but really burn the wood. Since you already have a sealer in your ca finish the fill will not bleed past the lines. But I would take a couple of sample pieces and try them first so as not to ruin a good pen. I'm sure the laser guys in singapore also do trophys and plaques. ask around. Maybe they have something simular.

 

[OldWrangler]

No problem filling a lazer engraving with gold. Generally anyone who has laid out the money for a lazer cutter can do a nice job with the filling as well. I would definitely have a sample made first to make sure. Once filling drys, no need to seal it. It will be fine.

 

[Stephen]

Alex and George,
Many thanks for the information. This forum has helped me to go from a hobby to sales. As this is my first order I do not wish to make a blunder and regret.
Once again grateful for your help. I will try a few samples first.
Best Regards
Stephen

 

[Gulfcoast]

Stephen --

I am not reccommending you use this vendor but, you could go to http://www.kallenshaanwoods.com click on "Penturners Click Here" and read the outline to get an idea of what information a laser engraver "needs" to do the job, including colorfill of the engraving.

Joe

 

[pentex]

Ken at Kallenshaanwoods has done some for me and I recommend him highly.

 

[clthayer]

You could contact Stan Cook, he is a member of this forum. I have not had him do any engraving for me so I cannot comment on his work.

http://www.longhollowpens.com/engraving.html

 

[arjudy]

Send them to Ken Nelson at www.kallenshaanwoods.com
He is top notch and quick.

 

[Gulfcoast]

Harold ---

That's great, however, Stephen indicated that he wanted to have the pens engraved in Singapore; so unless Kallenshaanwoods has a branch office there -----

Joe

 

[pentex]

Joe, your right. I guess I did not read his statement all the way.

 

[Stephen]

Thanks Everyone,
I am going to a few shops that do this kind of work today with two pens. With the info gathered from everyone I hope it is plain sailing. A little humour from this post - for a moment I thought Singapore was a state in USA. That would have resolved my engraving woes. LOL

 

[Stephen]

Follow up: Visited a few outlets without success. Most do engraving on metal pens and one does lazer with no color filling. I had a spare BOW done for a sample and the guy suggested paint filling. His idea was not acceptable. The depth of the lazer cut I guess is 0.010 inch and if it is not filled it is sure to splinter in use. Would I be able to fill the lazer cut with rub and buff as suggested by Alex? I looked at the Misterart web page but did not get much info on application on lazer engraving. Perhaps I missed something.
Should I lean towards silk screening which is available? Not sure of it's durability and how to seal it. Should it be done before the CA/BLO finish or after?
Thanks in advance for guidance/advice.
Stephen

 

[Gulfcoast]

Stephen --

--- some of the laser engraving on wood is not filled, leaving a contrasting marking to the surface. Most fills are "paints" to accent the information that was engraved.

As kallenshaanwoods recommended, you should go to ---

to view the colorfill
http://www.laserbits.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72_209

to view a PDF on colorfill http://www.laserbits.com/images/pdfs/ColorFill.pdf

Joe

 

[Sylvanite]

The depth of the lazer cut I guess is 0.010 inch and if it is not filled it is sure to splinter in use. Would I be able to fill the lazer cut with rub and buff as suggested by Alex?

The depth of the laser engraving depends on the speed and power settings used. I've run the gamut from barely scratching the surface to burning all the way to the brass.

Either way, you can use a "color-fill" to give a contrasting color. Depending on the wood and the engraving depth, you might also get a good looking result with no fill at all (although you may want to clean the pen and put on a finish topcoat).

For an example, the pen in http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?p=7536#poststop is engraved without any color fill. The box is laser engraved and filled in gold.

I hope that helps,
Eric

 

[RONB]

I have used an will highly recommend Kallenshaanwoods he's great

 

[Stephen]

Lazer color characters color fill

Having done a sample lazer engraving in Singapore on a CA/BLO finish how do I color fill with gold paint. I am at a loss. I filled the letterings with gold metallic paint and of course the surroundings and when cleaning the surrounds the letterings were smudged. I tried with paint thinners first and sanding on the second attempt. Not successful. Help please.
If I go to silk screening which is readily available how do I seal it for durability. Help please for a stressfull solution.
I tried Misterart for their fill and buff but they do not do international sales. Lazer bits do only ship thru UPS and FedExp and shipping cost is USD 98.00/129 respectively for merchandize valued at USD 38.90!
Thanks
Stephen

 

[DCBluesman]

Having done a sample lazer engraving in Singapore on a CA/BLO finish how do I color fill with gold paint. Stephen

Stephen - I use acrylic "artists" paint. I paint it into the engraved area, then use a damp paper towel to wipe away the excess. I then paint a layer of lacquer or CA over the engraved area. After the coating dries, a quick buff is all you need.

 

[Stephen]

Thanks everyone. I will send the finished blanks to Kallenshaanwoods if the customer is prepared to bear the two way shipping cost.
Stephen