Looking for laser engraving solution...

[khobson]

Looking to have a logo engraved on the end of a cap for a baseball pen. After a couple of misfortunes...I have been asked if I can leave the wood a little thicker. While that is easily done....not sure how to then finish it up as I have been sending blanks that were turned all the way down and finished with CA. Have any of you encountered this or a similar issue and found a workable solution? I am open to any and all suggestions.

 

[Richard Gibson]

Don't understand what you mean by "the end of a cap."

 

[khobson]

Sorry...should have added some more info.

The pen in question is a Jr. Statesman II with the body being one of Chad Henning's baseball blanks and the cap portion a piece of White Ash from the area where Louisville Slugger harvests the wood for their bats. I am making this pen as a surprise gift for a teacher on my campus that is a huge Texas Rangers fan.....hence the desire to have the Rangers logo engraved on the cap portion. The cap for the Jr Statesman uses a large diameter tube so there isn't much wood left by the time I turn it down to the bushings and my engraver has burned through the wood a couple of times. He asked if I could leave the wood thicker to help eliminate this problem. So far I have turned them down to the bushings then applied a CA finish before sending to him. My concerns with leaving the wood thicker is after getting them back I would need to sand them down to proper diameter. I am thinking the sanding may distort the lasered image. I also am fearful that once the relief area is filled with CA glue it may not look right either.

 

[flyitfast]

Do you want the cap to have a straight line? The ends of the cap can be turned to the bushing size, but the rest of the body can be left a little thicker, giving it a more oval shape - not much, but it would make the cap more shapely. Just don't make it too thick or the clip might not fit right.
Just a thought.
gordon

 

[khobson]

Thanks for the suggestion....may have to give that a try although I prefer the look of the straight line.

 

[thewishman]

Can the engraver turn down the power or speed up the feed rate? That would be an easier fix. Send him an extra finished part to practice on, he can rotate the extra piece and practice several times to get the power setting right.

 

[Exabian]

What about just tapering the ends of the blank to the bushing size but leave the mid body straight. Like I did on this one. It keeps the straight appearance but leaves some meat in the bone. (Figure of speech)

 

[Ed McDonnell]

There should be over 40 thousandths of thickness if you turn straight bushing to bushing. That should be more than enough material. Maybe you need to find a more experienced engraver.

Ed

 

[khobson]

What about just tapering the ends of the blank to the bushing size but leave the mid body straight. Like I did on this one. It keeps the straight appearance but leaves some meat in the bone. (Figure of speech)

Thanks for the pic....I think this is what I will try.

 

[bgio13]

I agree with parklandturner. Just had Woodturningz do the engraving on this Triton. And I believe both the Triton and Jr. Statesman use the same bushings and diameter tubes. Hope this helps,

Bill

 

[khobson]

The engraver isn't a pen guy and is doing this pro bono to help me make a teacher happy. Another person donated the wood so I don't mind the extra turning as a little practice never hurt. I am going to taper just the ends and hope that is enough to get the job done. He already did one cap but unfortunately the logo was in a vertical position and I was looking for a horizontal orientation so it looks better on the stand. The whole project has been a series of firsts and I know the recipient will be quite pleased when it is all said and done. Creating pens that cater to the unique interests and personalities of our teachers has been a great way for this administrator to show appreciation for the long hours, hard work, and dedication they commit to student success!

 

[NewLondon88]

While it might sound as easy as 'turn down the power', there are some
lasers that can't go low enough to engrave like this. if he has a higher power laser (especially one of the Chinese cutting machines) it is possible he can't dial the power back far enough to get a lighter engraving.

 

[JH Customs]

The power can be turned way down. If it is not enough you can go over the design again as long as you don't move the pen. I have to do this with my laser on deer antler. Some antler engraves real easy, some I have to make several passes.

 

[NewLondon88]

The power can be turned way down

Without knowing what kind of laser he has, can't really say that
for sure. Your laser can do it, so can mine. But not all of them
can still fire at lower power settings. For that matter, we're not
even sure what type of laser it is. I think we're assuming CO2,
and in the power ranges we normally see. But who knows? He
might have a Nd:YAG or a fiber laser.. might be a 2500w galvo!

 

[JohnGreco]

The engraver I go to engraves Majestic caps for me regularly without trouble (now), but it did take him some tinkering with the feed rate. If it is down to the brass tube you can do a colorfill as long as you had good glue coverage and didn't lose anything like the inside of P's or A's.

 

[Dan Hintz]

Even with a Chinese glass tube, he should be able to set his power down to 10% and still reliably fire. Even with an 80W tube, 10% may still be a bit lax for making a good mark, so he'd want to increase from 10% power.

You're either dealing with extremely thin wood with a very soft grain, or the engraver needs to get a better grip on his machine's capabilities.

 

[khobson]

The only thing I know about the laser is that it is 50 watt and he says it runs "hot"....the White Ash does seem very soft when I turn it so maybe that is a contributing factor. I did turn a couple more blanks today and left the middle sections a little thicker by turning down just the ends. Hopefully he will get his end squared away and everything works out. Thank you for all the suggestions.

 

[Exabian]

The only thing I know about the laser is that it is 50 watt and he says it runs "hot"....the White Ash does seem very soft when I turn it so maybe that is a contributing factor. I did turn a couple more blanks today and left the middle sections a little thicker by turning down just the ends. Hopefully he will get his end squared away and everything works out. Thank you for all the suggestions.

Let us know how it works out.