FAQs
1. What is the best method to apply Black Silk Paste to the product to be marked?
The best way to apply is to spray the diluted product (see question 4 for dilution instructions) using an airbrush or a Preval sprayer. While it could also be applied with a brush, it needs to be evenly applied and that is difficult to do with a brush, so it isn't recommended.
2. What are the best settings for my machine?
CO2 lasers vary greatly from brand to brand, with some employing air cooled RF tubes and others employing water cooled DC tubes. Some manufacturers rely on a percentage of the maximum speed while others use mm/s, inches/s, mm/min, or inches/min. Some brands like many so called "Chinese" lasers often acheive their maximum rated tube power at only 60-80% of the power supply's rated power. Not only that, but each brand sells different lasers with varying rated maximum powers ranging from 20 watts to hundreds of watts. As a result, it is very difficult to pinpoint what the best settings might be for a specific machine without experimenting. We highly recommend using a test plate like that seen here followed by aggressively cleaning with a Magic Eraser or similar abrasive sponge to determine optimum settings. For this specific laser, you can see that 30% power at 500mm/s and a 0.092mm line interval (276dpi/lpi) looks great. For this machine, we would recommend using 35% power with these settings in order to have a margin for error.
3. What metals does this product work on?
It works best with stainless steel but can also be used with aluminum, yellow brass, nickel, and iron. Note, it does not work on coated metals which can be very difficult to detect. If the product randomly marks poorly at all settings for a specific job, chances are good that the metal is coated. You may be able to sand off the coating or chemically remove it. This isn't recommended because it is difficult to determine when the coating has been fully removed. We strongly recommend sourcing metals that aren't coated in the first place.
4. What is the first thing I should do before starting?
This product is sold as a paste and needs to be diluted with denatured ethanol before spraying. Our bottles have a convenient "dilute to here" mark to take out the guesswork. Once diluted, shake well before transferring to an airbrush or Preval sprayer. Over several minutes, the solids in the mixture will settle to the bottom which can clog the sprayer, so always agitate to mix well before spraying.