I have a situation that i need to put markings on a panel but the recessed areas make it difficult/expensive/impossible to silk screen. The panel is most likely cast or machined aluminum that will be powdercoated white. Black text should be able to be laser etched (burned in) to a powder coat finish, correct? Would this be doable on polyurethane powdercoats or would I have to broaden my powdercoat material selection?
Secondly, what if I wanted red text/features? Would I be able to powder coat over an existing powder coat and burn off the top coat to reveal the color underneath? This is kinda what they do with some keyboard keys when they 2-shot the black over the white and burn off the black to reveal white text.
Any thoughts would be nice. Also, if anyone has an alternate idea (weather resistant low/zero profile decals) I’d love to hear it.
Laser etching can leave a burned area and residue… I’ve done it before on powdercoating. And no you can’t do one color over the other and burn the top layer off, plus powdercoat is thick and you would want to do two? Pad print would be the way to go.
We do Powder coating and lasering here as a manufacture and I concur, pad printing will be your best bet, unless you are willing to change the recessed areas to allow for silk screening.
Your 1 other option but would be a cost adder would be to create a “name plate” that would encompass all the text and openings and adhere it to your item. this could be a simple “sticker” or you could get fancy with a metal “name plate”
