Laser Engrave on Metal Product Test: Cermark, Thermark, Enduramark, LaserBond 100 &Dry Moly Lube 

Friggen awesome review man. I wish more people broke it down so matter of fact

One of the best compare videos I’ve watched. This video hit all the questions I had on marking solutions.

Hey thanks for the great vid. So nice to see someone not waffle for minutes, but give info in a logical, comprehensive and to-the-point manner. Appreciated!

Thank you for taking the time to do this, extremely helpful.

Excellent! Thanks for taking the time. Great comparison and summaries.

Thank Paul for making such an informative and methodical video. I had not heard of LBT100 so have placed an order. Thanks for taking the time to run these tests and share!!

Thanks for this great test and scorecard. Helped me make my decision on what to use.

you nailed every aspect of reviewing a product

Thanks Paul! Excellent video!

I just purchased LBT-100 through Boss Laser. Then I found your very informative and thorough video. Glad to see that LBT-100 performed so well. You really covered all the bases with your video.

Extremely helpful and informative. Thank you for this comparison!

Great Video. Your method for testing was great and gave everyone a great breakdown.

You did a lot of of homework for a lot of people..Thank you. I'm going to try Cermark

Best review I have seen on RU-vid!! 🤙

Outstanding content and delivery ... Thank you!

Wow, amazing video!! This is EXACTLY what I needed!

Very comprehensive and methodically worked out. Very helpful as a total newbie, so new my laser hasn’t arrived yet, on a boat. Cheers

Thanks man, really helped a lot!!! Excellent video and explanations

Excellent data and presentation

Thanks for this video! I am new to all this and your information helped tremendously.

great video ,talking straight to the point, thanks

Excellent information, well presented.

Thank you for this video. Very helpful.

Thank you, I just bought the LBT 100

Fantastic video! Thanks!

Super useful video! Appreciated.

Thank you for this, I'm about to run a Cermark job for the first time at work and doing my homework 👍

Great vid! Very useful information, you save me a ton of time and money not to mention frustration!

Good video! Nice info! Thanks man!

Really interesting, Paul

Excellent video! Thanks! I just ordered a can of the LBT100 from their website. Seems like it would be the best all-arounder in my case and for my applications.

Great Review! Thanks!

Thanks new to laser and this helps a ton.

Great video. Will try on my 45w and 60w lasers.

Awesome video

This is exactly what I was after, thanks!

By the way, great review - Thanks!!

Phenomenal video. I used this to decide which marking solution to try first. Our requirement calls out Taber Abrasion (TA) resistance per ASTM D 4060 using CS-17 wheels, 1000 gram load, for 7000 cycles. This is a pretty stringent requirement. I wonder how it would compare with a 600grit wet sanding because TA testing is expensive.

Wonderful video, just subbed and thumbsed up.

Thanks for making this review. Are they really all the same for clean up? We used to use Cermark and it was a lot more difficult to clean up than Enduramark. Cermark required physical wiping to remove the spray and would sometimes leave a kind of "ghost image" next to the actual marking that would require the use of a magic eraser to clean. Enduramark always cleans with just running water and nothing else. That makes all the difference in a manufacturing environment where it isn't practical to scrub all the items with a sponge.

Great video, never realized a low power laser could mark metal. Will the graphics stand up to uv from sunlight for outdoor use if clear coated. You keep adding tools to my want list. Thanks for sharing

Would like to see how these work on different types of plastics

Very helpful video. Thank you! You should upload the chart to Google Sheets!

Thanks for this I have just purchased a Cheap laser and was thinking about what spray products might be available . Timing is excellent

You Sir, is the best. This is the one of the best product comparison video i've ever watch. I am a hobbyist and new to the laser engraving / etching /marking world. I would to ask you if there's a similar product that would give a white color result, if I am going to engrave/mark a black background item. Thank you in advance!

thanks !!

Thanks

Very nice video and found it while looking for a video testing Brilliance. I think you should try it as it's half the price of Cermark and looks darn good. Not sure of all the edge cases you put them all through but that's why I brought it up. Hint hint. :-)

great video and thanks. Do you have a spreed sheet or something similar with the speeds, settings, and results that we might be able to use for reference? Thanks.

Very helpful. My goal is photographic images on copper. Any comment on how these products would perform with a grayscale?

Three questions - First what lens size are you using? I've found I get vastly different results with a 1.5" lens (MUCH better for engraving) compared to 2.0" lens (much better for cutting but not as good at engraving due to focal length). A lot of people do tests on machines with the standard 2" lens that comes with their machine. Second, have you noticed a difference in engraving on polished brass compared to a mill finish? When I do polished brass I get a lot of post engraving tarnish due to the Cermark or water used to wash it off and I need to polish up the mirror finish again before clear coating (with polyurethane to prevent tarnish and protect the marks from wear). I've found that sometimes polishing with things like brasso will sometimes rub off nice black marks and fade them. Finally, what dpi were you doing these tests at? I get much better results with a 1200 dpi compared to 600 dpi or 300 dpi (obviously) Just curious what you were using so I can make comparisons or adjustments. Thank you. Great video!

Excellent video and analysis - I thought Brilliance Inks might have featured in the tests, how would you rate that on the metals you tested. Thanks

Very cool! Do you happen to know which one is best for food grade applications? knives, etc

Please post your settings you used to run the products. So we can test them at your shop. I have Cermark 6000 and LBT and we have a 40 watt laser and 120 watt laser.

Excellent information. I noticed video was produced 4 years ago. Any update information since that time I should be aware of? have a few projects I am looking at wanting to put a metal label plate on, but after the engraving I would need to bend the metal to be able to mount. I am bending around a lineman's pole that is about 25" in circumference. Any issue with the marked areas possibly cracking or degrading while bending the metal? Obviously I need to find thin enough metal to bend.

Hi, this was a very helpful video, thank you. Can you use a 5w CO2 laser, or do you need 40w to mark on brass with Cermark?

I'm curious about durability when heated. Will the marking burn off if the metal gets hot? I am considering using this for marking some 3D printer parts which will get very hot (over 300 degrees Celsius).

Thanks. Great video - I know this is a bit old but have you tried OMTech? Curious how it fares.

I have a metal that is vacuum plated black and cannot engrave it off. is there any spray that will engrave white?

Do these products work with the xtools d1 makebox diode laser?

do you know if the engraving would act as a resist in acid etching? basically you would engrave the area you wanted to protect from the acid.

Hi, I cant find any of those produt here in my country not even on marketplace. Is there any subtitute chemical materials to etch metal?

Fantastic review!! Do you think the LBT100 would work with a diode laser instead of CO2?? I'm trying to decide between the Ortur Master 2 and a China branded K40

LBT must have upped their prices after your review! 60 bucks for Enduramark VS 80 bucks for LBT.

Great vid! Have you thought about doing some tests on different low cost DIY concoctions people are mixing themselves, like plaster and alcohol etc.?

congratulations for the video, I would like to understand if it is also good for diode lasers and if there is someone who sells one of these products in Europe. thanks

For the Sq. inch cost did you actually use each product from a full container until it was totally empty (or not dispensing enough usable product)?!?

Hi Paul, great video. Are you using "anodized" aluminum for your test?

I tried the Moly lube based on your review, but I'm having a hard time getting it all to wash off after lasering. Any suggestions for me? Thank you!

Very interesting video!!! In your experience do you think i gan engrave on brass also with a diode laser? I have an atomstack x7 and try to ask brilliance and cermark if his product can work for me on brass, but both say NO! Because his product is not for Diode laser. I'm searching for someone that have tested it! But it seems you have a professional laser....

Hi. I have a CNC plotter that might have a laser module mounted on it. What do you think should be the minimum laser power that would do the job according to your demonstration? Thank you!

Great review. I am researching laser etching for stainless steel machine parts. Do you have a recommendation on a decent but cost effective laser?

Hello, this is a great video. =) So, I have a laser that is far less powerful than yours. It's just a little 1000mw laser, (which is equal to half a watt) however it did come with dog tags and wood, as if it is able to engrave on them. For a while I couldn't get it to engrave on the wood, but as I adjusted the laser, it definitely does, pretty well too. I've been trying to figure out how to make it engrave the metal dogtags. It came with a marker to I guess block the shine so it would engrave, but I couldn't get it to work, so I bought LBT100 and thought surely this would do the trick. Well I still haven't figured it out yet. I was wondering, are you able to adjust how many watts your laser uses at once? If so, would you mind just testing a stainless steel with lbt100 and just see if it is at all possible to engrave it (see if it works) at half a watt on your laser engraver and just let me know? I don't want to give up just yet. You seem to know what you're doing and I thought you might be able to make it engrave at that low of watt. Thank you. =) Blessings

Great job on the video. I would like to know the wattage of your machine that you ran the test on. As I have a 40 watt machine so I'm not sure that your 98% power would be the same as mine if using a different wattage machine.

Cool

Do you know of any product that will allow me to laser engrave fine black onto a white painted chassis? Or a white paint that will laze black rather than fully ablate away during engraving?

anyone used drymoly on nickel plated SS? I have a request to do it, but can't find any info on if it will work...

manganese dioxide in alkaline batteries is what I use

Did you ever try the molybdenum by itself, I know in a past video you had a lab container of it.

Hi, great video. Do you know how to make stainless steel have that nice shiny finish AFTER you engrave it? I'm learning how to engrave dogtags to sell them and want them to look nice once they're engraved with a nice very shiny finish. Since you have to do this on unfinished stainless steel, do you know is it possible to make it very professionally shiny after they're done? Thank you. =)

no sharpie test?

We have 2 quick questions: We own a 40W Trotec Speedy 100 that gives us the distance traveled/speed in inches (110 IPS). So how do we determine our MMPI? Math??? Ugh! ;-) And our follow up question: Does PPI come into play in this math party?

Does any of these work with an xtool 10w diode laser?

Where can I buy LBT in Canada? Or online that ships to canada? Cant find it anywhere :(

What about brilliance laser inks?

in your other video, the DryMoly gives the best result while it is the worst in this video

Great review, thank you! I'm kinda surprised that someone hasn't come up with a much more economical way to coat these metals, something that we could mix up at home and then apply. This stuff reminds me of the way the printer manufacturers raped people for years for their printing inks. They made fortunes from that stuff, and didn't mind bending their customers over for it.

May I ask one more question? I'm about to do this on jewelry. Do you know if this machine can do this on silver or gold? Thank you.

honestly, Why are these products so expensive? users are being taken advantage of. Yes these products work for what they are designed for. The sellers know what they can charge,

What? No Grey Poupon? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-B60nXwhK9gk.html works on stainless steel only, per the video. Do you run the laser at the rated power levels indicated on your list, or are you adjusting the figures for the maximum safe level for your tube? Many Chinese lasers are rated much lower than the advertised figures and one has to use a milliammeter to proper set a safe top end power level.

Seems to me that you should pick the best product that wins in most the categories most import to you and then send a sample out to a testing lab and have them test it with a simple mass spectrometer test to see what is actually in the stuff and in what proportions. (reverse engineering) I was an industrial photographer for many years and there was a spectacular solution for cleaning finger prints and dirt, oils etc off negatives and especially color slides, It smelled vaguely familiar but was hard to place the smell. It was absurdly expensive at about $30.00 for 2 oz. One of my customers was a chemical testing lab, and the chief chemist was an amateur photographer and we were talking one day about this cleaning fluid. He asked to I if I'd give him some to test for his own use. So I did. Three days l he gave me a complete chemical analysis of the liquid and instructions on how to make it! It turned out all of the chemicals could be bought cheaply at most hardware or paint stores except for one, and he gave me the name of a chemical supplier I could buy the liquid chemical in bulk. For the same $30 I could make a gallon of the stuff. It lased me for a number of years!! If you're in business you gotta do what it takes to reduce operating costs!! Everyone does it! I wouldn't for a minute doubt that the chemical that blackens when hit by the laser beam is the same type thermal set plastic possibly used used in laser printer cartridges for black ink. Actually I think I'll take one on my laser refill kits and experiment adding the dry pigment into a solvent, spray it and see what happens!

Yeah so I’m replicating your experiment and not getting the same results lbt100

At $60+ a can, wouldn't take much to pay for a new 60-80 watt laser for your machine..