×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

looking for advice

looking for advice

looking for advice

(OP)
I am looking to cure a water-based UV curable coating onto a machined aluminum surface. I want to completely cover the surface with the coating via spray application, then selectively cure 5mm spots on the surface. I will rinse away the uncured material, leaving only the spots behind. The surface elevations ("Z" height) above the table will vary up to 150mm on each part, and I will need to cure several hundred - up to a thousand - spots. The spots will serve as target guides for subsequent machining operations.

The coating cures at 365nm, min 50mw/sq cm, with roughly a 20 second exposure. I would like to decrease the time to cure dramatically, while accommodating any surface contour.

And, of course, I'm being told to stay n the inexpensive side.

Any lasers out there that can do this? Must be durable enough for use in a tool room/manufacturing environment.

thanks

RE: looking for advice

(OP)
can you make a recommendation for under $2500?

RE: looking for advice

LOL... no. A quality galvo system alone will cost you in the $15-20k range, and that doesn't include a good UV source.

Is there a reason you have to use the coating? An IR galvo fiber laser would directly mark it, and you wouldn't need much power (a 10W system would be sufficient). Figure $25-30k, give or take.

Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources