This process is done by a very few, select and highly skilled
engravers. The process can be done on aluminum or composite
material that has a flat surface. This operation consists of the
customer having the panel painted per the directions below.
Painting the panel with a primer, a base coat which will be the
color of the text to approximately a .005" thickness and finally a top coat is
applied. The
panel is engraved through the top coat into the base coat, but
without going to deep into the panel itself. That's why
there are just a few engravers that can do such precision
work, to cut in between the two layers of paint.
Pricing varies depending on the amount of text and graphics,
size, mounting brackets that may interfere with the engraving
process and complexity of mounting the panel on the engraving
machine.
PAINTING ALUMINUM
PANELS DIRECTIONS
OVERVIEW:
Sand aluminum panel, paint primer, sand
primer to remove high areas, paint base color (text color)
(minimum .004" thick), sand base color to remove high
areas, paint top color, sand if needed, repaint top coat lightly
if necessary, let dry, ship.
Detail Directions:
* Sand Aluminum with 220 grit sand paper
* Paint panels with a primer such as Zinc
Chromate
* Measure thickness of the panel now to be
able to determine how thick the base coat paint will be.
* Paint Base Coat (Text Color) to
approximately .005"+ thick. Paint and sand as needed to
achieve a .005"+ thickness before applying the top coat.
More is O.K., but if too thick the paint may crack if the panel
flexes after installation.
* Sand only
the high spots until flush
to surrounding areas. Common areas of concern are around
the holes and edges which tend to have a thicker areas of paint.
The reason for sanding these areas is because our engraving
machine uses a nose cone to control the cutter depth. This nose
cone has a diameter of 3/4" and rides on the painted
surface, if the nose cone were to run over a high spot of paint
it would lift the cutter away from the adjacent surface areas
and the text would not be engraved or have a thinner line width
& depth.
* Paint Top Coat as needed to cover base
coat. Sand and repaint only if necessary.
* Let dry fully before shipping
