Get Creative With Anodised Aluminium
Engraving
Video Description
In this video, Luke talks about the advantages of Anodised aluminium – an aluminium-based product with an anodic coating to create color or a finish, and it seals off the material. When engraved it creates a nice crisp white or silver mark compared to other materials such as stainless steel, which typrically produces a black mark. There is a wide array of colours and thicknesses., as well as a variety of finishes in both gloss and matte.
Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Luke from O’Brien Engineering, and this is Material Mondays, where we take a closer look at one of our speciality materials from our extensive range.
Today, we’re focusing on anodised aluminium. These can be purchased as sheets, or you can utilise our in-house machinery to cut, fold, and process them to create a custom product tailored to your specific requirements.
Anodised aluminium is an aluminium-based product that undergoes an anodic coating process to add colour or a specific finish while sealing the material. Depending on your engraving setup, you’ll achieve a nice, crisp white or silver mark, compared to stainless steel, which typically results in a black mark.
There is a wide range of colours and thicknesses available. As a standard stock product, we carry thicknesses from 0.5mm through to 3mm.
Here, we have our premium anodised range. We stock several different anodised options, including some processed locally in Australia. This particular range comes from Europe and offers our most consistent and highest-quality coating. At 16+ microns, it is well-suited for both interior and exterior use.
You can see the variety of colours available in both gloss and matte finishes. There are also different textures, including beautifully brushed silvers, which are ideal for signage and other applications. The material can also be laser cut to create finished letters and characters.
This is our 1mm premium anodised aluminium, which has been directly fibre-marked. You can see the incredibly fine detail – the text here is probably only 3 or 4mm high with a stroke as fine as 0.3mm, yet it remains crisp and precise.
We’ve spent a lot of time sourcing and helping to manufacture products with superior coatings that meet our customers’ requirements. This 16+ micron coating strikes the perfect balance, making it suitable for both laser and rotary engraving. If the coating is too thick or of substandard quality, you might experience chipping or greyish engraving. Ensuring the correct coating thickness, quality, and consistency ultimately results in a better final product when you engrave or process the material yourself.
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