Stainless Dog Tag

Prepare your dog tag.  I use 91% isopropyl alcohol to clean both sides of the dog tag.  I also removed the link if it is attached.

Using Brilliance spray, spray a light, but even coat of Brilliance onto the surface of the dog tag.  If the Brilliance appears to be running, just rotate your dog tag a bit while the Brilliance is drying (it starts drying pretty quickly) to avoid thick areas of Brilliance.  Let dry completely.  I let mine sit for about 15 minutes.

Place your tag under the laser focus dot, close the lid, and auto measure.  You can then choose to leave the tag in place and engrave it there, or move it up closer to the camera.  My M1 has a honeycomb, on the highest position.

Create your design / text.  For this example, I just used a simple name and used a font included in the XCS software.  You can use any font.

Here's a tip for centering your tag … you can do this before or after you create your text …

If you do this after you create your text, make sure you “ignore” the output for now.

Draw a rectangle around your text (if present) or around the area on the dog tag that you wish to engrave.  Set the output to “output,” then hit framing.  Slow down the framing speed quite a bit so you can see the actual path more easily for framing.  Make sure to hit the button on the front of the M1 to start the framing process.

Watch the laser frame carefully.  Go back to the XCS software and adjust the position and/or size of your rectangle.  Repeat the framing process as many times as necessary until you are sure you have the rectangle framing exactly where on the dog tag you want the engraving to be.

Ignore the output of the rectangle.  Change the output of the text to “output.”  You can position the text over your rectangle, and use the align feature to center the rectangle and the text you created both vertically and horizontally.  Make sure the rectangle is set to IGNORE!

Frame one more time … just to be sure!

Now it's time to engrave.  You can use the settings I used, or make your own test file using a blank dog tag.  I used 100 power, and 25 speed, with one pass and 200 lines per cm.  The engraving took about three minutes.  However, I like my stainless engravings to be darker and deeper, so I process a second time.

Once engraving is complete, you can wash the Brilliance off with water, or use alcohol.