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AR15.COM
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3/6/2017 6:05:39 PM EDT
Has anyone ever tried laser etching a slide? We just bought a 30 watt laser at work and I was thinking of doing the slide on my Glock. It's a competition gun and very worn and scratched up anyway. I was thinking it would be fun to do scroll work and some cheesy saying in Latin (I don't take these things too seriously ).

I have design software, but was hoping for a source for downloading the scrollwork imagery to save me A LOT of time doing it myself. Also and advice on actually doing the work?


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3/10/2017 9:50:08 AM EDT
[#1]
I am curious about the etcher you purchased...do you think it would etch lower? pricy?
My nephew had his Glock 19 done with 'We The People" by someone in his hometown in MO & it looks pretty bad-ass
3/11/2017 12:50:19 AM EDT
[#2]
Lower is Tupperware, it can easily be stippled, or engraved by co2 or fiber laser.  Upper being steel, co2 laser won't cut it, can mark it. Fiber laser will cut into the steel. Go to lone Wolf site and see what a fiber can do.....
Ive got a fiber due in a week, I can't wait till I can do some cutting and engraving with mine on my guns to start with.  Got to get my ffl to be legal to charge some customers!
3/11/2017 12:58:57 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote History
Quoted:
I am curious about the etcher you purchased...do you think it would etch lower? pricy?
My nephew had his Glock 19 done with 'We The People" by someone in his hometown in MO & it looks pretty bad-ass
View Quote
It will etch anything depending on intensity. It's a 30 watt fiber laser, so  pretty sure you can remove a decent amount of metal, definitely enough to easily feel it. It was around $12k, not exactly a home application thing.
3/11/2017 1:43:39 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote History
Quoted:
Got to get my ffl to be legal to charge some customers!
View Quote


Only if they are sending the frame, since it's the only part that is the firearm.

Hence the slide is not the actual serial number part/ not the BATF firearm parts, so you could engrave slides all day long with customers sending you just the slides, and would not need a FFL.  Think of the terms of building a AR rifle, and its just the receiver (serial number part) that has to go through a FFL, while everything else on the rifle build can be sent to you directly isntead.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/vvdDAET5tLA[/youtube]
3/20/2017 6:52:14 PM EDT
[#5]
You can with a CO2 laser if you engrave in conjunction to electro etching. That means you paint the steel with a mask and use the laser to remove the mask, then etch.
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