# Which resin best to resist laser etching

**URL:** <https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529>\
**Category:** Form 1/1+\
**Created:** [May 31, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529 "2017-05-31T11:22:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jeneva3dprint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@jeneva3dprint](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/jeneva3dprint)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529/1 "2017-05-31T11:22:23Z")

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I have a customer who wants me to print a part to be used to hold metal for laser etching. Anyone had experience of which material resists laser etching?

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**Author:** ![FredB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@FredB](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/FredB)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529/2 "2017-05-31T18:37:08Z")

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Really none of the Formlabs resins are going to be resistant to a laser strong enough to etch metal. You’ll need some kind of shield to keep the laser off of the printed surface. Or just don’t run the laser on the print.

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**Author:** ![Brandon\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/74df32/32.png) [@Brandon\_A](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Brandon_A)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529/3 "2017-05-31T22:09:08Z")

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> [@FredB](#):
>
> Or just don’t run the laser on the print.

^This^  
I would push back to the customer and ask if they really need it to withstand direct laser exposure. Should we be concerned with scattered energy from the etching process? I would think not but I’ve been known to be wrong.

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**Author:** ![Randy\_Cohen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/randy_cohen/32/1500_2.png) [@Randy\_Cohen](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/Randy_Cohen)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529/4 "2017-06-01T01:57:17Z")

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The customer must be smart enough to realize anything exposed directly to the laser has to be at least as heat resistant as what’s being etched, and that any printed plastic will have a much lower melting point. They have to be thinking “incident” reflections. For that, where exposure time at any one spot is likely to be very short, High Temp might work. Though High Temp isn’t very strong, mechanically so the part may have to be “over designed” to be strong enough.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/uploads/formlabs/original/3X/5/b/5bc2bdf993ff27c2e0eecab5010b25626fbb327a.png) [@system](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 16, 2017, 7:57am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/which-resin-best-to-resist-laser-etching/13529/5 "2017-06-16T07:57:33Z")

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