Metal Portrait Etching: 12ga 316SS

Metal portrait etching can be performed by CNCROi.com using any high-contrast black and white image onto any type or size of metal that matches the tolerances required.

For this specific metal portrait etching project, the metal used was 316 stainless steel with #4 finish, the thickness was 12 ga, which is roughly a tad less than 1/8″ or 3 mm thick and the size is 8″ x 10″.

The image you see is of my son Simon, flexing his 2 year old muscles, so it’s of course something you want etched permanently onto stainless steel forever, the dark you see on the metal plate will never fade, crack or peel and the overall plate will outlast the last human on Earth.

CNCROi.com has a wide variety of technologies to make family portraits out of literally anything you want.

I used my fiber laser on my laser machine to permanently etch his picture into the stainless steel, the image was edited to greatly increase the contrast and transform the color image into black and white.

The surface of the stainless steel has been brushed, that’s why it’s called #4 finish at the top of this blog post, this work is done at the mill and CNCROi.com orders it specifically this way for some of the work we do in the shop.

The bright light you see in the photos and video showing the metal portrait etching process isn’t the laser, that’s completely invisible, it’s the result of the laser hitting the stainless steel and the steel thus reacting to the energy pushed into it.

Although a very slow process, CNCROi.com can also do portraits actually carved into wood at very high resolution.

When it comes to fiber etching, any mix of graphics (black and white) and fonts work well, there really isn’t any limit when it comes to what’s possible when it comes to using this technology for projects big or small.

The reason for the black and white requirement for metal portrait etching at CNCROi.com is due to the fact that the laser is either on or off, there isn’t any coloring options so you have black if the laser is on and nothing but beautiful stainless steel if it’s off, there is no in between possible on the material or the machine used to do it with.

The reason that fiber laser etching on stainless steel is so durable is because there is nothing added to the metal to create the “color”, it’s the metal itself that’s scratched.

As such, there are no inks, dyes or any other “thing” added to the surface of the metal portrait etching project, thus nothing can come off via cracking, fading or peeling.

I think I have more wood and metal portraits on wood and other materials on the walls than color photographs… they are just such a great use of the platforms we have and are just so unique.

The etching detail CNCROi.com can achieve on metal is over a thousand DPI but we rarely etch at that level of detail because the process can’t hold onto it, meaning the etching on the metal and the interaction it has with the laser produces a result that’s lower than that threshold so going higher DPI doesn’t produce any “human eye” different results.

You can begin to see the quality of the metal portrait etching coming from into light, literally, the eyes look fantastic in the above picture and being stainless steel, you can actually see the reflection of the laser and the working environment on the portrait itself.

His powerful little muscles are coming out clearly now, he’s a great kid and I’m happy to have this hang in my gym so I can look forward to Simon joining me there when he’s older.

What do I have on my living room wall? This!

Fiber etching at CNCROi.com is a permanent process, so this metal portrait etching can’t be touched-up or edited after the fact, a new piece of stainless steel must be used if this got screwed-up for any reason.

Now that Simon is coming into light, you can start to appreciate just how amazing stainless steel makes photographs look, never mind the crazy durability factor.

CNCROi.com can of course cut out the plates for you, in any quantity, so we certainly are not limited to only etching, or metal, by any means.

If you are looking for unique branding possibilities using lasers, here’s an example done on a typical stainless steel pan, of course, it’s still totally food grade and you can still cook with it!

I can’t think of any process that does such a wonderful job on stainless steel, acid etching is a cool technology that I hope to get into down the line, but it doesn’t produce the contrast that you see from the fiber etching process, it just creates depth that then needs to be literally paint filled.

Here’s the finished metal portrait etching of Simon flexing, he looks great and the overall effect is just fantastic.

After applying a layer of seal over it, just so fingerprints don’t become an issue, thus requiring constant cleaning, you can see how it changes based on the environment it finds itself in, regardless of where you put this metal portrait etching, it will fit perfectly, reflecting the environment it’s found in.

If  you want something like this, or done on wood or anything else, send us a few photos if you have them, preferably in black and white at high resolution, and we’ll have a look at what’s possible.

If you need a metal portrait etching project completed, contact CNCROi.com right now!