Spraying Metal Before Engraving

Has anyone tried using anodizing spray to coat metals before engraving such as shown here: https://duplicolor.com/product/metalcast-anodized-automotive-paint

Wondering if this would be safe and if this is an alternative to coating a metal such as a dog tag and etching off the color to display an engrave?

Will this be an alternative to anodized items?


The definitive answer will require the MSDS for the paint. I suspect it will work but you may run a health or laser damage risk.

True anodized aluminum is both a color and a protective layer. The dye is impregnated into a layer of aluminum oxide that protects the surface from corrosion. When the laser is applied to the anodized surface, it ablates the dye, leaving behind the aluminum surface. This would do something similar but the paint would act like paint, not anodizing, and could chip and flake. The lasered area will also be lower than the paint, leaving a rough surface.


SDS’s are listed on the bottom of the page. Definitely don’t want to breathe that stuff in while spraying!

Decomp looked relatively benign though:
carbon dioxide
carbon monoxide
metal oxide/oxides

1 Like