General > General Technical Chat

Laser-ing the IC markings off on a budget.

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Arek_R:
Hi I'm looking to into making the product difficult to reverse engineer.
I believe it can be done using some generic hobby grade 5W laser engraver, right?
Has anyone tried doing this?
Does anyone know what's the required power of the laser module to quickly do it?
Thanks.

MuhScopeBroke:
just blast a few junk components with the laser and see what is too much/too little power. You can scrape those markings off with an exacto knife so I bet its doable with a laser

janoc:
I guess you are not doing this in volume (hobby grade engraver ...) so even a Dremel and a sanding disc will do it.

On the other hand, this is a pretty futile thing to do if you are hoping that it will make the product difficult to reverse engineer. People routinely decap ICs these days to identify them, especially anyone who could be sufficiently motivated to copy your product.

However, what you certainly will achieve by doing this is earning the unmitigated hate of anyone who will have to repair your product later (I do hope it is not meant to be disposable ...). I.e. typically your own clients.

Arek_R:
I know everything can be reverse engineered.
It's mostly to make the directors and managers sleep better.
It is for a product that will sell around 10k units a year, and is not intended to be repairable.
And hobby grade so that it proves how easy it is to do.
You also don't need laser precision, +/-1mm is acceptable.
Later on might buy prosumer machine.

daqq:
On using a Dremel as was advised... beware. Those are some nasty vibrations applied onto the pins and part and it could result in issues. I've actually had pins that got broken off of the solder when I used a Dremel to "adjust" the board shape.

As to removing markings in general: Avoid. It's a trivial inconvenience to even a slightly dedicated reverse engineer, adds processing and equipment cost.

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