New Engraving Machine A simple guide for finding the right engraving machine

Laser Engraving Machine

Laser engraving is the process of using a laser to engrave patterns or words into an object.  The use of a laser for engraving is very technical and often needs the use of a computer to direct the minute movements of the laser.  Even though the difficulty/complexity of laser engraving is pretty high, most people are fairly successful at doing it.  There are many perks to do laser engraving instead of traditional mechanical engraving using tool bits due to the fact that the laser will never wear out.  This is a major advantage because of the reduced cost of having to buy new parts every so often.

There are some cases where changing or damaging the surface of the item by engraving isn’t desired.  In these cases, there are alternative “marking” techniques and processes people can do instead.  Marking is fairly generic and can refer to techniques like printing, hot-branding, and laser bonding.  In many cases, a laser engraving machine can do marking which normally would have have to be done using something else.

A laser engraving machine is made up in three parts:  a laser, a controller, and a plane (surface).  The laser is what is used to mark or engrave onto the surface of the item.  The controller–a computer in most cases–controls the power, direction, speed, and spread of the laser being used.  The surface is chosen to match what works with the laser.

There are a variety of materials that can be engraved using a laser.  Burning or engraving wood was one of the first things done with a laser engraver.  When engraving wood, the best wood to be engraved are hardwoods (walnut, oak, mahogany, and maple).  Softwoods can be engraved sometimes too but at very tiny depths can end up being vaporized.  After wood, there are tons of other materials that have been used for engraving.

Acrylic plastics and other resins have been great for laser engraving.  An award is often engraved using a cast acrylic shape that was designed for a laser engraving machine.  Lasers are also used on thermoforming plastics often seen on the date-stamp of soda bottles purchased from the store.

The most common and profitable laser engraving material is jewelry.  As the demand for personalized jewelry has grown and grown, engravers and jewelry makers have seen the benefits of having a laser engraving machine.  With a laser, jewelers have discovered they can accomplish difficult engraving jobs with greater precision and speed.  Laser engravers used for jewelry are also fairly small and can fit right on a desktop making it easier for anyone to get into jewelry engraving.