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If you want to give your products an individual design or a personal touch, you should consider laser engraving. It is a process that vaporises materials into fumes. Its laser beam acts as a chisel, cutting marks by removing layers from the surface of the material. The laser must collide with localized areas with massive levels of energy to generate high heat required for the vaporisation.
Why Choose Laser Engraving?
There are several engraving methods available, but why should you choose engraving with a laser machine? With all the laser engraving in Melbourne, what makes it so special? What’s the difference between traditional engraving and laser engraving? Here some answers to your question:
- Laser engraving is a process of melting a metal by removing the surface material to create a design or an image.
- Laser marking uses a hardening process which heats the surface of the metal so it changes the colour, leaving behind surface marks without destroying the surface of the material.
- The process provides clean, environmental-friendly technology, which is also chemical and residue-free.
- Laser engraver machines give you the chance to create exquisite designs with no risk to the material you’re using.
- Engraving with laser results in precise detail, which lasts longer than traditional engraving. It is possible to engrave any text or graphics into the material at a very specific depths.
How does Laser Engraving Works?
This process of engraving is quick as the material is removed with each pulse of the laser. The depth of the marks is controlled by how many times the laser beam is passing on the material.
There are two types of laser cutter engraver machines; the first type works by making the lasers move while the workpiece is stable or vice versa. The other machine works by having both the laser and the workpiece immobile while Galvo Mirrors are moving the laser beam on the surface to engrave.
Aside from the two types of laser engraver machines, there’s also two different types of laser engraving: raster and vector engraving.
Raster engraving is the standard process used for laser engraving. With this process, the graphic built from pixels is engraved line by line, point by point. In vector engraving, on the other hand, the graphic containing curves and lines are traced one after the other, vector by vector, by the laser and engraved simultaneously. Vector engraving is also known as scoring.
If you will be using laser engraving for large-area such as filled letters, images, stamps, or wood engraving, raster engraving is the method you should use. But if only thin lines are to be engraved, you should opt-in for vector engraving.
What Materials Can You Use With Laser Engraving?
Laser engraver machine can be used on almost any kind of plastic, wood, metal, leather, or even glass surface. You can engrave different kinds of materials. Aside from that, it is more effective than tradition engraving for small objects, such as jewellery. This method has also smaller chances of damage or deforms to the material. There are many different applications of this process, such as fine are, medical devices, etc. Laser engraving can also be used for industrial applications.
List of File Formats Accepted for Laser Engraving
To be able to use this process, you will need to provide a 2D file, such as vector graphics or a drawing of your image. These are the formats that is commonly used for laser engraving:
- .bmp
- .dwg
- .cdr
- .dxf
- .ai
- .jpg/.jpeg
- .png
- .pds
- .scad
- .eps
- .xps
- .svg
Keep in mind that laser engraving system does not work with any 3D file format such as .stl so be careful.
The model from the file will be converted into dots and the distance between two of these dots will determine the depth of the engraving. After this, the 2D model will be sent to a laser cutter engraver machine.
How Long Does Laser Engraving Last?
A wedding ring engraved with special message should last but it’s permanence rely on several factors. Whatever method it’s done, traditional or laser engraving, the type of material used affects the durability. For example, soft metals scratch easily and are subject to wear and tear, and the contact with the wearer’s skin throughout the years might cause the engraving to blur or become worn out. Engravings made on harder metals last longer, and since laser marking is more effective on harder metals, it generally has a longer lifespan.
Advantages of Laser Engraving
When compared to traditional or mechanical engraving, choosing laser engraving has a lot more benefits. Here are some of them:
- Larger field application: The laser beam can be used in many materials such as glass, wood, MDF, textiles, paper, cardboard, metals, foil, and a whole lot more.
- Non-contact material processing: With laser engraving, the process is contactless so that no chips are produced and, comparatively, very little dust. It saves time and money. Unlike in mechanical engraving, the material often has to be clamped or fixed with a vacuum. This can take time and damage the material.
- No tool wear: Because of the non-contact material processing of the laser, there are no tool costs for drills and cutter.
- Greatest precision and incomparable details: This type of laser cutting technology makes it achievable to implement the finest motifs with maximum precision. Basically, anything that can be drawn can be engraved and marked using a laser.
- Economic production: Whether you’re producing individual pieces, small series or large series, laser engraving is cost-effective and economically feasible.
Summary
When you choose laser engraving, you choose a fast, cost-effective, and precise engraving process. This can help you save a lot of money and preserve the material you will be engraving. There are a lot of available laser engraving companies in Melbourne. Go ahead and contact your local laser cutting experts at Lighting Laser Cutting. You can reach us at 9587 7999. Call us now and let’s discuss your next project!
