How To Understand Laser Engraving

Engraving with a laser is actually a simple process. A laser is merely a tool. Laser can engrave most materials today. The most popular materials in the engraving fields are coated metals, wood, acrylic, glass, leather, marble, plastic, and a host of synthetic materials made specifically for lasers. Although it's confusing sometimes laser marking is referred to as laser etching. Unlike conventional etching, laser etching simply needs no masks or chemicals.

It was back in the early 1960's when scientists first discovered, that they could create a light source, focus the energy and have a tool powerful enough to affect certain materials. Laser marking is the favored marking method when permanency or aesthetics are needed. It didn't take very long for the engraving industry to notice lasers and soon lasers were being used for a wide variety of industrial applications including welding, heat-treating, etching and engraving.

If you think of a laser as a light source similar to a light bulb you'll know that a light bulb will emit energy out all around it. And the term laser etching is basically just another name for laser engraving.

The ability to laser cut complex profiles can eliminate the need for additional operations, making laser cutting very economical. And laser cutting offers a superior cut-edge quality with parallel sides and with no burrs. Laser cutting adds high precision, reduced contamination or warping, and a good quality finish to industrial cutting applications.

The laser metal cutting option can be added to some of the laser cutting machines. A laser works very well for the cutting of acrylic (Plexiglas), PETG, thin polycarbonates (Mylar), styrene expanded PVC (Sintra), wood, paper and fabric.

You can easily laser mark in batches of anything from 1 to 10,000. Co2 lasers can provide excellent results for the marking of glass and also provide significant reductions in operating costs and the cost of supplies. Laser marking is also preferred when the part to be marked is too small or has too complex of a shape to be marked with anything but laser etching.

The typical industries that use laser marking include the promotional, engineering and medical industries. To review, laser marking is a process in which material is indelibly marked at very fast speeds (milliseconds per character). The laser marking of glass by Co2 lasers on the fly or while moving can be an excellent addition today for many industrial environments and applications for glass marking.

Also you nay have seen some of the kiosks in malls and specialty stores for laser engraving services because it's now the most common type of engraving. Quite a few companies today make laser engraving machines, laser marking systems and laser etching equipment.

Laser engraving can be used for most of the jobs currently being carried out by the conventional industrial engravers. Of the many items being engraved by lasers today, iPods and laptops rank among the highest in the consumer marketplace. And the laser engraving of metal uses the most power especially if the metal is of the harder type.

For more information on laser engraving and laser engraving machines, laser marking, laser etching and laser cutting go to http://www.EngravingLaser.net for tips, help, facts, free resources, including information on all types of laser engraving

Laser Cutting Services

If purchasing a laser cutting machine is too costly for you, seeking the help of laser cutting service providers is your best option. Laser cutting service providers make use of high precision, high-speed and high power laser cutting machines to cut wide variety of materials including metal, plastic, rubber, wood, stone, glass and other composite materials.

Laser cutting technology is advantageous, especially if you are in the metal fabrication business since laser can cut sheet and tubular profile metals and multi-dimension metals with extreme precision. Metals cut by a laser are clean, distortion free and need not undergo further processing. Hence, you can significantly reduce production expenses and production time if you use this technology.

The most commonly used lasers for cutting are CO2 lasers (carbon dioxide lasers) and Nd:YAG lasers (neodymium-doped, yttrium aluminum garnet lasers). CO2 lasers are usually operated with 1-1.5 kilo watts, although thicker metals may need more than more than 2000-watt laser power. A 5 kW carbon dioxide laser is capable of cutting even up to 30m of a 1 mm thick material in a minute.

Carbon dioxide and Nd:YAG lasers work by focusing the highly concentrated beam of single-wavelength light on a tiny area of the material to be cut, usually less than .5 millimeter in size. The laser light is transmitted to the object through special lenses. A small hole is first made and then a cut is generated by moving the laser beam across the area being cut or by moving the object while the laser stands still.

Services offered by laser cutting companies vary. Most services offered by companies in US usually come in a package in conjunction with other services like support in conceptualizing of design, use of CAD/CAM, quality control, technical consulting and delivery of products.

Complete laser cutting service providers also help you source high quality materials, determine manufacturing cost, evaluate, redesign and improve your products so as to increase their market value.

If you want excellent laser cutting services, it would be best to look for service providers that meet highest quality standards.

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