What is a laser engraver? What can it do?

Laser engraving is a subset of laser marking, which is a process in which a laser beam is used to physically remove the surface of a material in order to expose...

Oct 20,2023 | Gladys

Laser engraving is a subset of laser marking, which is a process in which a laser beam is used to physically remove the surface of a material in order to expose a cavity, where the image is exposed at line-of-sight level. The laser generates high heat during the engraving process, which can cause the material to vaporize.

The emitted laser beam allows a controller (usually a computer) to track the pattern of the surface and manage the direction,laserpecker pro 2, intensity, speed of travel and scatter of the laser beam aimed at the surface.

What surfaces are available for engraving? Wood, leather and glass are all suitable materials. Standard cast acrylic plastics, acrylic plastic sheets, and other cast resins usually laser well, as do anodized aluminum and other coated metals.

What development process? Selected as a study material and desired design, these study materials are created in a graphics application on a computer and sent to the laser. The material is placed into an engraving machine which then engraves the artistic design.

Applications for this technology range from marking industrial parts for identification and traceability to makerspace and DIY uses.

Depending on the design, the laser medium can consist of a gas mixture (CO 2 lasers), a crystal (YAG lasers) or a glass fiber (fiber lasers). When energy is supplied to laserpecker laser engraver medium through a pump source, it emits energy in the form of radiation.

CO2 lasers are widely used due to their high efficiency and good beam quality. They have a wavelength of 10.6 microns and are suitable for processing a wide range of non-metallic materials and most plastics.

Fiber optics as lasers have a wavelength of 1.064 μm and are not usually used to perform organic bonding of materials. However, they are the lasers of choice for direct impact metals and engineered construction plastics that can be marked.

Crystal lasers have the same wavelength as fiber lasers and are equally suitable for marking metals and plastics. The laserpecker 1 pro equipment includes relatively expensive pump diodes that must be replaced after about 15,000 laser hours. The crystals themselves also have a shorter life than fiber lasers.

By programming the controller, different patterns can be engraved to cross a specific path of the laser beam over time. Carefully adjust the trajectory of the laser beam to achieve a consistent depth of material removal. The speed at which the beam moves across the material should also be considered when creating the engraving pattern. Design flexibility can be improved by varying the intensity and dispersion of the beam. For example, by varying the duty cycle or the percentage of time the laser is on during each pulse, the power delivered to the engraved surface can be properly controlled.

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