Laser engraving is a process of using a laser beam to etch or carve designs or patterns into various materials such as wood, plastic, glass, leather, metal, and more. The laser beam is controlled by a computer program that directs it to follow a specific pattern or design, allowing for intricate and precise designs to be engraved onto the material.
During the laser engraving process, the laser beam heats up and vaporizes the material it comes into contact with, creating a permanent mark on the surface of the material. The depth and intensity of the engraving can be controlled by adjusting the power and speed of the laser beam, allowing for different effects and textures to be achieved.
Laser engraving is commonly used in a variety of industries, including woodworking, jewellery making, signage, and promotional products. It is a popular method of customisation for items such as trophies, awards, and personalized gifts.
GETi offer a 2D and 3D laser engraving service to the trade. Laser Engraving Birmingham - Samples Gallery >>>
Laser Engraving is an aggressive method of creating deep relief engravings on most metals and some stones, popular metals engraved include: Silver, Gold, Platinum, Palladium, Tungsten, Stainless Steel, Cobalt Chrome, Copper, Titanium and Zirconium.
Items engraved include: engraving for wedding rings, watches, rings, cufflinks, earrings, pendants, brooches, lighters, hip flasks.
The depth of the engraving is mainly dependant on the power of the machine and the number of passes, simple text on rings would be done shallower than say, a design on the outside of a ring that needs to withstand the rigours of time and wear and tear.
Laser marking is usually achieved by removing very little material or by tempering the metal to simply provide a contrast with the surrounding material. This is useful where items are very thin and by using too high a setting would result in burning through the item, for example a watch back. By adjusting the frequency and wave form of the laser beam, contrasting colours can be achieved on materials like Stainless Steel and Titanium such as green, blue, purple and black.
The majority of the engravings we carry out are 2D, meaning that the items are engraved from a simple (or complex) black and white image and on 2 levels. We also have the capability to create 3D engravings which involves creating a 3D model of a design, such as a crest for a seal ring and slicing the design into minute layers before transferring to the machine. The laser then burns the design a layer at a time to create the 3D model in metal. 3D engraving is quite an expensive process mainly due to the fact that creating the model in the first place could be more time consuming than the actual engraving cycle. The results however are stunning and amazing detail can be achieved.
Our maximum working area is 100mm x 100mm, although it may be possible to engrave larger areas than this by splitting the graphic and moving the metal around.
The best digital format for us to work to for 2D engraving is .svg file extensions. We can also work from .jpg and PDF and the graphics should be provided as black and white, with black being the area of metal to be removed.
3D Laser Engraving
The latest laser engraving technology for creating true contour height variable engravings up to 14 millimetres deep.
This method enables the laser engraving of full 3D models directly from customer projects into metal.
It requires a 3D CAD model (Rhino or ArtCam files) of only the material that is being removed by the laser. The CAD file export needed for this process is an STL file.
Slice data is generated by the CAD software & pre-set parameters are applied to each layer depending on the metal being lasered as these are cut one slice at a time.
Minute incremental height control maintains constant laser focus throughout the process.
The 3D model forms into the material as the laser removes each layer.
If you do not have a 3D file available but have a 2D outline or vector file, we can create the STL file for you.
