Laser Engraving

Facts About Laser Engraving and What We Can Do With A Laser...

Job Perfection Using the Red Dot Pointer
The red dot pointer provides a visible red laser beam that is a helpful tool for providing a visible means of determining the engraving or cutting location within the engraving table on odd-shaped items.

At Gem We often use the Red Dot Pointer to preview the engraving or cutting position on a project. By sending over the job with The Red Dot Pointer enabled but the door to the laser open, the laser tube will not fire, but they can see exactly where the laser is going to engrave or cut the job.

If engraving on an irregularly shaped item, like a knife handle, We can draw a box around the text or image We are engraving, print it to the laser, and run it with the red dot pointer on to see if everything is lined up before you ever engrave it. This saves you time and anxiety, especially when engraving on a special, one-of-a-kind piece!

Air Assist
As the laser cuts through material, some materials will have a little bit of flame up. While not dangerous to you, it will scorch the edges of your material. To reduce this problem, We Use the Air Assist assembly as standard on all Laser Jobs.

Air Assist is most commonly used in vector cutting applications to remove heat and combustible gases from the cutting surface. By directing a constant stream of compressed air across the cutting surface, the possibility of flaming, scorching and charring is reduced when cutting materials such as wood, acrylic and rubber.

3D Engraving
We can create stunning 3D images using our laser system! With our regular engraving setting, the laser will interpret greyscale images like a printer does - by firing the laser closer together wherever the image is darker. This removes more material at that point, which is why photographs and detailed artwork come out so well when engraved with a Laser. With the 3D setting activated, the laser will also adjust the power it applies to the material based on the greyscale value of the artwork, giving it a true 3D appearance with sloped edges to the engraving.

Stamp Engraving
With Our line laser engraver we can quickly and easily produce clean, sharp rubber stamps at a lower cost than using traditional methods.

Self-inking and pre-inking micro porous rubbers are readily available for laser engraving. No more need for expensive chemicals or time consuming photo processing of your artwork. The laser burns directly into the rubber, producing high quality stamps.

What Else Can We Do with our Laser...........

Of Course there is more Such as

OR Why Not Check out the Robot Built By Dave Stevens & James Bickerton for College Project " Robot"

A few things to remember when sending in graphics:

	If you send in a graphic that is very low image quality, the laser will not be able to engrave it well on any material. The best results are from images that are 300 DPI or above.
	Images that you copy from a website are 72 DPI and will not engrave well.
	If you are looking for a graphic to be engraved on a 10" x 7" plaque, and the original image is only 2" across, we have to expand the image, and it probably won't engrave well. As you expand an image, each pixel expands, reducing the image quality.

What Materials Can We Work With Using the Laser Technology In Use at GEM?

Laser Materials
Our CO2 laser engraving systems can engrave, cut, or mark many materials. Take a look below at a few examples.

If you have a material that you don't see on the list, or would like to see a sample engraving or cutting, e-mail us at mailto:%20sales@gemengraving.co.uk.

Below are a few of the many materials that can work with on Our laser system!

Material	Engrave	Cut

Wood - Many Types	x	x
Plastic - Many Types	x	x
Acrylic	x	x
Glass/ Crystal	x
Coated Metals -Anodised Etc	x
Ceramic	x
Delrin	x	x
Cloth	x	x
Leather	x	x
Marble	x
Matte Board	x	x
Melamine	x	x
Paper	x	x
Mylar	x	x
Pressboard	x	x
Anodized Aluminium	x
Rubber	x	x
Wood Veneer	x	x
Fibreglass	x	x
Stainless Steel	x
Painted Metals	x
Tile	x
Cork	x	x
Corian	x	x

The Advantages of Laser Engraving
There are many advantages to laser engraving over other engraving methods. The laser uses a beam of light as the engraving tool, so no part of the machinery actually touches the material being engraved. This means that you don't need a special system to hold down your engraving material, and there are less consumables with an laser system.

Laser engraving produces a permanent, crisp, highly detailed mark, engraving images at up to 1200 dots per inch. The engraving quality at the resolution is unmatched for reproducing graphics. Lasers also provide an extremely effective way to create your products. With a laser system, if we want to engrave multiple pieces, we can create a jig to hold the products in place, put the jig in the laser, and engrave as many pieces as fit in the engraving table.

The Advantages of Laser Cutting
There are many advantages to laser cutting over other cutting methods methods. The laser creates a beam of light that is used to cut through the material, so there is no part of the laser system in contact with the material you are cutting, so gravity can hold the material in place. For thinner materials, our laser system include an Integrated Vacuum Table to hold down papers, fabrics, and thin plastics as we cut through the material.

Laser cutting produces a crisp cut that works well with a multitude of materials. On acrylic, you can achieve a clear, shiny edge, while on fabrics the laser will sear the fabric so that it won't unravel.

Laser cutting materials with a CO2 laser allows us to create intricate designs and highly detailed inlays

The Advantages of Laser Metal Marking
Non-contact CO2 laser marking is an excellent method of permanently marking your products. While traditional metal engraving removes part of the tool, changing the strength of the part, the laser mark is actually on top of the metal. Because of the metal marking paste reaction with the laser.

While the CO2 laser system that GEM Utilises is not able to engrave into or cut metal, we can still work with many different types of metal. Using a two-step process called Metal Marking we can permanently mark bare metals with 2D and data matrix bar codes, serial numbers and logos.

The Operation is as follows, Paste a metal marking solution on the bare metal, let it dry, and laser engrave the image into the metal. Wash off the material with water and you have a great way to permanently mark metal!

Is the mark truly permanent?
Physical testing on the metal marking has shown the marks to be resistant to several common strong acids, bases, organic solvents and extreme heat or cold. The laser mark also has good salt spray resistance, scratch resistance and QUV resistance.

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