With its unparalleled precision, laser equipment shines in cutting many types of materials. Nowadays, with the leap of technology, laser engraving process is not only limited to ultra-high precision cutting, but also expanded to diversified application scenarios, such as precision cutting, fine marking, micro-drilling and deep engraving, etc., which greatly improves the manufacturing efficiency and the possibility of artistic creation. When choosing a laser engraving machine, it is vital to make the right choice for your engraving needs. In this article, we will explore what is the best laser engraving machine for metal? We will take an in-depth look at the various types of laser engravers and laser engraving accessories, and provide expert guidance to help you find the best engraving machine for your needs.
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What Are the Different Types of Laser Engraving and Marking Machines?
1. Fiber Laser Marking Machine: Fiber laser marking machines utilize fiber laser sources to generate high-intensity laser beams. These machines are renowned for their high-speed marking capabilities and are commonly used for marking metal materials such as stainless steel and aluminum. Fiber laser marking machines are also highly reliable and require minimal maintenance.
2. CO2 Laser Engraving Machine: CO2 laser engraving machines use carbon dioxide lasers to engrave or cut materials. These machines are typically employed for engraving wood, acrylic, leather, and other non-metal materials.
3. UV Laser Marking Machine: UV laser marking machines utilize ultraviolet laser sources to create markings on various materials, including plastics, glass, and ceramics. These machines offer high efficiency and excellent marking quality, making them popular in industries such as electronics, medical devices, and cosmetics. UV laser marking machines are also known for their ability to mark transparent materials without causing damage.
How to Choose Laser Engraving Machine?
Laser engraving systems have become indispensable when it comes to personalizing items or adding intricate designs to a variety of materials. Choosing a laser engraver that perfectly fits your specific needs, budget and workspace constraints ensures that your investment results in accurate, efficient and high-quality engraving every time.
Material Compatibility: One of the most important factors to consider is the compatibility between the machine and the materials you plan to mark or engrave. Different machines are designed to handle specific materials. For processing organic materials like wood, glass, paper, or leather, you will need a CO2 laser. For marking metals or plastics, a fiber laser is required. Consider the thickness, hardness, and composition of the materials to ensure compatibility.
Marking or Engraving Depth: Depending on your requirements, you may need a machine capable of creating shallow marks or deep engravings. Some machines offer adjustable settings, allowing you to achieve different depths according to the application. Ensure to assess the marking or engraving depth capability of each machine you&#;re considering.
Speed and Productivity: The speed at which a machine marks or engraves materials is an important consideration. Look for machines that offer fast marking speeds without compromising accuracy and quality. Additionally, consider productivity features of the machine, such as automatic loading and unloading systems, to maximize efficiency.
Worktable Size: The worktable size of a laser engraving machine is a key factor in equipment selection as it directly impacts the size of materials that can be processed and production efficiency. A larger worktable means it can accommodate larger workpieces, suitable for handling large projects like furniture decoration panels, signage production, or industrial part marking. Even when dealing with small workpieces, a larger worktable offers more layout flexibility, allowing simultaneous fixation of multiple small pieces for batch processing, thus enhancing production efficiency.
Dual-head laser marking machines enable more efficient multitasking parallel processing. Each laser head can work independently, targeting different areas or engraving multiple identical or different workpieces simultaneously, significantly reducing the production cycle, especially in large-scale customization or high productivity requirements.
Attachment for Laser Engraving & Marking
Optional accessories for laser marking machines aim to achieve optimal results and enhance the functionality and flexibility of laser engraving machines to meet the requirements of various application scenarios. The cost of these additional accessories may increase, so specific needs and budget must be considered when evaluating the overall cost of a laser engraving machine.
Which Laser Engraver is the Best for Curved Surfaces and Concave Convex Surface?
Laser marking machines are primarily used for flat processing because the laser focus of these machines is fixed. However, for regular curved surfaces such as cylinders, brake discs, metal rings, and other disc-shaped components, marking requirements can be achieved by rotating the axis while marking.
The emergence of 3D dynamic focusing laser marking machines meets the demands of marking applications on curved surfaces and variations in height in a single operation. These machines combine 3D dynamic galvanometer technology and software 3D modeling to achieve variable focus engraving, thus meeting laser marking and engraving requirements at different heights.
Features of 3D dynamic focusing laser engraving machines:
What are the Applications of Laser Engraving Machine?
The versatility of laser engraving machines is truly remarkable, ranging from adding an elegant touch to personalized gifts to bringing precision to industrial applications. The following applications showcase the extensive possibilities of laser marking machine.
Industrial Manufacturing
Laser engraving technology plays an important role in modern manufacturing, penetrating into many branches of metalwork, plastic molding, mechanical parts, and electronic component refinement. With their ability to work with precision and efficiency, laser engraving machines significantly enhance the productivity of the manufacturing process and the quality of the finished product.
Precision Jewelry Engraving
Laser engraving machines play an indispensable role in the glittering arena of jewelry manufacturing. They are capable of creating subtle totems and characters on precious metals and stones, perfectly suited to the aesthetics of high-end jewelry and accessories.
Textile and Leather Cutting
The leather goods industry has witnessed the creative magic of laser engraving machines, which not only produce intricate and varied patterns and textures, but also give each piece of leather a unique style character, promoting the flourishing of personalized leather fashion.
Glass surface treatment
Laser technology has opened up a new world in the field of glass craftsmanship, through accurate engraving and etching technology, laser engraving machine is able to shape a vivid three-dimensional artistic effect on the glass plane, greatly enriching the expression and ornamental glass artwork.
Conclusion:
This article provides choosing the best laser engraving machine for beginners in , emphasizing the importance of understanding actual engraving needs and applications. By understanding the different types of laser engraving machines and making the right choice for your specific needs, new possibilities open up for your personal project or business. In the meantime, we welcome discussion on the latest developments in laser engraving technology.
So, you have decided to engage in laser engraving. The first question is, what kind of machine is required for this? The abundance of laser engraving machines on the market can scare and confuse. Which laser engraver is more suitable for wood engraving, which one is for metal work, and which one is for plastics?
There are several types of laser engraving machines and they differ in type of laser radiation, operation speed, design and purpose of the machine itself.
Before buying such expensive equipment, you should figure out how it works, what it is capable of, how it differs from each other and what parameters are important to take into account when choosing to avoid any mistake. And for answering all these questions, we have written this article.
How to select a laser cutting machine?
TABLE OF CONTENT:
Laser engraving is a method of applying graphic information (images or inscriptions) to a material or product with a focused laser beam. The laser burns the surface layer of the material at the points specified by the control program.
Laser engraving machines are a popular tool for applying images and inscriptions. They are used for:
Working speed 500 mm/s, power 60 W, working field size 500x300 mm. The machine is designed specifically for engraving: a short-focus lens gives a smaller diameter of the laser spot, and an expanded nozzle reduces the force of blowing - thanks to this, combusiotn products do not stick to the material surface and the engraving becomes cleaner. The working table has a lifting mechanism with 200 mm stroke, which allows you to use a rotary device and engrave large objects and workpieces. The engraving resolution is up to dpi.
The machine price is about 3 265 &#;, you can find the actual price on our website.
Also pay attention to the master model &#; the Wattsan CO2 laser engraver, with an increased working field size of 600x400 mm and an increased power of 90-100 watts. The machine price is about 4 319 &#;, please check the actual price on our website.
This is one of the most popular models, designed for both engraving and cutting material. A 600x900 mm through table allows you to pull large sheets of material through if its width does not exceed 900 mm. The working table is lowered by 160 mm, applicable for rotary device installation. The reinforced machine body dampens vibrations during cutting and engraving.
The machine price is about 5 213 &#;, please check the actual price on our website.
Please check the actual price on our website.
CO2 machines are also suitable for engraving plastics, ceramics, stone, glass and mirrors, textiles, leather and leatherette. But it will not be possible to engrave and mark metals on them.
The working field is from 110x110 to 300x300 mm, the working speed is up to mm / s, the machine can be equipped with a fiber optic emitter with a power from 20 to 100 watts, accuracy is up to 0.03 mm. The service life of the emitter is 100,000 hours, i.e. over 11 years, while the machine does not require consumables.
Please check the actual price on our website.
A similar fiber-optic laser marker Wattsan FL LT has a different table design and a different way of focusing, the approximate price is 4,300 &#;, please check the actual price on our website, for a detailed consultation, please contact our managers, : + or us at .
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from SIEME.
This machine is equipped with a manual portable scanner with a fiber length from 5 to 10 meters, which allows you to take it in your hands and engrave on both horizontal and vertical surfaces and even on the ceiling. The Wattsan FL HH laser marker is designed for engraving in hard-to-reach places or on dimensional objects - large parts and mechanisms, barrels, containers and machines. This laser marker is equipped with a special focusing frame, which is fixed on the scanner and helps not to lose the focal length during operation.
Please check the actual price on our website.
Fiber-optic laser machines are also capable of engraving and marking plastics, leather, stone and textiles, but do not work with glass and most organic materials such as wood or plywood.
This station marks and engraves metals, plastics, leather and leatherette, as well as ceramics and stone. The marking station, unlike conventional markers, has a monolithic housing with a convenient desktop with control buttons, all the electrics of the machine are located inside the housing. Such a machine can be easily integrated into a production line or used as a stand-alone machine.
The machine price is about 4 066 &#;, please check the actual price on our website.
Speeds up the work twice, as it has two working heads at once, which operate simultaneously. The working field of x900 mm allows you to produce more products in one run of the control program than on machines with a smaller working field. Ideal for a regular 24/7 load, used for both engraving and cutting.
The machine price is about 7 876 &#;, please check the actual price on our website.
A laser engraver is any laser machine that is capable of performing the function of engraving. But all these machines can be divided into two main groups based on the following features:
The type of emitter depends on what material the machine is able to work with.
This is justified by the fact that laser radiation can have different wavelengths, and different laser waves have different ability to affect materials.
There are three main types of laser emitters &#; ultraviolet (UV), carbon dioxide (CO2) and fiber optic.
Ultraviolet emitters have a wavelength of 355 nanometers. Most often, only low-quality cheap UV engravers can be found on the market of laser engravers. Their price ranges from hundreds to several hundred euros, and the result is always the same &#; their maximum performance is pokerwork with your child.
But at the moment, UV laser technology is actively developing and some companies, such as IPG, propose truly unique UV laser equipment that can work with almost any materials, but their main disadvantage is the price, which exceeds the cost of similar equipment with other emitter types by 5-10 times.
Today, the only reason to buy a high-quality UV marker is the need to perform unique tasks that are beyond the power of other emitters. For example, engraving on diamonds or microchips.
And we recommend not even wasting your time on low-quality UV laser markers, since they have a weak effect, low productivity and poor quality of the laser beam.
The wavelength of CO2 emitters can be or nanometers, this allows you to engrave wood and all wood materials, including plywood, MDF, paper and cardboard, as well as most plastics, leather and leatherette, mirror and glass, stone and ceramics.
CO2 emitters cannot engrave metals.
In order to get a result similar to metal engraving on a CO2 laser engraver, a special paste is used, which is pre-applied to the material. But the engraving in such cases turns out to be of poor quality and very unreliable.
There are also hybrid CO2 laser machines that are capable of processing both metals and non-metals. But they have a high laser tube power &#; from 130W to 180W, so they are more suitable for cutting materials than for engraving. In addition, they still can engrave non-metals only, and metals can only be cut with their help.
What is a CNC CO2 laser and how does it work?
More often they are called laser markers. Fiber-optic laser machines are designed for:
Fiber laser machines do not work with some organic materials, such as wood and glass.
Depending on your tasks and the materials that you plan to process, you should decide which type of emitter you need: UV, CO2 or fiber optic. As our practice shows, most often people choose between CO2 and fiber.
Now it is worth discussing such an important parameter as the design and principle of operation of the laser machine, because this directly affects the speed of the machine and its functionality.
There are two main construction types of laser engraving machines &#; machines with flying optics and markers on galvanometric scanners.
Laser machines with flying optics have a system of mirrors that reflect the laser beam coming out of the emitter. These are three mirrors &#; one is stationary and located directly at the emitter, and the other two are fixed on different parts of the portal and move, or &#;fly&#;, together with it.
Machines with flying optics are most often CO2 laser machines.
Engraving on machines of this type occurs due to the movement of the working head along the portal on the X axis with a shift of a given step along the Y axis. Thus, the machine burns out a specified image or inscription step by step. If you take a video of the machine and speed it up several times, you will see how the image appears from the bottom to the top (or from top to bottom, depending on the settings).
CO2 laser machines with flying optics are divided into engravers and cutters. This division is extremely conditional, because both can perform both functions &#; cutting and engraving, but each type of equipment still has its own specialization.
This specialization depends on a number of parameters:
For a CO2 laser machine with flying optics, the frame and the portal are especially important, since the engraving takes place at speeds up to 500 mm/s, the machine experiences strong inertial loads. Wattsan engineers have carried out extensive work to strengthen the body and portal of the machine and reduce vibrations in order to achieve good accuracy even on wide-format cutting machines.
Pay attention to the function of lifting and lowering the table &#; it can be useful for engraving thick products or for installing a rotary device in the machine so that you can engrave cylindrical workpieces.
You can learn more about CO2 laser cutting and engraving machines from our article. In addition to CO2 laser engravers with flying optics, there is also another type of equipment designed for engraving &#; laser markers, including fiber-optic machines for metal engraving.
In laser markers, laser beam positioning takes place in a two-axis galvanometric scanner Sino Galvo. The scanner is a small box containing two movable mirrors that reflect the laser beam along the X and Y axes. This allows the laser to be positioned at any point on the plane within the working field.
The laser marker is compact &#; it can be easily placed on a regular desktop, the movement of mirrors in the scanner is silent, the machine has no inertial forces during operation. For desktop machines with flying optics, a reinforced table is needed, since the mechanical movement of the working head during engraving will swing it.
Laser markers can be fiber-optic, that is, they work on metal, and they can be with a CO2 emitter, that is, designed for wood, plastics and other non-metals.
The main advantage of laser markers is the speed of operation up to mm/s, the main disadvantage is the limited working field: 110x110, 200x200 or 300x300 mm.
You can read more about laser markers in our article. And now we will discuss the general criteria for choosing a laser engraving machine.
Laser marking machine, how does it work and what is it capable of?
To avoid a mistake with the choice, it is necessary to take into account several main factors at once:
Do not forget to take into account that for most engraving machines, additional space is needed in the workshop for cutting sheet materials, since the standard dimensions of the sheet of material usually exceed the size of the working field of the machine.
As you can see, choosing an engraving machine is not an easy task, which largely depends on your input data and the tasks that you face. If you need an online demonstration of the equipment discussed in this article, or additional advice, please call us: + or us at .
In addition to lasers, there are also CNC milling machines, they are also capable of engraving on wood materials, plastics and metals. If you are interested in the topic of choosing a CNC milling machine, read our article &#; How to choose a CNC router"
A laser engraving machine is a special device that operates using Numerical Control (CNC) and is capable of engraving with a laser beam the necessary graphic information (image or inscriptions) on various surfaces.
The cost of a laser engraver depends very much on the type of emitter, the size of the working field, as well as on additional functions and equipment. The price can range from to euros.
With the help of a CO2 laser, you can engrave any type of wood materials: solid wood, plywood, MDF and others.
The company is the world’s best flying laser marking machine supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.