Above, an expensive Co2 Industrial Laser Tube capable of photographic quality Laser Etching at medium beam power and precision Laser Cutting at higher power levels.
Laser Etching uses an intense beam of coherent light which
literally vaporizes a small area of the surface. The intense temperatures
reached can exceed that of our own sun. The laser is controlled by a computer at
high speeds and accuracy to produce exceptional quality at an affordable price.
Almost all hard materials can be engraved or marked with this method.
It didn't take very long for the engraving industry to discover lasers and soon
they were used for many different industrial applications including welding,
heat-treating, and of course laser etching and engraving.
There are quite a few advantages to using lasers for engraving rather than other
methods. Because the tool is literally a beam of light, there is no contact
whatsoever with the product being engraved, which means there is less chance of
damaging the product or or the product suffering deformation. Further, the fact
that the engraving machine does not contact the object dramatically reduces wear
and tear on the expensive engraving equipment itself. Another benefit of the
non-contact nature of laser etching is that the alignment of the
sophisticated and delicate beam delivery system is not susceptible to
contact-point ware induced aiming errors.
We should mention that laser etching is really just another name for
laser engraving, the two terms are used interchangeably.
Laser etching
can be performed on many different types of materials including slate, granite,
stainless steel, leather, arborite, glass, mirrors, and premium hardwoods.
Laser cutting, which is the same process as engraving, only with the beam
power turned up, works for many materials including: acrylic
(Plexiglas), PETG, thin polycarbonates (Mylar), styrene expanded PVC (Sintra),
wood, paper and fabric, still higher power levels allow even steel to be cut
cleanly. The benefits of using a laser to cut include extremely
high precision, reduced contamination or warping of the material being cut,
and a quality finish unachievable by other means. Co2 lasers do not come cheap.
A medium power tube has a typical cost of about $3,500, and higher power tubes
capable of cutting and welding can be many thousands more. Laser tubes can
often be refurbished. A simple gas replacement is typically in the $1,300
range, and a full refurbishment which also includes replacement of the optics
(mirrors) is approximately $2,300 from tube remanufactures.