Government and industry regulations made it clear that there should be proper marking of products to identity its legibility. Basically, the industries such as aerospace, electronics, automotive, medical, and military and defense, oil and gas, and semiconductor companies are using laser marking and engraving. Today, the government has made it mandatory for the products having laser marking that meets the regulations and also add a kind of discrepancy to the products. The popularity for laser marking and laser engraving is increasing day by day in the market. Both the terms’ laser marking and engraving are widely used interchangeably by the people. The property unique or any product owners who want to keep their products, unique have to go for this laser marking or engraving. Using this, you can print the labels on the parts, add VIN number, and print a logo or a serial number.
Every industry would use laser and laser would be used in day to day industrial tasks such as welding, cleaning, measuring, drilling and engraving.
Difference between laser marking and engraving
Though, the terminology of these two words is bemusing for the users, but there are key differences between both. Many are in a misconception that both these terms are used interchangeably by the people. Each process is totally unique and has a unique appearance. The decision to choose any of these processes is totally dependent on various factors. The main two factors are the kind of project and the material used to manufacture the product. For a few projects, engraving works better while for a few products marking would work better. For a few people, they would focus more on the appearance part. Engraving of the product is good to touch, but marking would make it appealing to your eyes. This also improves the appearance of the product and makes it look brand rich.
Laser Engraving
When you go for laser engraving, a key part of the change would be made on the product. In this engraving, you would need to remove a part of the product surface to a certain depth to start engraving your brand name or a logo on it. People who are manufacturing a product and want their brand name on it would choose engraving. This is used in plastics, wood, glass, steel and leather. In this type of engraving, the laser beam would be put on the product to burn the surface so that the logo or anything that is printed on the product would not go off so easily. The best part of laser engraving is that, the material used in the engraving would not lose its sheen or color despite getting exposed to extreme weather or any other conditions. This is suitable for the industries who want to make a permanent mark on the product even when is exposed to harsh climatic conditions.
Laser engraving process
In this process, the laser beam is projected to remove the material surface and expose a cavity which would disclose the image.
- A high heat is created during this process to vaporize the material.
- This is a simple and quick process where the material is vaporized thoroughly in every pulse
- A cavity is created on the surface of the material that is easy to notice with the eye and can be touched
- To get deep marks using this engraver, you need to reap the process for several times.
Laser Marking
Laser marking look simple and is very attractive. In this type of laser technique, the laser beam is put on the product surface to print the business logo without burning the surface. This will change the material properties to change its appearance. When it is oxidized, the material surface would turn into black color. There are a few projects for which marking works better than engraving. For instance, if you want to keep the material used in making the product untouched, you can go for marking. When the material is cut, it damages the whole product and the longevity of it would also take a toll along with the appearance.
The laser marking process
Laser marking is a process where the beam would get in touch with the material surface that would change the appearance and properties of the materials slightly.
- The mark is printed by slowly moving the low powered beam to the product with the help of a method known as discoloration. This creates the marks which are contrasted without causing any damage to the material.
- Laser will heat the material and this result in oxidation of the surface of the material and turn the material to black
- The low temperature is used on the material to anneal the surface. The whole process is executed by keeping the surface intact.
The only answer for the feel or touch, you need to use laser marking and engraving machine. By learning about the difference between both will help you to make an ideal choice of choosing the right one.
