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A Guide to Choosing the Right Laser Engraver

Submitted by youkey on Fri, 09/16/2022 - 02:46

Products made of hard materials can last for many years and often need to be permanently branded on their surface so that the brand name or logo can be read even after prolonged and heavy use. This type of marking is done using a laser engraver.
Now with the advancement of technology, these products often need to be stamped with a unique code, which helps to track and trace the product. These codes also help prevent counterfeiting of products. Counterfeiting is a big problem in the market right now, and many brands not only lose credibility and customer trust, but also lose a large portion of their profits.
The unique code engraved on the product helps to check the authenticity of the product and to track and trace the product at every step of the supply chain. Therefore, this unique code engraving contributes to brand protection.
This engraving can be done on metal and non-metal products. Different types of engraving machines are used depending on the material to be engraved on.
If your product needs to be engraved to make it unique, you should first consider the following questions:
What kind of laser engraver do I need?
You need to choose the right engraving machine according to the material, thickness and required engraving speed of the product. Generally, two types of engraving machines are used for engraving.
CO2 laser
This type of laser engraver is based on an electrically stimulated carbon dioxide mixture. These engraving machines are mainly suitable for the processing of non-metallic materials and plastics. These engravers are the most popular and efficient. This engraving machine can work on a variety of materials such as plastic, wood, glass, textiles, paper, acrylic, leather, stone.
Fiber-optic laser
This laser engraving machine is suitable for metals, coated metals and certain types of plastics. Compared to CO2 lasers, fiber lasers generally have lower operating costs, lower power consumption, and little maintenance. Fiber laser marking machine

Which surface type will I sculpt on - flat or curved?
Once you've decided, whether you want a fiber laser or a CO2 laser, you also need to make sure the engraver is working neatly and engraving beautifully on your product surface. Here you need to see what kind of surface your product has. In general, all engravers will work fine on flat surfaces, but not all will output the expected engraving quality on curved surfaces. If your product has curved surfaces, your engraving machine needs to be capable of 3D adjustment.
my budget?
This is another very important criterion. Different engraving machines offer different engraving speeds. For example, an engraving machine marking at a rate of 20 50-character QR codes per minute typically costs close to $40,000 per automatic setup on an assembly line.
Manual or automatic?
For small setups, you usually need a manual setup where an individual can operate the laser to engrave.
For large automated production setups, you need a complete end-to-end automation solution that can be integrated with your assembly line.
atomstack a5 pro
In an automatic setup, the laser engraver is controlled by pre-programmed PLC logic based on the type of function you want to implement. In a typical setup, a separate local computer (LCM) is integrated with the laser's PLC logic center, the LCM takes care of all the logic to talk to the outside world (such as a cloud server or an API from a central server), and then sends commands to the PLC. LCM is also responsible for aggregating data from QA readers and sending it to a cloud server or API.
Automated Quality Checks
For large automated production setups, you must ensure that you have a quality check reader in sync with the engraver to read the engraver's output and assess the quality. Typically, the LCM is responsible for synchronizing the entire setup. Readers are usually much less expensive than engravers and can cost 15% to 25% of the engraver's cost.