Laser Engraving is one of the easiest ways to start making money in the recent times. This is indeed an untapped revenue source anyone can use to bring in additional income.
If you have been thinking about small business with less competition, then you found it.
There are a lot of demands today for laser engraving, from the ADA cutout signage to consumer bar codes and even personalization logos, names, and markers on items; you will definitely recoup your investment in no time.
What Are Laser Engravers and Why You Need Them?
Laser engraving is an easy-to-use technology you can use to transfer your logo onto any gift or promotional items of your choice. We have written an article on reviewing the top 10 best laser engraving machine, which may help you to pick a laser engraver.
Laser engraving works a lot like heat transfer machine. You simply need to hook this machine to electricity and then turn it on.
The energy from the machine will pass through a specialized component inside and then get converted into heat energy.
This heat energy will now force your artwork such as a logo to be engraved on the surface of the item you placed on the machine.
This work is very easy for anyone to do. All you need is a quality laser engraving machine.
How to Engrave Logo on Item with Laser Engraving?
Laser engraving machine is more sophisticated and advanced than other types of machines in this category. They do not make use of tool bits instead; it uses lasers to engrave logo, names, and other marks on a substrate.
The method is a bit technically complex but the advantage is that you can use it to achieve more précised engravings than other methods.
Three Components of Laser Engraving Machine You Should Know:
There are three important parts of laser engraving machine you should know. These parts include
- A Controller
A controller is responsible for regulating the intensity, speed, spread, and the direction of the laser beam.
- A Laser
This is what the controller uses to draw an image onto a substrate
- Engraving Surface
You can also call this part a substrate; it is the part where you can an object that you want to engrave on.
How it Works
- Design your logo
The first thing you need is to design your logo. In most cases, the customer would already have a logo he wants to use. Demand that he send the logo over to you and take your time to fix any mistake on the logo.
- Load the Logo
Now, when you are satisfied with the design of the logo, upload to a computer and then from the computer, send it to the laser engraving machine.
- Set up Your Item
After feeding the logo to the laser machine, you will need to set up the item you want to engrave on the conveyor belt on the machine. There are two ways you can do this depending on your setup and the machine you are using.
You can either load the item onto a conveyor belt robotically or you can do it by hand. In either case, you must ensure that the engraving surface is facing upward.
- Start Up the Engraver
When you are ready, double-check to ensure that everything is set up properly because when this process starts, interrupting it will ruin your work. Make sure the laser is set up correctly and the item is placed correctly.
Now start up the engraver by turning it on. The conveyor belt will now feed your item through the engraving area. As it passes through this area, the laser beam will trace it and etches the design into the metal in a back-and-forth motion just like an inkjet printer.
- Remove the Engraved Item from the Surface
When you are done, remove the engraved item from the surface, if you still have more mug, pen, or any item you want to engrave the logo on, you can go ahead and repeat the process.
- Package Your Item
Package the item you just engraved and send to your client.
Basic Modes of Laser Engraving
There are two major basic modes of laser engraving you must know. These two modes include:
- Vector mode
- Raster mode
Vector Mode
If you choose vector mode engraving, this will follow the lines and curvatures of the image you want to engrave. It is similar to using a pencil to trace an outline of an image.
Raster Mode
Raster mode is very similar to a computer graphics bitmap. It moves in a slowly-advancing, back-and-forth pattern using on/off pulses.
Generally, the machine makes use of galvo mirrors to direct the laser where to engrave on the substrate and this work on both the vector and raster mode.
Immediately your image is ready, the laser will start to trace the pattern of the image. A computer programming like we explained above is used to control the movement of the laser.
Finally, it is important that you note that there are different kinds of engraving machine; some of them use mirrors while other ones make use of flat table method. Make your research to find out the best type of laser engraving machine you want to buy.
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