Think of a laser as a very focused light beam ⚡️
But instead of spreading out like normal light, a laser is: really focused, all the same wavelength and very tight and powerful.
The laser can concentrate a lot of energy into a very small point. Do you remember burning leaves with a magnifying glass? It’s kind of like that, but hundreds or thousands of times stronger.
So, how lasers engrave is that it hits the surface of the material, heats it up quickly and can burn it (like wood or leather), vaporize it (like acrylic or paint) or melt or remove it (like metal).
The laser moves across the material in patterns, controlled by software, and that’s how it “draws” your design.
How Lasers Engrave Metal
- Metal absorbs laser light differently from wood and many organic materials
- Most metals reflect visible light, so a blue diode laser doesn’t work well on bare metal.
- Fiber lasers use infrared light (1064 nm), and metals absorb it very efficiently.
- Most metals reflect visible light, so a blue diode laser doesn’t work well on bare metal.
- Heat melts or vaporizes tiny areas
- A fiber laser concentrates a lot of energy in a tiny spot.
- That heat either melts a little bit of metal or vaporizes it instantly, leaving a dark, permanent mark.
- A fiber laser concentrates a lot of energy in a tiny spot.
On some metals, like stainless steel, the laser’s heat creates dark oxidation markings without removing any metal.
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