Engraving Buttons with Laser Machines

With laser marking, you can mark any surface or object with different characters, numbers, logos or graphics.

Laser marking machines come in a variety of sizes ranging from small to huge. The small machines are useful in handling small batches of printing while another type of machine can be useful for large production units.

The laser marking system can be better than printers as it makes it possible to add attractive markings and produce permanent results.

• Complex artwork becomes possible including marking or engraving with laser technology
• Marking/Engraving is faster compared to printing
• More accuracy and precision compared to printer
• Easy cleaning process
• Laser marking is apt for engraving or marking on buttons

As buttons come in small sizes, designing them might seem like a difficult task. That’s when laser engraving or marking comes in picture. 

It not only makes designing these buttons an easy task but there are many other benefits of using laser engraving machines:

1. Precise cut:

Precision is the USP of laser engraving. The designs you form with laser engraving give you precise, perfect, and beautiful results.

And as accuracy is one of the most important factors while marking buttons, engraving is one of the most useful ways of designing the smallest of the things.

To upgrade your laser machines with new parts you can look online for Mitsubishi parts or Mazak spare parts for quality results.

2. Powerful Stable Output:

You can see a remarkable improvement in the production power of laser technology. In terms of delivering results, they are more advanced than other options that make the production process easier and faster. The continuous detection of power makes sure that there is an uninterrupted supply of production during the button engraving.

3. Meeting the demand:

Laser marking machines make it easy to fulfill high demands of your customers. With these automated machines, all you will need to do is just click and the engraving process would start. In turn, it helps you to finish these tasks on time and fulfill the demand.

4. Easy to operate:

It is easy to operate and get the perfect results in a short time. Its advanced technology makes any laser engraving machine easy to operate and possibly the best form of marking compared to any other way of marking.

5. Ease of maintenance:

Laser marking helps in providing a permanent mark on different types of buttons in a short span of time. The process of laser marking is flexible and makes the process of engraving buttons easy irrespective of the type of material used.

The best part of the laser marking system is, it is not complex and does not require any timely maintenance.

6. Low cost:

Laser marking is an investment in your system. Once implemented successfully, you would not need to make any other investments which make it cost-effective for your business. Additionally, laser marking even helps in making designs in bulk at low cost and fulfill maximum orders.

If you are looking to upgrade your laser machines with new parts you can look online for Mitsubishi parts or Mazak spare parts for quality results.

Let’s have a look at the type of buttons that you can include in your laser engraving project:

1. Cloth buttons: 

Laser marking on the cloth buttons makes an elegant looking design that can enhance the overall look of any piece of cloth. Engraved buttons with unique designs will make your clothes and other type of merchandise unique.

2. Glass buttons:

Engraving glass buttons can be a little sensitive task due to its fragile behavior. Therefore, engraving them with a laser would lessen the possibilities than any other type of engraving process.

3. Metal buttons:

Laser technology can help in etching the metal button. Since the process follows similar steps, it will make the overall process easy for the users.

4. Polyester button:

Polyester buttons can be the best choice when it comes to engraving. The output of laser engraving would look better on this type of material.

5. Wood button:

The blend of laser marking and wood buttons is always a hit.  Laser marking gives an ethnic look to these wood buttons when engraved. You can easily carve graphics, different designs, particular letters, etc. easily on wood buttons.

Conclusion:

If you are new to laser engraving and thinking of where to start or even if you have a flourished business in this field,  it can never be too late to explore new things and produce new designs. 

Laser engraving provides you with the freedom to explore different patterns of designs and explore various materials. Engraving on buttons is one of the ways to begin your laser engraving business. 

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/02/24/Engraving-Buttons-with-Laser-Machines

Laser Engraving: The Best Solution to Mark Medical Equipment

Medical equipment, devices, and tools are the most important assets for any hospital. As each one of them has a specific purpose, bifurcating and marking them with the correct data is also critical.

Apart from identifying their use, it is important to label them according to their use. Additionally, it helps the service team perform the maintenance activities, helps the procurement team to procure the right equipment and many more. To mark the equipment, out of all the available methods, Laser marking can be the best way as it does not affect its chemical state.

Let’s understand why laser marking is essential:

In 2013, the Food and Drug Association (FDA) made marking of the medical equipment compulsory. The major reason behind this was to identify and trace the equipment. They also require marks like logos, alphanumeric, codes, etc. to be clear and readable.

They even added that all medical equipment should have a Unique Device Identification (UDI). This UDI consists of the manufacturer's name, make or model of the product, expiry date or other attributes if any.

Further, the government also issues guidelines on marking equipment with unique identifiers. This means these marks are compulsory for all medical equipment from tiny devices like implants to large equipment.

How to Laser Mark

You can easily do it on the selected area especially on prepared plastic surfaces, metallic or delicate materials like foil or laminate. Unlike other labeling methods, laser marking does not involve direct contact. Consisting of different laser parts like Trumpf nozzles and Precitec nozzle, here are its major types:

1. Foaming:

This type of laser marking melts the material and is often done on the dark plastics. After the process, the marked area becomes lighter than the rest of the material.

2. Engraving:

This popular way for laser marking melts, evaporates, leaves the impression of design, logo, numbers, and text.

3. Carbonizing:

Carbonizing is useful in wooden or leather surfaces. It leaves a dark mark after the use.

4. Staining:

This type of laser cutting machine causes the heat effect and changes the color of the marked parts the same way when something burns.

5. Annealing:

After exposure to the laser beams, the surface of the material undergoes oxidation and changes because of the heat. This method is useful when working with metal materials.

6. Removing:

To get rid of the topcoat of the material this marking method can be the solution. One can perform this type of marking preferably on laminates, foils, coated metals or aluminum.

Benefits of Laser Marking Medical Equipment:

1. It becomes easy to track the devices in cases of malfunctions, emergencies, maintenance, etc.
2. Laser marking helps in protecting the trademark of medical equipment and devices. In turn, facilities, hospitals, and pharmacies can easily tell if they are original or not.
3. These markings make it easy for users to identify manufacturers and find details of particular medical equipment.
4. As it is a non-contact form of labeling, laser marking leaves the delicate parts of the equipment untouched.
5. With laser marking, it becomes easy to trace the manufacturer.
6. Laser marking guarantees precise results. It means that you can mark all medical equipment, tools, and devices with the same sign at the same spot.
7. Manufacturers can trace their products and get data on their performance to know they are performing well or having any defect.

Conclusion:

Overall, laser marking uses laser beams to label equipment, tools, devices, parts, and materials. As this method is durable, the mark never wears out. It withstands chemicals, moisture, heat, and other harsh conditions that can ruin the other kind of labeling. To smartly brand your medical equipment, one should adopt this technology. You can easily find the laser engraving machines online or its parts like Trumpf nozzles and Precitec nozzle if you already have invested in a machine to get started.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/02/18/Laser-Engraving-The-Best-Solution-to-Mark-Medical-Equipment

Basics of Laser Cutting Machines

The evolution of small laser beam light toys into huge machines serving industrial demands today, laser technology has come a long way.

However, apart from industrial demands like cutting and pressing metal sheets, this technology is much more than that.

Let’s read the basics with little but important details involved behind Laser machines.

What is Laser?

LASER is an acronym of “Light Amplification Stimulated Emission of Radiation”.

According to Wikipedia, “A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation.”

The invention of the first laser cutting machine took place during the 1970s. For the past 30 years, the continuous increase in functionalities in laser cutting machines has its applications.

Laser machines cater to diverse fields like manufacturing, military, law enforcement, skin treatments, and much more.

Below mentioned are its major qualities:

1. Consistency
2. Brightness
3. Monochromatic
4. Direction

The Working

When the laser beam hits the surface of the workpiece, the light energy transforms into heat energy and the focused point melts because of thermal diffusion and forms a small spot.

The metal vapor in the spot expands and causes a micro-explosion. This ejects the molten material and causes a highly directional anti shock wave. It makes a hole with a wide upper side and small lower side for further processing.

Fiber laser cutting -- one of the most famous types of laser cutting uses high power density laser beams to illuminate the work area. The illuminated material rapidly melts, evaporates and reaches the ignition point. The high-speed airflow along with the laser beam blows the melted material. If you are looking to implement laser system for your business, you can search for Amada parts, Amada laser parts, Amada replacement parts online to find the best fit as per your requirements.

Because of the recent development in this technology, fiber laser machines are more efficient. They replaced the CO2 and YAG lasers in thin plates cutting.

Below mentioned are some advantages of fiber laser cutting:

1. The cost of fiber laser cutting is low because the photoelectric conversion rate is 30% whereas the photoelectric conversion rate for CO2 laser and YAG laser is 6-10% and 3% respectively.
2. It is lightweight, has a small volume, and is movable with a flexible moving position.
3. The laser beam passes along the optical fiber without the need for a reflected light path which in turn saves the cost of reflection lens, organ shield and avoids light path pollution.
4. The wavelength of the optical fiber laser is 1.06 μm and provides a benefit for sheet metal cutting and increases the speed by 2 to 4 times.

Fiber laser cutting machines are useful in cutting the stainless steel below 4mm and can cut up to 8 to 10mm thick stainless steel in a laser beam.

But, when the material oxygenates, the thin oxide film forms on the surface. And the thickness of cutting increases by 16mm, but the size of the cutting part is larger.

Overall, Fiber laser cutting is good for large production because of its lower processing cost. In fact, they can be useful when producing small batches of parts.

The cutting equipment is computerized and receives data from a computer-aided design workstation.

How the laser transfers the light path

The core of the laser component adjusts the curvature of the lens surface with the help of water pressure, which results in changed angle of the laser beam and at last, adjusts it by focusing the laser movement up and down.

The focus of the laser changes due to different diameter spots and different working positions of the machines.

In the process, the focus of the laser light plays an essential role. But, one more aspect plays a vital role in laser cutting i.e. height of the focus. It depends on the material chosen to cut and the type of cutting machine.

The focus position varies depending on the material. For example, in carbon steel, the focus is on the upper surface of the plate. Whereas, in stainless steel, the focus is about half of the thickness of the plate. So, if you are cutting the 2mm of stainless steel then the focus should be between 0.8 to 1.2mm.

The focus position also affects the quality of the cutting. Because the surface of the material is uneven, the focal position of the laser changes. If you are looking to implement laser system for your business, you can search for Amada parts, Amada laser parts, online to find the best fit as per your requirements.

Final words:

Irrespective of the industry you choose to venture your business in, its basic know-how is the foremost requirement to optimize your potential success and to maximize the identified goals.

Difference Between Laser Engraving, Etching and Marking

The craze for laser engraving, marking and etching is increasing day-by-day because of the regulations set by the government regarding product identification.

All of them provide permanent marking solutions that can add that distinct mark on your products.

But, there are only a few people who understand the difference between them. While these three techniques look similar, their applications set them apart.

 The major difference between laser marking, engraving and etching lies in what they could do to the marking surfaces. The difference also lies in how deep the laser goes and the way it changes its overall appearance.

Laser marking damages the surface of the material, whereas laser etching and engraving removes the portion of the area it marks.

The other difference between laser engraving and etching is the depth at which it enters the surface.

Without any further ado, let’s explore more differences between them.

1. Laser Marking Process

Laser marking is the process when beam comes in contact with the surface of any material and alters its properties or appearances. You should use laser machines having parts like Mazak parts, Fanuc spare parts, and Fanuc CNC parts for best laser marking results.

Here we have mentioned steps for laser marking which will give you some insights on how it works.

• It uses a method called distortion by moving a low powered beam across the material. This creates high contrast marks without damaging the material.
• Laser heats the material and causes the oxidation under the surface turning the material black.
• It uses low temperature to solidify the surface.
• The major advantage is that all these steps do not damage the surface.

Now, let's look at some of the characteristics which make it different from the other two:

• Laser marking is not a common thing and there are only a few that provide these services.
• It is known as laser coloration, laser dark marking or charring when it works with plastic materials or annealing metals.

There are four types of laser marking:

                 - Annealing

                 - Carbon migration

                 - Foaming

                 - Coloration

Laser marking is popular in the medical device industry for marking stainless steel and titanium parts, but you can use it on other materials as well.

A laser market is perfect for bar codes, UID codes, QR codes, logos, etc.

2. Laser Engraving Process:

In laser engraving, the laser beam physically removes the surface of the material and exposes a portion of the image at the eye level.

Let’s look at laser engraving steps:

• Laser releases excessive heat during the engraving process which results in vaporization of the material.
• It is a quick process that vaporizes materials at each pulse.
• This makes the surface vulnerable and noticeable to eyes and you can touch it too.
• If you want deeper marks on the material then make sure that you repeat the process several times.
• Below mentioned are features of laser engraving which will help you know the difference between them and the other too:

There are three types of laser engraving: - Etching - Deep laser engraving - Laser ablation

• The major difference between the above three engraving types is the surface you are engraving and how much you remove.
• Maximum engraving depth for metal is 0.020” but it can even go as deep as 0.125” in materials like graphite.
• Mostly, people use engraving when they want to create personalized items.
• It is not suitable to mark the critical parts.
• It is the fastest way to create a mark with a laser.
• It’s suitable for parts expected to experience high wear and tear.
• You can use it to engrave serial numbers and logos, among other things.
• You can engrave on almost any kind of surfaces like metal, plastic, wood, leather, and glass.

3. Laser Etching Process:

It is a subset of laser engraving. It occurs when the heat from the beam melts the surface of the material. For best results, invest in parts like Mazak parts and Fanuc CNC parts.

Below mentioned are some of its characteristics:

• It uses excessive heat to melt the surface of the material.
• It expands material to create a raising mark.
• The depth here is 0.001”.

The major difference between laser etching and the other two are:

• Laser etching changes the reflectivity and increases the contrast of the metal and so it is preferable when you want to provide a better finish.
• It removes 0.001” or less from the material.
• Etching works on bare, plated metal surfaces, polymers or ceramics.

Wrapping it up:

I know there’s a lot of confusion about these terms among people which is common and people use it interchangeably very often, but there are wide differences between them and their applications. After selecting the process, make sure you are choosing a laser machine with the right laser parts like Mazak parts, Fanuc spare parts, etc.

Evolution of the Press Brake

Bending a metal sheet is a pretty difficult task and as a fabricator, you might know just how challenging it is. But there are press brakes now. They have definitely made this task a little less difficult.

Being a proud owner of press brake, you might know the details of its evolution.

No? 

Don’t worry, because we are going to talk about just that in this article. The evolution of press brake machines.

Technology advancements have brought immense growth and expansion for every industry. Be it automotive, travel, education, metal fabrication, you name it; technology is there.

Digitalizing the automotive industry has helped companies to increase competitiveness among themselves. Additionally, it is even enhancing customer satisfaction and provides them with an excellent quality of service.

Similarly, in education, digitalization helps in making sure that education reaches everyone. Not only this but online learning also benefits people a lot as it makes knowledge easily accessible.

But we are here to talk about digitalization of the metal fabrication industry.

So, let’s look at how the evolution of technology provides ease to a fabricator.

Fabrication technology plays a vital role in changing the metal forming and welding. One tool which has changed a lot is Press Brake. Do you remember the time when you would bend sheets using manual press brake and how difficult it would be? Now there are hydraulic or electric press brakes that increase productivity and decrease costs.

So, let’s see how they evolved and where we stand with press brakes today.

This evolution of press brakes took place in three parts:

• Drive Systems
• Automation
• Coordinated Flow

In this article, we will explore the evolution of drive systems and automation which led to invention portal press brakes.

1. Drive Systems

In the early 1960s, there was mechanical press brake. The system had a motor with clutch, flywheel, eccentric crank and brake and can generate only 30 strokes per minute.

The mechanical press was popular for sheet metal industry’s mass production for a long time but then the needs were changing which, in turn, led to changes in press brakes.

By the time production became the new craze in metal fabrication, fabricators demanded their machines to be flexible in function and to have better capabilities to create custom products for consumers in a short time.

The change in consumer production led to the development of hydraulic press brake. It had controls for ram speeds, stroke lengths, applied force, and angle controls. Despite the slow pace, these brakes were useful until electric press brakes replaced them.

The introduction of the electric press brake was needed because of high demands, needs and constant change from customers’ behavior. It helped in increasing production speed for fabricators.

The electric press brake and the hybrid hydraulic electric drives have the approach speeds of 700 inches per minute (IPM) and bending speed as low as 5 inches per minute (IPM).

The different capabilities of these machines permit better functioning, efficiency, and precision in every bend.

2. Automation

The Industrial Revolution went on for over 150 years and played a vital role in the way we see manufacturing.

Before, press brake operators spent a large amount of time in programming, test bending, inspecting and adjusting the products and machines.

Current press brakes can perform accurate measurements and solve angular errors if any. It offers precise bending and better customization without you having to pay a lot of attention. All thanks to technology and parts like Mitsubishi laser parts and Mazak laser parts.

This revolution has improved the storage and the use of computer programs has made it easy to design and setup machines. It also helps in speeding up the designing process making the fabrication process faster and precise.

3. Ease of Use

Portable press brake comes with improved speed and makes the fabrication process easy. These machines are smaller and occupy little space in shops. Their size makes it easy to transport and use it.

Regardless of the fabrication project, the usage of press brake allows work to finish with less production time and ease. Once the sheets are ready, they are cut into sizable sheets using laser cutting with parts like Mitsubishi laser parts and Mazak laser parts.

Wrapping it up:

Digitalization has always helped mankind. Be it in automobiles, education, fabrication industry, etc. It brings ease to human life. The technology revolution which happened in the fabrication industry made the bending of materials and lives of fabricators easier. Apart from technology, quality parts like Mitsubishi laser parts and Mazak laser parts have also played a vital role in the improvement of press brakes.