The one question we are asked the most here at Fatlab Designs is about engraving, specifically

“can you engrave this?”

Generally the answer is yes, as we pride ourselves on being able to put any design on virtually any material.

The big difference is that a laser can engrave the surface of the material so accurately that it can not only engrave text, but any image or design including photographs.

So how does the magic happen?

Firstly we work with you to understand your requirements. What the item or material is you want engraving. You may just have a rough idea for text or a logo or you may already have a the artwork for a complex design. We then take the design and use our design software to create the layout which will be sent to the lasers. The software allows us to save your design which then can be adapted for engraving on virtually any material. Whether it be a 40oz thermal cup, slate coaster, wooden plaque or piece of jewellery, the design can be reproduced time and time again. 

For complex designs we will send you a proof for sign off before we commit to production. Once the design is approved we schedule the production run on the appropriate laser for the job.

At Fatlab Designs we use three different types of laser to engrave metal, slate, acrylic, wood and glass. The reason is that materials react differently to laser energy and so we have three machine types which use different laser wavelengths. 

UV Lasers

We use our 10W water cooled UV laser for all glass, crystal, synthetic materials, and detailed wood engraving. UV lasers don’t generate heat like other lasers and are often referred to as ‘cool marking’ lasers. Operating at 355nm wavelength, they have a beam size of 18 microns, allowing very fine detail to be reproduced on most materials. They are equipped with rotary attachments which allow engraving of curved surfaces as small as the inside of a ring and as large as a 300mm diameter dish or bowl.

We also have rotary jigs to allow bulk engraving of multiple items such as pens, name tag’s , etc.

Fibre Lasers

Our fiber lasers are used to engrave all metal and slate items. 

These lasers use a fibre optic cable to direct the laser energy to a fixed head which has two rotating mirrors which direct the laser beam around the work area. It is capable of 100th of a mm accuracy with a laser dot size of 0.08mm. This allows very fine accuracy and enables the laser to precisely deliver the same results over and over again at very high speed. Thin metal sheet such as gold, silver and aluminium up to 0.5mm thick can be cut with the fibre lasers.

CO2 Lasers

Our CO2 lasers are used for both engraving and cutting of wood and acrylic materials and also for engraving powder coated water bottles and thermal cups using a rotary attachment.

These lasers use a sealed tube filled with carbon dioxide which is energised with up to 20,000 volts causing the CO2 molecules to admit a high energy beam. Unlike the UV and fibre lasers, the CO2 laser’s mirrors are mounted to the gantry and direct the laser beam to the laser head as it moves around the workspace. The much larger workspace allows for cutting sheets of wood and acrylic which we use in our signs and multi layer wood mandalas.