Laser Marking FAQ

Laser marking uses a focused laser beam to make a permanent mark, such as text, graphics, serial numbers, or barcodes, on a material's surface. Fiber lasers (1064 nm) handle metals and some plastics. CO2 lasers (10,600 nm) handle wood, glass, and organic materials. The mark resists fading, abrasion, and solvents because it changes the material itself rather than adding ink or a label.

What Is Laser Marking?

Yes. Laser marks are made by removing, engraving, or chemically changing the material surface, so they survive handling, solvents, and time. The one caveat is stain marking, which penetrates only microns into the surface and can be sanded or abraded off, so it isn't recommended for wear surfaces.

Laser Marking Applications

A fiber laser marking system focuses laser light through an f-theta lens, which holds focus across a flat marking plane instead of a single point. Two computer-controlled galvo mirrors steer the beam over the part, drawing the mark as a series of vector lines. Anything that can be reduced to a vector file, including text, logos, and 2D codes, can be marked.

Introduction to Laser Marking Systems

Marking depths are measured in microns. Engraving depths are measured in mils (thousandths of an inch), with a practical limit around .015 to .020 inches. "Laser etching" is a common catch-all term, but the accurate technique names are ablation, engraving, and stain marking, and each produces a different result on the part.

Laser Marking and Engraving Services

The material being marked determines the laser type. Fiber lasers are the right choice for all metals and a handful of plastics. CO2 lasers are the right choice for wood, glass, and organic materials. A laser that works well on every material does not exist, so start with your material list, then pick the laser.

How to Choose the Best Laser

Wavelength. Fiber lasers emit at 1064 nm, which metals absorb well. CO2 lasers emit at 10,600 nm, which works on wood, glass, most plastics, and organic materials but is exactly the wrong choice for metal. The longer CO2 wavelength also draws a wider line, so fiber lasers hold finer detail.

CO2 Laser Systems

Both emit at 1.06 microns, but a fiber laser produces 20 watts of output from about 200 watts of wall plug power, where a YAG laser needs 4 to 5 kW plus external cooling to do the same job. Fiber lasers are smaller, have no consumables, and hold their power over a long lifetime.

Fiber vs. YAG Lasers

It depends on the technique, not the part. Removing anodize from aluminum takes 12 to 15 watts. Deep engraving into steel uses every watt a higher-power laser can produce. Jimani's Hybrid systems use JPT M7 MOPA lasers in 30, 60, 80, and 100 watt configurations, with 30 watts as the entry standard.

Hybrid Fiber Laser Marking Systems

A MOPA fiber laser lets you vary the pulse width, the duration of each laser pulse. Short pulses behave like a scalpel for delicate ablation on sensitive materials. Long pulses behave like a meat cleaver for deep engraving. Fixed pulse width lasers run around 100 to 120 nanoseconds, which covers most ablation work.

Laser Marking Applications

Laser ablation removes a surface coating, such as anodize or black oxide, or burnishes the surface of bare metal, usually producing a white mark. Depths are measured in microns and the base material is barely touched. Removing dark anodize from aluminum is the classic example: a stark white mark on a dark background.

Laser Marking Aluminum

The practical limit for narrow line widths is .015 to .020 inches. In our job shop, deep engraving runs at 5 to 10 inches per second with multiple passes, each removing a thin slice of material. Very slow single-pass engraving leaves slag in the trough and at the edges. Firearms serialization is a common application with a depth specification.

Laser Marking and Engraving Services

Stain marking, often called annealing, heats stainless steel or titanium so a dark oxide layer forms on the surface. The mark is permanent and non-penetrating, made with no inks, paints, or chemicals, which is why it's standard for medical instruments. It can be abraded off, so it isn't used on wear surfaces.

Laser Marking Stainless Steel

Yes, through dark marking, which adjusts speed, power, and pulse frequency to darken the surface of bare aluminum, brass, and copper. It is a different technique from stain marking, which works only on stainless steel and titanium. Results vary by alloy, so a sample test is the fastest way to confirm contrast.

Laser Marking Aluminum

On stainless steel and titanium, yes, by controlling the thickness of the oxide layer with a variable pulse width MOPA laser. Shades range from black to blue, red, and green. Color marking takes hours of setup per part, which is why Jimani doesn't offer it as a job shop service. Few customers will pay for that setup time.

Laser Marking Applications

All metals, whether coated, plated, or bare, plus some plastics. Aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, brass, copper, and steel are everyday fiber laser materials. For wood, glass, leather, and most plastics, a CO2 laser is the right tool for the job.

Laser Marking Applications

Some plastics mark well with a fiber laser, and marking rather than engraving is almost always the goal because deep engraving melts plastic. Dark plastics can produce light marks and light plastics can produce dark marks. Clear polycarbonate, for example, takes a black surface mark with only 3 or 4 watts of laser power.

Smith & Wesson Success Story

Yes, and it's one of the most common fiber laser applications. The laser vaporizes the anodize and textures the exposed aluminum, producing a white mark. On dark-dyed anodize the contrast is excellent. On clear or light anodize the mark is more subtle, though it can be darkened with an oxidizing solution such as Birchwood Casey Aluma Black.

Laser Marking Aluminum

Yes. A mark can wrap about 60 degrees around a 1 inch diameter part without rotating it. Beyond that, the part goes on a rotary indexer and the software breaks the image into tiles for full 360 degree marking. Jimani's DCA rotary pairs a Clearpath servo motor with a Sherline chuck for fast indexing on wrap-around graphics.

Rotary Index Laser Marking

Yes. Anything that can be reduced to a vector file can be marked: serial numbers, 1D barcodes, 2D Data Matrix and QR codes, and MIL-STD-130 UID marks. Because a fiber laser focuses to a very small spot, machine-readable codes hold high resolution even at small sizes.

UID Marking Services

Jimani's Hybrid fiber laser marking systems are priced under $15,000 and include the computer, RTC 4 control board, and Leopardmark software. Price moves with laser wattage, marking field size, enclosure, and motion options such as rotary indexers. Systems ship from Oxnard, CA fully assembled, tested, and calibrated.

Hybrid Fiber Laser Marking Systems

Component cost and component quality. Every steered beam system contains a laser source, scanhead, f-theta lens, control electronics, marking software, and some type of workstation, and each can be bought at very different quality levels. Assembly, calibration, training, and long-term support make up the rest of the price.

Laser Marking 401: Pricing a System

A JPT M7 variable pulse width MOPA laser in a 30, 60, 80, or 100 watt configuration, Galvo Tech scanhead, Opex f-theta lens with marking fields from 4.7 to 12 inches square, RTC 4 control board, Leopardmark software, and a Windows computer. The laser, scanhead, and RTC board carry a 2 year warranty, and a day of training at Jimani is included.

Desktop Hybrid Fiber Laser System

Open frame systems give the most flexibility for loading odd part sizes and work fine when operators wear laser safety glasses. An enclosed workstation adds a safety-interlocked door and laser-safe viewport, which many shops prefer. Keep in mind the enclosure sets the maximum part size the system can ever handle.

Enclosed Fiber Laser Workstation

A complete fiber laser marking system without the workstation. The laser, power supply, and control computer mount in standard 19 inch rack chassis, and the optical unit bolts to any flat surface. It's built for integration into conveyors, automation, or a custom stand.

Fiber Laser OEM Kit

No. Fiber lasers have no user serviceable parts, no consumables, and no scheduled laser maintenance. Excess heat is removed by fans built into the laser module, so there is no external chiller to maintain. Fiber lasers run for a long service life without power degradation.

Hybrid Fiber Laser System Support

If the material being marked creates smoke or fumes, yes. A fume extractor protects the operator and keeps contamination off the focusing lens, which matters most inside an enclosure where vapors get trapped. Jimani offers the LN-230 and LN-260 extractors for its Hybrid systems.

Fume Extractors

Marking time depends on how many vector lines the laser draws and on the material. The word "Jimani" in .1 inch bold characters on anodized aluminum takes 2 to 3 seconds. The same text in a single-line stick font takes about 300 milliseconds, and marking it .010 inches deep into steel takes about 25 seconds. Part handling often takes longer than the mark itself.

How Fast Can I Laser Mark a Part?

Laser marking job shops typically run shop rates of $60 to $100 per hour, and per-part cost depends on how many parts move through the marker in that hour. At Jimani, a one-time logo or artwork charge is $60.50 and machine setup is $33.50 per part type. Handling time usually drives cost more than the marking itself.

Laser Marking and Engraving Services

Jimani's average turnaround is 3 to 5 days depending on quantity, with same-day and next-day rush service available on some orders for an additional charge. Single custom items, large production runs, and everything in between are accepted.

Laser Marking and Engraving Services

Volume and consistency decide it. Steady, predictable marking work usually justifies bringing a system in-house, while intermittent or highly varied work is often cheaper to send to a job shop. Jimani sits on both sides of that decision, running a job shop since 1990 and building the Hybrid systems it sells, so you'll get an honest run at the math.

Outsource or Buy? The Full Breakdown

Yes. Jimani has marked and engraved customer-supplied parts since 1990, from single custom items to production quantities, and is AS9003 compliant. Pricing is based on a standard shop rate for the work performed, never on the value of the part. If anything about the marking spec is unclear, we ask before we mark.

Laser Marking and Engraving Services

Leopardmark Laser Marking Software is standard on Hybrid systems, with Prolase available as an upgrade. Both are American-made, and Jimani provides unlimited, no-charge operational support. Full-featured demo versions of both can be downloaded and run on any Windows computer; every function works except marking.

Laser Marking Software

Support. American Laserware, the authors of Prolase, make laser marking software and nothing else, and they respond to bugs and feature requests faster than anyone in the business. When a customer hit "ghost" marks caused by a fiber laser delay, the Prolase team had a fix within hours.

Why Jimani Uses Prolase