What are the advantages of laser method compared with traditional carving?

Laser engraving is another important field of laser art. It is essentially different from laser etching. Laser engraving adopts focused pulsed ruby laser or Nd-doped yttrium aluminum garnet laser, and the laser energy is output in pulse form. The materials used in laser engraving are plexiglass and precious stones in various colors, as well as colored gems and colored plastics. Under the laser radiation of a certain energy, plexiglass will be decomposed by heat, so by adjusting the laser energy density and the size of the focusing point, you can carve a strange and charming shape on plexiglass like a carving knife. Similarly, laser can also carve on gems with low hardness such as sepiolite, turquoise and alabaster. For gemstones with high hardness (such as agate gemstones), laser engraving often breaks, so it is not suitable.

In the mid-1980s, Czechoslovakia and other countries developed a new technology to decorate practical glassware with laser technology. Compared with traditional decoration methods such as polishing, engraving, screen printing, etching and sandblasting, laser method has the advantages of no wear, high resolution, no chemical reaction and flexible design and manufacture. The objects of decoration are vases, porcelain cups, goblets, glasses and other rotationally symmetrical bodies made of ceramics or glass. The focused beam can produce micro-dots with the diameter of 100 ~ 150 micron on the surface. Various decorative patterns can be input into the computer through digital forms, cameras, scanners, etc., which are directly controlled by the computer memory, and the patterns to be processed can be changed within 10 second. The processing time depends on the pattern and the required resolution, and is generally about 40 seconds. In order to achieve the coloring effect, screen printing package, gold, platinum, rainbow color and other coatings can be used.

1989, a laser glazing machine invented by American "CGI Porcelain Glaze Company", can copy color or black-and-white photos on any porcelain within 2 minutes, and the reproduction effect is good.

British controlled laser instrument company has developed a computer-controlled laser engraving device, which can be widely used in various materials. It can be carved at high speed, and the speed can reach 20 mm/s. This new device consists of a 50W Nd: YAG laser, a microprocessor and a turntable. It can carve various characters, patterns or marks that can be recognized by computers, and can be used in aluminum, steel, titanium, ceramics and various soft and hard plastics.