Laser engraving covers everything from a surface colour change that wipes off under a fingernail to a cavity cut millimetres deep. Suppliers price all three from the same machine and they are not the same job. Knowing which one you actually need, and which laser source your material wants, is most of what separates a sensible quote from an expensive one.
Marking, etching and engraving
Marking changes the surface colour without removing material, which is fast and permanent enough for most identification. Etching removes a shallow layer and gives a tactile finish. Engraving cuts a real cavity and takes many passes, so it costs several times more per part. Serial numbers and logos almost always want marking; a part that must survive abrasion may want engraving.
The source has to match the material
Fibre lasers mark metals and many engineering plastics well and are the workhorse for industrial part marking. Carbon dioxide lasers cut and engrave organics, acrylic, wood, leather and coated surfaces, and do not mark bare metal without a coating. Ultraviolet lasers mark heat sensitive plastics with very little thermal damage. Sending a job to the wrong source produces a poor result, not just a slow one.
What drives the price
Marked area and depth, because both are time. The number of passes. Fixturing, since marking one part is trivial and marking four hundred consistently needs a jig. Whether each part carries different data, since serialisation needs a data source and verification. And whether the mark has to be readable by machine afterwards, which turns it into a quality operation.
Permanence and compliance
Where a mark has to survive cleaning, sterilisation or abrasion, say so, because that decides depth and technique. Machine readable codes on regulated products carry their own readability requirements, and a mark that scans on day one and fails after passivation is a common and avoidable problem. Test the mark through the whole downstream process, not just off the laser.
Questions people ask about laser engraving
What is the difference between laser marking and engraving?
Marking changes the surface without removing significant material. Engraving cuts a cavity. Etching sits between them. Cost rises steeply with depth.
Can a laser engrave any material?
No. The source has to match the material: fibre for metals, carbon dioxide for organics and acrylic, ultraviolet for heat sensitive plastics. Bare metal will not mark under a standard carbon dioxide laser.
Is laser engraving permanent?
A properly specified mark is, but permanence depends on depth and on what happens afterwards. Passivation, anodising, blasting and heavy cleaning can all degrade a shallow mark.
How are per part prices calculated?
Mostly by marking time, which is area and depth, plus fixturing and any data handling for serialisation. Batch quantity matters because the fixture cost spreads across it.