Capability / 05 Laser Processing
Precision laser cutting, engraving and marking for components, products, branding, identification and bespoke work.
Cut. Mark. Engrave. Identify. Personalise.
02 The three processes
Laser processing is more than putting a name onto a product. It is a manufacturing and customisation capability covering cutting, engraving, marking, identification, personalisation and fine surface detailing — three related processes that do three different things to a material.
01
The design becomes a cut path and the profile is separated from the material. What you get back is a shape, with its apertures and internal features cut in the same operation.
Through the material
02
Material is removed from the surface, so the detail has depth as well as contrast. Logos, text, artwork, patterns, product detailing and personalised work all live here.
Into the surface
03
The surface itself is changed to create contrast, without removing meaningful material. Serial numbers, part identification, technical information, logos and asset identification.
On the surface
Which of the three suits a project depends on the material, the finish, the thickness, the result you need and the laser technology the work requires. A material that suits one process does not automatically suit another, so process and material suitability are assessed per project.
03 Precision cutting
A two-dimensional design becomes a cut path. The laser follows it, and the profile separates from the sheet as a finished component.
There is no translation stage between your outline and the edge you hold. The vector geometry is the cut, which is why laser cutting suits work where the shape itself is the point — and why the quality of the artwork matters as much as the material.
Not every material can be laser cut, and material thickness is a limit rather than a detail. Both are confirmed against your project before anything is cut.
04 Engraving
Engraving removes material from the surface. The result carries depth as well as contrast, which is what separates an engraved detail from a printed one.
Typography, a logo, a detailed illustration, technical information or a geometric pattern — all of them are the same process at different scales of detail. How deep and how dark the result can be is set by the material and the process together, and is proved on the material rather than promised in advance.
05 Marking
Marking changes the surface to create contrast without removing meaningful material. The information becomes part of the component rather than something attached to it.
A component can carry its own logo, part number, serial number, revision, technical symbol or identifier. Whether a particular marking suits a particular component depends on the material and its surface, and on what the marking has to survive in use.
Where a project has traceability, industry or compliance requirements attached to it, those requirements are established and verified for that specific project. Nothing here claims a marking automatically satisfies a particular standard.
06 Who it is for
The same processes, the same care and the same standard of work. A batch of marked components and a single personalised object are both real projects here.
Route 01
Components that have to be identified, products that have to carry a brand, and parts that have to be told apart from each other on a shelf or in a machine.
Route 02
A single object that has to be exactly right. Personal work is treated as precision work, because that is what it is — the same drawings, the same material review, the same finish.
07 Branding & personalisation
The same capability serves both. A clean object becomes a personal one, or a branded one, through the same controlled detail applied in the same way.
Stage 01
Clean object
The component or product as it starts.
Stage 02
Logo
A mark, placed deliberately.
Stage 03
Product name
Typography that belongs to the object.
Stage 04
Identification
Information the product needs to carry.
Stage 05
Finished product
Graphic detail, resolved into the material.
Supported as one-off work, as a small batch, or as a repeatable project where the same detail is applied again later. What can be repeated, and how consistently, is established against the specific object and material rather than promised as a production volume.
08 Industrial marking & identification
Some marking is decorative. Some of it is how a component is found, fitted, inspected, replaced or accounted for years after it was made.
Identification applied by laser is part of the surface rather than attached to it, which is why it suits components that are handled, cleaned, stored or installed somewhere a label would not survive.
Illustrative placeholders only. Where a project carries traceability, regulatory or industry requirements, those requirements are established and verified for that specific project — a laser marking is not assumed to satisfy a standard on its own.
09 Materials
Laser behaviour changes significantly between materials. The appropriate process depends on the material, finish, thickness, desired result and required laser technology.
Usually marked or engraved rather than cut, and coatings such as anodising change the result as much as the base metal does.
Often suited to cutting and engraving together, though grain, adhesives and board construction all affect the result.
Behaviour varies enormously between polymers, and composition has to be known before anything is processed.
Surface work rather than cutting. The result depends heavily on the specific material and its surface condition.
Coated, composite, layered, unusual or unidentified materials. These are assessed before any process is proposed, not after.
Process and material suitability assessed per project
A material listed here may suit marking but not cutting, or engraving but not marking. Nothing on this page implies that every material can undergo every laser process.10 Laser process finder
Tell us what you want to achieve. We’ll help you understand the likely process.
The finder points you at a likely process and tells you what still needs confirming. Your answers travel with the enquiry, so you should not have to explain the project twice.
11 Material compatibility
Not every material is safe or suitable to laser process, and a material cannot be accepted on appearance alone. Composition has to be known or assessed before anything is cut, engraved or marked.
12 Design to laser
We can work from vector artwork, logos, CAD geometry, graphics, text, dimensional designs and existing design files — and can help prepare suitable project geometry where what you have is not quite ready yet.
Stage 01
Logo / artwork / CAD
Whatever form your design is in today.
Stage 02
Vector & process preparation
Geometry prepared for the process it will run.
Stage 03
Material
Confirmed, assessed and matched to the result.
Stage 04
Laser process
Cut, engrave, mark, or a combination.
Stage 05
Finished result
The detail, resolved into the material.
13 Curved surfaces
Cylindrical products, drinkware, round components, tubes, rings and curved branded products are processed with the object turning beneath a fixed head.
Whether a particular cylindrical object is suitable depends on its size, shape, material, surface and how it can be held. Suitability is assessed per object rather than assumed.
14 Batch & variable marking
The same detail repeated across identical components, or information that changes from one component to the next — serial numbers, identifiers, names, dates.
Identifiers shown are illustrative placeholders. How a batch is set up, held and run is established per project, along with what is realistic for that specific component and material.
15 CNC + laser
A machined component and its identification, branding or detail are usually two suppliers and two conversations. Here they are one project, and the detail is registered to the geometry it sits on.
Stage 01
Raw material
Solid material, chosen for the requirement.
Stage 02
CNC machining
Material removed to reveal the component.
Stage 03
Finished geometry
The part, complete and correct.
Stage 04
Laser detail
Branding, legend or identification applied.
Stage 05
Completed product
One component, one studio, one account of it.
16 Additive + laser
A 3D printed component can carry marked or engraved detail where the polymer and the surface suit it. Where they do not, the detail is achieved another way rather than forced.
Stage 01
CAD
The geometry, developed or reviewed.
Stage 02
Additive manufacture
The component, built layer by layer.
Stage 03
Laser mark / engrave where suitable
Polymer and surface assessed first.
Stage 04
Finished component
Built and detailed as one project.
Not all 3D printed polymers can safely or effectively be laser processed. The material, the print and the intended detail are assessed together before this route is proposed.
17 Where you come in
An object, a logo, a CAD file, a batch that needs identifying, or nothing but an idea. Every one of these is a legitimate starting point.
“I have an object.”
“I have a logo.”
“I have a CAD file.”
“I have an idea.”
“I need a batch marked.”
“I don’t know what process I need.”
You do not have to buy every stage. Join the workflow where your project actually is, and stop where it makes sense to stop.
18 How it works
01
What the object is, what the result has to be, where it will be seen or used and how many there are. This is the stage that decides everything after it.
02
Establish what the material actually is, including any coating, finish or laminate on the surface, and assess whether it is suitable for the process the result requires.
03
Prepare the vector geometry, artwork or CAD so it suits the process it will run — or develop the design with you where what exists is not ready yet.
04
Cutting, engraving, marking or a combination, chosen from the material and the required result rather than from habit.
05
Where depth, contrast, colour or material behaviour matters, prove it on the actual material before the job is run rather than predicting it.
06
Run the work, with the components held and registered so the detail lands where the design says it should.
07
Check the result against what was agreed — placement, legibility, edge and finish — and say plainly where anything differs.
08
The finished work, with an account of what was done to it and what was confirmed along the way.
19 How far you take it
Both of these are complete pieces of work. Neither is the consolation prize.
Route 01 — complete service
Already have the object, the artwork or the geometry and simply need it cut, engraved or marked? Send it across, and the material and process are reviewed before anything is run.
Route 02 — complete service
Starting from an idea or a requirement rather than a finished object? Continue through the Studio Variant workflow, with one studio responsible at every stage.
There is no minimum size of project here. A single engraved object is treated with the same care as a batch of marked components, because both are somebody’s project.
20 Project records
These slots are held for genuine Studio Variant laser projects, recorded problem through process to result. Nothing illustrative will be presented here as completed client work.
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Problem → Material → Design → Laser process → Result
Project record — reserved
Imagery to be added
Problem → Material → Design → Laser process → Result
Next capability