What it is: Looking Glass Laser uses an art laser engraver to make a variety of unique wood items, including photo frames, tile, business cards and plaques. The company is committed to using woods grown and harvested using sustainable forest practices or from salvaged wood. Owner Jon Westdal also co-owns another business, An-West Inc., which makes furniture.

What’s new: Westdal has been using reclaimed wood from the bleacher seats of Mount Baker High School’s old gym, which was remodeled about 12 years ago, to make unique sports awards for the athletes. Westdal said he loves working with wood that has this kind of history.

DANIEL JOHNSON | THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

“These were seats that people were sitting on, watching games,” Westdal said. “It’s magical to me that perhaps the parents, or grandparents, of the student being given the award at one time sat on the very wood in the award their descendant is receiving.”
Mount Baker High School Athletic Director Brenda Terpstra wasn’t sure when the wood bleachers were first installed, but it was possibly around 1970. Westdal recently completed a set of awards for Mount Baker fall sports athletes who made the first or second conference teams.
“He did a really nice job,” Terpstra said. “The engraving was outstanding.”
The bleachers were made from fir, which he said is the kind of wood that looks better with age. “As it ages, wood develops a character to it that I’ve always found interesting,” Westdal said.
Employees: 0
How it started: Looking Glass Laser was founded in 2005. Westdal said he was influenced by his father, who was a curator in the physics department at the University of Denver in the 1960s. His dad would bring home a laser for the family to experiment with. Westdal has worked with wood his entire adult life.
While working with the high school in designing the awards, he found out about the reclaimed bleacher seats from a friend. “There is plenty of the wood, so it’ll keep me busy making awards for quite some time,” Westdal said.

At first glance this seems like sort of a basic question, but these terms get interchanged all the time. If you think it through, this could cause confusion on both the buyer and the equipment provider sides, causing mistakes and mishaps in configuring the correct machine for the job.

I’ve been involved in the laser business since 1986, presently with Trotec, but previously with different types of laser companies who provide both standard and custom equipment for a wide variety of applications. In that time I have always worked closely with the Applications Technicians who are tasked with determining the feasibility of a project and specifying the correct process AND laser for the job. So this is what I learned from them over the years.

Laser Engraving
This is the most common term and simply defined, means that in the process of creating the mark, material is removed or vaporized during the process. An example in our business is CO2 laser engraving plastic for signage. This is often a two-ply plastic with one color called the “cap” laminated to a contrasting color called the “core”. The engraving process removes the cap and exposes the core to create a sign that has an attractive look. There is also engraving in the processing of metals. Typically used to guarantee permanence, material is removed to create depth. Usually this is a process reserved for 1,064nm wavelength lasers (YAG for example) as those types of lasers couple well with metals. When engraving metals this way the laser is breaking the machined surface of the object, so oxidation or rusting can occur as a result. This would be a question at the time of feasibility testing. “Do you want depth? If so do you realize that the base material could oxidize? Depending on the answer the next option might be Laser Marking.

Laser Marking
Annealing or precipitation marking is commonly used when processing metal items where the surface of the part must stay intact. Often items like surgical implants, surgical instruments or high precision bearings require this type of marking. With laser marking, the heat of the laser actually redistributes the carbon in the material to create a jet black mark with only micron level surface disruption. If done correctly there will be no oxidation or rusting even under salt spray tests or autoclaving. Some plastics like ABS and Delrin also allow for a nice contrast when processed with a 1,064nm laser. If you processed the same material with a CO2 laser you would get an engraved marked with no contrast. This is all a matter of wavelength and how it reacts to the material OR the pigment in the material.

Laser Cutting
This is sometimes confused with laser engraving but really means totally sectioning a piece or cutting shapes directly through material. Most laser cutting is performed with CO2 lasers as again they interact with the material rather than the pigment within the material. We work a lot with acrylics which can be used for signage, retail displays and many other applications. While cutting, special attention is taken for smooth cuts and what is a called “flame polished edges”. There are times where high powered, pulse YAGs are used for metal cutting but even with these materials, high powered CO2’s seem to do the best job. In the cutting world, the other technology that is used is water jetting which also does a nice job on metal and stone. Cutting does not always mean thick materials though. Other common applications are paper cutting, leather sectioning and even things like gasket cutting.
So , in conclusion, understanding this basic terminology while you are shopping for a laser or a company to work with will go far to strengthen your communication with the vendor and will give him a better chance of meeting your needs and expectations.

Granite, Marble, Rostone, Tombstone, milestone, Tile, Bluestone, Sandrock,etc.

The max engraving depth of the granite is 3mm.

The max engraving depth of the marble and bluestone is also 3mm.

We provide CNC engraving machines with 3D demonstration for auto blades position setting, memory and 3D display for different hardness of the materials.

The stone engraving does not need high resolution.

The recommended engraving machines are:

 

6090 CNC Engraver 1218 CNC Router

1212 CNC Router 1325 CNC Router

The laser engravers are not being used only for industrial or marking field but also in customized artwork like lighter, watch, pens, etc. China is a traditional country with long historical stories. And with the globalization development in the world wide, Chinese young generation are becoming the pioneers of the fashion with personalized accessories. And to catch up with the new generation’s need for being unique, we produced this smart machine. If you have the lighter, belt, pens, rings even other accessories with your name, what can you be? Pioneer of the fashion!

Let’s to for 5030 Smart Man

leather wallet engraved

zippo lighters engraved

personalized leather belts

customized key tags

The recommending reasons for Smart Man 5030:

1. The perfect size. This size is 300*500mm. And it can meet all the needs for the small accessories.
2. The applicable materials. The Double-Color board, PVC board, leather, wood are the commonly used materials for the accessories.
3. The economical power consumer. The tube for this machine is 40-50W laser tube. And it is economical for the smaller shop or work room.
4. Various shapes. Smart Man machine has rotary jig as optional which means it can work on some special shapes of the materials.

5030 Smart Man desktop laser engraver