Hi, I’m wondering if it’s possible to use a laser engraver to engrave images onto a 3D print? Or will the lasers affect the plastic in a negative/unsafe way?
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Jul '16last reply
Jul '16- 4
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I imagine the fume emissions would be horrible for thermoplastics, but you can laser engrave acrylic so I don’t see why not. Just need a rig that can handle the shape of whatever you’re engraving.
Hi there!
You can laser cut/engrave just about any thermoplastic, just be very careful with the fumes as mastermiller said. Those fumes will be pretty potent, so definitely make sure your equipment/work space is properly ventilated.
For future prints as an alternative to laser engraving, you could edit the model so that the image is recessed into the print. This way when it prints, the image is already included and you don’t have to deal with the fumes from engraving thermoplastic. This works really well as long as the image isn’t too detailed or contains really small text. If you look on my Hub, you can see what I mean on the custom gear cubes I printed. All the logo and text on those were printed as part of the model.
Those cubes are so cool, that is skill!
Thank you!