These luxury personalised gifts, customized in 24ct gold, rose gold and platinum, all use laser marking to create the information that makes it personalised. The laser marking process works really well if the product is marked before the plating is applied. The base material in this case can be either stainless steel (as on the earlier versions), or aluminium (on the newer versions). Because these materials are relatively easy to mark, we can place the laser marking directly onto these surfaces at any depth.
Once the unit is plated, the marking still shows through. The plating is so thin that it follows the same profile that the laser has produced. In addition, the line pattern which is very fine and created by the laser, creates a different surface finish from the base material which is normally highly polished. The result, as you can see from the photograph, is very good. Providing the mark pre-plating also removes any potential issues of the plating lifting, or having raisures around the mark edge which could cause potential issues when in normal use.
In some cases, the laser marking information is placed directly onto the gold plating. One of the issues with plating of this nature, is that the material is highly reflective and conducts heat really well, so in some cases the thickness control is not always as tight as we would like. These are all the elements that lasers really do not like.
If you would like further information on this laser application, or any other application, please request a call back or talk to one of our laser marking specialists on 01737 826902.
