Engraving Methods

Filed under: Laser Engraving, Parts Marking, metal plate embossing, nd:YAG Lasers — admin @ 3:19 pm

There comes a time where you need a metal plate or various other types of material engraved with some sort of information. It could be for anything from identifying and marking your tools to a trophy placard and everything in between. Engraving is used by several industries and homeowners alike.

Why engraving? There is a certain permanence that comes with this form of marking. It will not fade away or melt off and it’s a method that will make sure your information is there to stay. This process has been in use for centuries on end.

Older methods made use of engraving and chemical etchings on metal plates to produce images on paper. The chemical process of engraving is much more time consuming and has been replaced by photography. Even further back in history we have people using handheld engraving tools. We have come a very long way in this process.

Today, the most popular method of engraving is done with high powered lasers. These systems range from desktop sized applications to almost as big as a one car garage. Lasers can mark anything from metal to crystal and is by far the most versatile method ever used.

There is also a quick and economic means of engraving and that would be the use of a high speed rotary tool. If you need to mark your shop tools or other objects for identification, you could buy an electrical handheld engraving tool and save yourself time and money. These can be found in your local big box tool stores and in arts and crafts stores as well. There’s still something to be said for low cost solutions, if that will work for you and your task. Save the laser for something really special as there are plenty of creative uses for this technology.

It’s plain to see there is a wide variety for meeting your engraving requirements. You can be as low tech or high tech about the task as you and your bank account want to be. So determine your needs and how much you can budget for the project and head to your favorite search engine to explore what’s available.

The benefits of replacing linear barcodes with 2D Codes

Filed under: Laser Engraving, Parts Marking, nd:YAG Lasers — admin @ 3:11 pm

Why Should You Replace Linear Barcodes With 2D Codes?

In information technology, the storage and retrieval of information is the primary concern. The amount of data a given physical device is able to store depends on the design principles that went into making the device. For example, a one-dimensional barcode is a machine-readable representation of data. The one-dimensional, or 1D, barcode is capable of storing information up to a certain point. This is because a 1D barcode, also called a linear barcode, represents data as straight lines of varying width. This allows only a limited amount of information storage.

A two-dimensional barcode, also called 2D or a matrix code, is capable of representing a lot more data because the number of dimensions has been doubled. A matrix code represents data across both length and width of the barcode; a portable database of information, in other words. Matrix codes are mostly used for the identification of technological products, like computers, cell phones and wireless routers. Since the inception of matrix codes, 20 different designs have been registered and implemented. Special scanners are required to read matrix codes; the scanning beam moves sideways across the code, rather than simply reading the code horizontally, as with 1D codes.

There are many different matrix code standards. Some of the most common ones are:

- PDF 417: This arrangement can store information that is 2000 characters long; that is several sentences worth of data about a product or service. PDF stands for Portable Data File, and since the storage capacity is so huge, many times external databases are not required. This makes PDF 417 great for health care, identification, and logistics and retail.

- DataMatrix: Like PDF 417, a DataMatrix code can also store up to 2000 characters. DataMatrix is a square symbol that can be as long as fourteen inches. Circuit boards, high-quality lenses and surgical instruments are usually encoded using these matrices.

- MaxiCode: This arrangement can only store 93 characters worth of information. This arrangement has a distinct symbol; a bull’s eye in the center surrounded by hexagonal rows. It is much beloved by United Parcel Service because it can quickly be scanned while the code is moving on a conveyor belt.