Rotary and laser plastic engraving
Discover the different ways you can engrave and mark plastic parts and items : laser, rotary and dot-peen technologies. From manufacturing to personalisation.
Irreplaceable and constantly used in all industries, from automotive to medical or to the general public, plastic materials need to be identified and traced. Gravotech is a plastic supplier and maker since 1978 . We are making 2-layers plastics, made from abs or acrylic, with different color finishing. Most of our worldwide-known brands such as Gravoply™, Metallex™, Gravoglas™ 2-Plex™ or Gravotac™ have become synonymous of quality and are a reference for competitors to match. Our wide material range included over 900 references, specially developed for engraving and cutting. “Surface” or “Reverse” engraving, laser marking or cutter engraving, all our ranges are available in a spectrum of colours, thicknesses between 0.09 mm and 10 mm according to the products, and various finishes (matt, glossy, satin, textured, metallic, brushed).
The great majority of our materials is also compatible for digital printing. For you, this is the guarantee to find the right product for your application. Our ABS and acrylics are pure and selected among the best grades. Each component is subject to careful selection process taking into consideration normative and environmental obligations (RoHS**, REACH***). From the production of technical plastics to the finished product, Gravotech’s solutions are designed and optimized to mark all types of plastic, both natural and coloured, transparent, boosted by multiple additives. Different marking results can be obtained depending on the plastic type and the chosen marking technology: foaming, colour change, ablation of top layer, engraving, etc.
Our plastic engraving machines
Plastics lend themselves perfectly to laser marking and engraving. Our complete range of plastic laser engravers will enable you to carry out marking on many plastics, for a permanent result, with excellent quality and finish.
Integrated laser system to mark and engrave on all metals.
FIBER laser
Discover this product
Medium fully automated laser marking station.
LW2
Discover this product
Small laser engraver for all kind of engravings.
WELASE
Discover this product
Small CO2 laser engraver and cutter for personalisation, signage and creative.
LS100
Discover this product
Large laser engraver and cutter that can do everything.
LS900
Discover this product
Integrated laser system for high quality marking on plastics and metals.
HYBRID laser
Discover this product
Integrated laser system for high quality and cold marking on plastics and precious metals.
GREEN laser
Discover this product
LS1000XP
Discover this product
Medium CO2 or Fiber laser engraving and cutting machine for signage and small series.
LS100 EX
Discover this product
Rotary engraving machines remove materials using a cutting rotative tool. It will let the subsurface of the plastic appears or create a groove that can be filled with colours. Dot peen marking machines offer non-contrasted and visible marking obtained by making close impacts on the surface of all type of plastics. It is well adapted for human-readable text used for internal traceability It is the most economical solution with an extremely low cost of ownership: no consumables, no tool wear.
Medium CNC engraving machine for flat and cylinder engraving on metal and plastic.
IS400 – IS400 Volume
Discover this product
Large and extra large format CNC engraving machines.
ISx000
Discover this product
Small and custom engraving machine for all purposes, from perfume bottle to small industrial signage.
M20
Discover this product
Small CNC engraving machine for label and small part traceability system.
IS200
Discover this product
Large multi-purpose rotary engraving machine for signage and gifts.
M40
Discover this product
Lasertrace ™ facilitates the traceability and identification of all types of parts: - Internal traceability: automated production data marking optimizes industrial process and helps meet standards requirements. - Product identification: permanent marks give product information and use instructions and last for the complete life cycle. - Unique identifiers implementation: camera -readable 2D codes enable to track & trace every single item. Gravostyle ™ allows you to create your creative engraving jobs easily.
Mechanical engraving on plastic
Mechanical engraving process uses a rotative cutting tool to remove material. You can remove the complete width of the material to cut and create shapes, or only at a predetermined depth to create engraved grooves and form letters, logos, and graphics.
See our rotary plastic engravers.
Plastic engraving sheets have been a long-time partner to the rotary engraving machine. Create contrast by removing the coloured top surface of your material using cutting tools, and let the subsurface of the plastic appear. Rotary engraving machines are very versatile and can engrave every type of plastic, made for mechanical or laser engraving, or not.
When a plain plastic is being mechanically engraved, the contrast is possible by adding coloured material in the groove where the material has been removed. Gravotech offers a large range of colouring, including paints and cold wax. Simply apply your colouring after the engraving to obtain a clear and durable contrast.
Non-contrasted marking obtained by making close impacts on the surface of the plastic. Visible marking dedicated for identification. Can be done on all kinds of plastics.
Plastic laser engraving
The structure of the individual molecules or additives, such as colour pigments, are directly changed or destroyed through laser marking. A change in colour or bleaching is then visible on the material, creating a marking. The colouring is lighter or darker depending on the composition: darker plastics fade to white/beige in the marked areas, while lighter plastics fade to grey or black. The surface stays smooth, but this can be done only in some kinds of plastics. - Photochemical reactions of the molecules of plastics. - Usually, special additives are mixed into the plastics themselves. - High-speed marking. - Surface marking. - Green or hybrid laser efficient on coloured plastics. - Contrasted marking.
Foaming is a contrasted marking only possible on certain plastics and is usually clear on dark plastics. The laser melts the plastic locally, creating gas bubbles in the material
As it cools down, these gas bubbles are encapsulated in the material, creating a thin layer on the surface: the marking.
- Melting process.
- Inclusion of gas bubbles or impurities.
- High-speed marking.
- Work on some plastics, especially on black plastics.
- Hybrid or Fibre.
Contrasted marking obtained by making appear the colour of the lower layer. Can be done on all kinds of plastics with a plastic laser engraver. Colour and material removal marking is mainly used in coated materials. The existing colour, coating and surface layers are partially removed and the base material becomes visible. The layers to be removed absorb the laser light, the material heats up and vaporises at the affected areas.
As the surface layer and the protruding base material have different colours or the base material is often backlit, the marking becomes clear and visible.
- The laser removes the top layer without damaging the lower surface.
- High speed.
- Green laser.
This engraving effect creates a non-contrasted marking. Can be done on all kinds of plastics. When engraving by laser marking, the material is removed from the surface of the component to be processed. The beam penetrates the surface and removes it. In the case of transparent materials, as the material is simultaneously heated and reacts with the ambient air, discolouration often occurs in the engraving areas.
This is a shadow effect in the depression, which depends on the transparency of the laser light and the penetration depth of the laser radiation.
- Melting / Vaporisation process.
- Scribing effect.
- High-speed marking.
- Works on all plastics.
- CO2 is the only solution for transparent plastics.
Which laser source for plastic engraving?
Marking interaction obtained with laser depends on the plastic category (divided up into thermoplastics, thermosetting plastics and elastomers), their capacity to absorb the light and different wavelengths, the colour of the plastic and the kind of additive used on their composition.
Our application laboratory can make free samples to help you choose the best technology depending on your requirements. We master all the laser technologies and we can propose them in High-speed Galvo systems or X/Y Gantry systems allowing marking, engraving and cutting on almost all types of plastic material and all parts sizes.
Personalisation
Make it unique, create emotions
You are a luxury brand or an international brand and you would like to develop an exclusive in store customer experience for your clients, on your e-commerce site or during an event?
Gravotech offers tailored solutions that will meet your needs. A dedicated project manager will guide you throughout the collaboration: discussing requirements, running samples on your products, selecting the best-suited personalisation technology, solution deployment and user training.
