Laser Etched Laptops

Thought this was a pretty cool site- might be an option for those of you with ibooks or any laptop with a metal casing. Only problem is finding someone with a laser etching machine. . .

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/12/how_its_made_laser_etching_pow.html

 

Wow thats totaly freaking cool!

*WANTS TO DO It!!!!!*


Edit:

Wait can you only do this on Apples?

 

Wow that is pretty cool! Shoot! I want something like that done! Haha.

 

Oh wow, I wonder how much something like that would cost.

 

My thoughts exactly...

 

While we are on this topic, laser engraving and sandblasting are other methods

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=38017

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=42150

 

very, very nice. All you need is Corel Draw software and access to a lazer "etcher". We have both at the CDT department at my skool. Maybe the teacher will let me use them and I could do up my own laptop!

http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel3/Products/Display&pfid=1047024307335&pid=1047025934319

 

That is very sweet, I gotta get me one of those machines

 

Wow, love how they did the Apple (even though I don't love the computer )

I am thinking this can only be done on a metallic surface . . my Sager's lid is some kind of metal, I would get this done if I knew where to go and how much it would cost.

 

Metal? Nope Chaz, you can lazer etch, crap what's it called, the material they use for those see through windows in those computer towers and many other surfaces.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Thats pretty cool. I don't know if I'd do it... if I had a lappy with a metal lid. Because its perminant and I could get tired of it.

 

Plexiglass? I thought that kind of stuff is etched with chemicals or an abrasive. Wouldn't the laser simply melt the plexiglas? I don't have any experience with it though, so just my $.02.

 

Thats cool... But the machines that do this kind of laser cutting cost at least 8,000 USD for the small ones that are ment for home / office use! People mostly do it on mac's because of the aluminum cover. The laser cutting works great on these covers. It's cool but for most people it's not worth the time / effort it takes to do somthing like this.

 

dedlewamp...I'm not too sure if they actually use a laser, maybe they do, but it's called laser etching.

One thing you can do is buy those laser etched stickers and put'em on.

www.bigfootcomputers.com has a bunch of them and you can customize your own too. I've seen them and they're great.

Cheers,
Mike

 

I've seen etched tower windows/cases for a long time, and yes you can etch plexiglass (although i doubt it's one with a high intensity laser.) I've seen a few done by hand, and they've won many contsets.

Laptops would be a cool idea, those look really cool. If you're bummed because your laptop has a plastic casing, you could always add a metal layer to the outisde Or find someone with some metal experience and get them to retro fit your laptop with a metal casing. I know i've seen some people do this, just not etch it afterwards.

 

Epilog, the company that makes the laser they use, says that you can etch plastic.

 

^ See told yah~!

Since that's a permanent solution I would go with stickers OR try what, darn I forgot who did it, but someone on the forums here had his W3V lid and palmrest painted by an artist and WOW what a job.

That could be another option, but would cost a lot more.

 

Thats really cool

 

It's nice to see a laptop mod that isn't done with stickers or spray paint.
Kudos to those guys!

 

That would be me. Here is a pic of the lid:


And here is the palm rest:


Sorry for the sucky quality of the pics. One day I'll have to shoot some better ones. I'm still loving the paint job. Worth every penny.

 

That looks great man. Who did it?

 

Wow. Cool paint job. ^^; Sword threw the touchpad is so nifty

 

A local artist here in the Bay Area by the name of Daneen did the work on my laptop. You can see more of her work at:

http://www.customairbrush.com/

 

Who did your work?

 

Hey folks, I just wanted to add my 2-cents worth.

Keep in mind that there are two main categories of Laser Engravers: CO2 (carbon dioxide) and YAG ( insert long chemical substance name here - Yitrium Argon or something). They basically are named for the type of laser tubes that they use. The CO2 is the more common and less expensive of the two and is what is being used in the originating post in this thread. Many awards and trophy shops have one or more of these lasers. Technically, CO2 lasers cannot mark metal directly. CO2 lasers can be combined with chemical coatings to produce permanent black markings on metal, primarily stainless steel. What we are probably seeing on the Macs in the origninal post is some sort of anodized coating that is being burned off by the laser. (Side note: I believe that some laser manufacturers - Universal Laser for example - are advertising high intensity CO2 lasers that can mark metals unaided.) CO2 lasers are in general very versatile in what they can mark once you get past bare, uncoated metals.

CO2 lasers can engrave acrylic( fancy name for plastic) very well, depending on what type of acryulic it is. Cast acrylic engraves very well - frosted white - with great detail if your laser has a very small focal point. Extruded acrylic cuts very well but does not engrave as well - it tends to melt rather than frost. Cast acrylic tends to be more difficult to cut with a laser. Please keep in mind that there are many different grades of acrylic(plastic) out there, and it is very diffiecult to tell how it will respond to laser engraving without trying a sample first. For this reason many engravers will shy away from engraving a laptop without a sample to test on first. Also, PVC based plastics tend to produce hydrochloric acid fumes when engraved - very bad for people and machines.

YAG lasers are primarily used to mark stainless steel and other metals. You generally see these in industrial/military uses where parts need to be permanently marked for future identification and tracking purposes.


Sandblasting is another beast all together. Sometimes you will see it referred to as abrasize etching since using actual sand can cause some very deadly health problems if it gets into your lungs. Not as many people in the awards industry offer sandblasting. (It seems to be more common on the west coast than on the east coast.) Many sign shops offer sandblasted signs, as do monument specialists, but they are probably using a coarser grit (80 grit or so abrasive) than I would recommend for good detailed etching. A finer abrasize (smaller particle size, i.e. 220 grit silicon carbide) will let you produce much finer detail in your etching.

Please keep in mind that sandblasting can be very messy. You don't want 220 grit silicon carbide floating around in your computer. Aluminum oxide (more common than silicon carbide - read less expensive) also produces quite a bit of static electricity - I actually ended up with a few red welps back when I used to use it.

CorelDRAW is pretty much the industry standard in the awards arena, but you can import graphics from the other major players without many problems. One thing to keep in mind when selecting or creating a graphic is that it is either engraved or it isn't. Any shading (grayscale) or colors are translated to halftones (lasers tend to produce higher resolution than available to sanblasting.) Lots of colors that are close to each other will most likely have to be adjusted to produce more contrast or will end up looking awful. Black and white artwork (not grayscale) is the easiest to produce. If you do end up trying something halftone, try to create the artwork in the native resolution of the machine that is going to engrave it. Also, vectored artwork is easier to work with than bitmaps. Many times line widths will need to be adjusted to get the best final results.


Your best chance of convincing someone who hasn't done this type of work before is to make sure they have a sample piece or two to work with. You may also be asked to sign a waiver in case the piece does not come out well.

If anything in the above ramblings is incomplete or unclear, please feel free to contact me. Also, here are some random links that might prove helpful:

http://www.ulsinc.com/english/laser_systems/product_line/VersaLaser.html

http://www.ara.org

http://www.epiloglaser.com/mini18_overview.htm

 

Any where in Canada or specifically Toronto?

 

So where can I send my laptop to have it etched? I'm probably getting a MBP.

 

Those Macbooks look flat awesome! Somehow it manages to be both understated and jaw-dropping at the same time.

I wonder how the m1210's lid would take to the etching process...I'd love to have something like that!

 

Anything you use might be Problems. I use Miroblasting and a 400,000 rpm dremal. Right now I am a Glass blower and Glass, Wood, metal Engraving and Tech support in my town. Most of the stuff I do is Freehand or useing Plotter.

Things I would look at is Miroblasting and dremal there stuff that comes off.

Guns Metel chips and Paint.
Glass Glass chips and sand depending on the equipment.
Wood and wood dust.
And the stuff that comes off the tools.

That a danger to any system. Not talking about wood engraving.

This is a area I would love to get into. But I am looking at the eletronics LCD screens and going could be a problem.

If I can get into this I would love it.

I started into a theam park and learn glass blowing and engraving 3 to 4 years. At the time I learn computer at home.

With the miroblasting aka sandblasting I use Aluminum oxide in a chamber. But anything in a computer is unsafe. If I do something like this There would be no eletronics. It would be a computer case or laptop case.

But I will be looking into it. I will look into companys that I can buy computer/laptop cases.

 

I would buy an MBP, just to have that done.