Engraved Stainless Steel

We get enquiries for engraved stainless steel all the time at Total Industrial Engraving. In fact, we are engraving stainless steel in one method or other every day.We wanted to show you some of your options when it comes to engraved stainless steel. Hopefully this will help you to choose the method of engraving you'd like for your stainless steel engraving project.Interestingly, as a side note, brass engraving is possible in exactly the same ways as stainless steel. Aluminium can be more difficult in some methods but we have our ways so don't let that put you off getting in touch. We have noticed that most people are unaware that aluminium is more difficult though. Therefore, they assume it will be a cheaper method than stainless steel and it rarely is.So, when getting started with engraved stainless steel, we first consider what colour you want your text/logo/image to be.

Black text

Laser engraving is a great option if you want black text - it can't be used for any other colour.

No colour infill

We need to mechanically engrave stainless steel where you don't need colour infill (or chemically etch but let's come back to that later).

More things to consider with engraved stainless steel

Do you want depth to your engraving?

You can't get depth with laser engraving on stainless steel so if you do want depth you are looking at mechanical engraving. We actually do a lot of engraving for laser cutting companies, where they have been asked to laser engrave. They can only get the thickness of the laser beam so it looks pretty naff. I can think of a well known bean company where we added their logo to the laser cut parts, prior to fabricating.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

Is your design very intricate or small?

The laser beam is thinner than engraving cutters we have to use to mechanically engrave so laser engraving is best for this route. Chemically etching may be possible but not if small piece and very low quantity. This is because it would need to be etched prior to cutting and wouldn't be cost effective.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

What file format do you have access to?

If we are mechanically engraving we do need to be able to create a tool path for the cutter. Therefore we need a vector file, ideally a dxf or eps. If you only have a sketch or a picture file and cannot get an improved version and the design is complex. You'd likely be best to go down the laser engraving route.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

What is your timescale for the project?

Laser engraving is nearly always (ok always) quicker. The set up time is less, the engrave time is less, the finishing time is less (especially is we are considering paint infill). You can see how that is adding up can't you.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

How many items do you want engraving?

Laser engraving doesn't require parts to be fixed down to the engraving bed because nothing actually touches the part once you have focused the machine, so it can't move. If you need a lot of parts engraving it is best to have laser engraving as we can usually nest to do multiple parts at once.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

Is this an ongoing project with repetition?

Cutter thicknesses vary, there is no escaping that. If you are having a part engraved and in 6 months you will want another that will go next to the first one. Then, you certainly want to have laser engraving. They will be identical. It is virtually impossible to do this with mechanical engraving, although we are good.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

Do you want colour infill (other than black)?

Then you are going to need mechanical engraving. Sometimes people just need a logo or heading in a different colour and then there is the option to laser engrave the bulk of the job and just mechanically engrave the colour infill areas.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

Is your project in a very traditional building?

Then you want to seriously consider mechanical engraving, it is classic and timeless.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

What size is your stainless steel?

Our largest laser engraving bed is a maximum of 915 x 610mm. Which is fairly hefty but we can go larger if we mechanically engrave.[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon="fa-lightbulb fas"]

Can you get the stainless steel or do we have to supply it?

Either is fine with us. We buy the blanks laser cut to include and holes and radius corners you need. As standard we use 0.9mm thick DP1 (brushed) 316 grade (marine grade) stainless steel. But we can get any other thickness and finish you'd like pretty much. Equally if you have the material ready to go, just send it to us and we'll do the engraving and send it back. We do need to factor in the time to get the stainless cut but that is the same whether you or we get it. Where regular orders of the same sized plate are required we are happy to stock them for you to cut out the wait.

Mechanically engraved stainless steel with 2 colour paint infill

Lift plates are often up to 2 meters tall. Therefore they would need to be mechanically engraved due to the size. This opens up the option to have multiple colour infill too. Our maximum engraving bed size on mechanical engraving is 1220 x 760mm. But we can go to nearer to 3 meters as we have the scope to feed the material through the machine. We'd just need to feed it through to engrave the part that didn't fit on the machine first time around.It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. If you want paint infill it needs time to dry so we can't offer this service on a next day basis.

Mechanically engraved stainless steel ruler with no infill & black infilled schematic

These are what we call a single line font. We get asked about what that means from time to time. Basically the thickness of the text is depicted by the thickness of the cutter. We have to choose a cutter that gives the right weighting to the text. Baring in mind if you get deeper, your text will get thicker due to the angle of the cutter. You need a decent angle so it doesn't snap when engraving stainless steel so it does mean you can't do tiny deep text. One or the other really.

Laser engraved mirror polished stainless steel disc

This beauty is laser engraved it looks like printing but doesn't rub off. That's the description we tend to use when talking about it to people who aren't sure which route to take.The file has to be brilliant if you want a lot of black like on this design. Sometimes you get lines and imperfections in big black areas but as you can see, when it works, it works. We tend to sample your logo on scrap metal first (especially if you are supplying your own stainless), just to be sure it will come out well.

Laser cut and laser engraved panel fascia

We have a great relationship with the local laser cutters, so we can get any of your intricate designs laser cut to save you the hassle. If you aren't local to Leicester this is also really useful. So you don't have to courier your stainless steel to us, after you get it cut. We are all about saving you time and hassle.We also do engraving for a lot of fabricators and engineering companies. These tend supply their own parts for engraving, and that is fine with us too.Talking of engineered parts, It isn't just flat parts we can engrave, as you can see.

Chemically etched with paint infill

As you can see, this is a fabulous option for multiple colour infill with intricate design. It is often best to have paint infill with chemical etching because it isn't very deep. But also the chemical reaction can cause differing effects in the bottom of the text. Therefore, if you were etching a big area and needed it to be not infilled I'd be pointing you in the mechanical engraving direction.

Thinking of getting your stainless steel engraved - next steps

In our engraving shop we do have some options, if you want a quick, easy transaction. However, we love the personal touch so please feel free to email us at info@tie.uk.com if you don't find exactly what you want. 90% of our work is totally bespoke so it is the usual route for our customers.Send us a picture/pdf of what you need and the dxf/eps if you have it and we'll get a quote over to you. We usually aim to do this the same day but within 24 hours is standard.If you want us to supply the stainless please include the thickness and and hole dimension and positions you need cutting.