Can a Laser engrave on a 3D surface?

Accessories J Tech Laser
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So I’m trying to justify buying a laser for my machine, and am deep in the creative space of “what could I do with it?”.

Can a laser be used to engrave on an existing 3D surface? I would want to make a 3D carve, for example, and then use the laser to engrave lines or text across the top. I would zero the z axis to use the focal point of the laser just like a tool to follow the surface. I imagine the software would need to generate a 3D path for the “laser tool” plus a PWM output for controlling the laser intensity. Is there software that makes this possible?

I use Fusion360 for all my modeling and CAM needs. I can easily draw the 3D paths/text, but I’m not sure about processing that into a Gcode output. Has anyone done this before? My google-fu has failed to find a good example.

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I’m not aware of any SW that will do what you ask but as long as the distance change is not huge you won’t go too much out of focus.

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The only thing I’ve seen is a device that rotates objects so you can engrave on tumblers and such. That’s ‘3D’ but probably not what you are looking.

-Tom

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look into the Vectric Aspire laser plug-in. Not positive but I think I saw a video showing someone using his laser to mark a carved topographical cut.

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Does someone make a attachment like this for burning on round objects?

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Is there any progress or experiments on this topic? I have a 3D carved relief on a cribbage board and would like to laser just the raised objects before I finish it. Is this possible?

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Saw a product that 3D scans then adjusts focus on the laser in operation forgot it’s name

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The best thing I can think would be to map a vector using map to 3D in vectric then offset the z origin for the focal length . Then run the laser like a bit doing a on the line cut

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Using the Vectric laser module you can project your laser burn on a 3D model. I have done this with some of my slate coasters.

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Really nicely done.

I was camping with our Scout troop down the road the weekend he fell off the mountain :slightly_frowning_face:

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I have a laser on the way and was curious about the same thing. If you are good with a 43 min video, this one has a lot of detailed info on Make 3d model in Fusion > import in to VCarve Pro > toolpath w Vectric laser module > laser engrave on a wooden spoon. Not sure if it’s the easiest or fastest way out there, but sounds similar to what @EdwoodCrafting did