3D Engraving - Correcting Misconceptions
It might be the case that you're labouring under a few misconceptions about 3D engraving. Here are some clarifications.
This technique is phenomenally difficult and expensive
Well, yes and no! True, the processes behind the workings of lasers and how they engrave at a point inside an object is an interesting and fairly complicated matter of physics, but the vast majority of customers don't need to bother about that.
In terms of how that affects costs, the answer is less and less as technology has improved. While high-quality laser engravers are very expensive, in real terms the cost of producing 3D engraving in crystal has fallen substantially since it first started.
It involves melting out a shape in the middle of the crystal
This isn't quite correct. This is not a modern equivalent of the old €lost wax€ method of three dimensional object production from centuries ago. No representation is made of the design and then inserted into the crystal to be melted out; rather, a very high-resolution three-dimensional image is created on a computer and this is then used to provide phenomenally precise coordinates for a laser to focus its beam on inside the target crystal. This is engraving. If you'd like to know more, any professional provider of these design services will be happy to clarify.
I can make my own image and send it to a laser engraver
Actually, this is partly true but there is a note of warning to be sounded.
The final quality of the image in your crystal will be directly related to the design excellence of your input digital image file. DIY approaches here might look good on paper but they might appear rather less so when the final object is produced.
It's only possible to use certain special forms of plastic
No, crystal is perfectly possible and is eye-catching once the final result is available.
Only a limited number of designs are possible
In fact, providing you use an experienced and professional designer, it may be perfectly possible to design your own bespoke image and have that translated into a 3D engraving for you. There may, of course, be a relationship between the complexity of your required design and the final product cost.
The images degrade over time
No, they do not - though of course it depends what timescales you are speaking of!
In human terms these images are virtually eternal, though if the crystal itself was somehow subjected to very destructive forces then of course ultimately virtually nothing is indestructible.
They are all squares or rectangles
Whilst this might once have been broadly true, today there are a huge number of shapes and sizes of crystal available to choose from. The selection is staggering and adequate for almost all purposes. 3D engraving has come on a long way since it first arrived - it might be worth finding out more.
This technique is phenomenally difficult and expensive
Well, yes and no! True, the processes behind the workings of lasers and how they engrave at a point inside an object is an interesting and fairly complicated matter of physics, but the vast majority of customers don't need to bother about that.
In terms of how that affects costs, the answer is less and less as technology has improved. While high-quality laser engravers are very expensive, in real terms the cost of producing 3D engraving in crystal has fallen substantially since it first started.
It involves melting out a shape in the middle of the crystal
This isn't quite correct. This is not a modern equivalent of the old €lost wax€ method of three dimensional object production from centuries ago. No representation is made of the design and then inserted into the crystal to be melted out; rather, a very high-resolution three-dimensional image is created on a computer and this is then used to provide phenomenally precise coordinates for a laser to focus its beam on inside the target crystal. This is engraving. If you'd like to know more, any professional provider of these design services will be happy to clarify.
I can make my own image and send it to a laser engraver
Actually, this is partly true but there is a note of warning to be sounded.
The final quality of the image in your crystal will be directly related to the design excellence of your input digital image file. DIY approaches here might look good on paper but they might appear rather less so when the final object is produced.
It's only possible to use certain special forms of plastic
No, crystal is perfectly possible and is eye-catching once the final result is available.
Only a limited number of designs are possible
In fact, providing you use an experienced and professional designer, it may be perfectly possible to design your own bespoke image and have that translated into a 3D engraving for you. There may, of course, be a relationship between the complexity of your required design and the final product cost.
The images degrade over time
No, they do not - though of course it depends what timescales you are speaking of!
In human terms these images are virtually eternal, though if the crystal itself was somehow subjected to very destructive forces then of course ultimately virtually nothing is indestructible.
They are all squares or rectangles
Whilst this might once have been broadly true, today there are a huge number of shapes and sizes of crystal available to choose from. The selection is staggering and adequate for almost all purposes. 3D engraving has come on a long way since it first arrived - it might be worth finding out more.
