Co2 lasers doing brick

[Junior hall]

To those of you who have a co2 laser engraver . Use caution as to engraving clay brick pavers ( bricks ) your tube may burn out a lot faster or even catch fire.

I done a brick and it didn't look nothing like i seen on web sites so i called the manufacture and that is what they told me. There are certain laser engravers ( he told mE the names ) i do not remember there names off hand. Just thought i would pass this along

[Rich Harman]

To those of you who have a co2 laser engraver . Use caution as to engraving clay brick pavers ( bricks ) your tube may burn out a lot faster or even catch fire.

I done a brick and it didn't look nothing like i seen on web sites so i called the manufacture and that is what they told me. There are certain laser engravers ( he told mE the names ) i do not remember there names off hand. Just thought i would pass this along

Thanks for passing along some information. In this case I think that further research would have been warranted before sharing. The only way that the tube is going to be affected by what it is engraving is if the beam is reflected back into the tube. I don't see that happening with bricks. Perhaps they were telling you that in order to engrave bricks you would need to run at max power - which would shorten tube life. The bit about catching fire I believe to be complete hogwash.

[Mark Sipes]

Junior, what wattage is your system....? If you don't have the right power you will never achieve a good glaze on a brick.


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[Junior hall]

Mark Sipes I have a 60 watt laser machine I get the kind of a dark burn mark but nothing that will go deep like ive seen on some web sites that engrave bricks... I have started with there suggested speed and power but good gosh talking about for ever and a day . I have went up to as high as 90 power and as low as 8 speed... I dont got time for some thing that slow. Will never make a penny with that speed so need less to say i will not be doing clay brick pavers... I f i do decide to do bricks ill sandblast them and be done with it.. I have the rubber matt material for sandblasting also it is a light green with a sticky backing. Done sandblasting before and liked it but it was time consuming until i found about laser engraving. Will have to get another sandblast cabinet if i do decide to do brick pavers. I am just doing a little bit of every thing to engrave as i see so many things and they look so nice

[Joe Hillmann]

One thing that helps to get a black mark on bricks is to make sure they are bone dry. I have baked them in my oven for several hours to dry them out and it can change the mark from an ash gray to a gloss black.

[Keith Winter]

One thing that helps to get a black mark on bricks is to make sure they are bone dry. I have baked them in my oven for several hours to dry them out and it can change the mark from an ash gray to a gloss black.

Great tip Joe!

[Michael Hunter]

Try this -

Find the focus point and then lower the CERAMIC OBJECT by about 10mm (3/8") so it is OUT of focus (or raise the lens if that is how your machine works).
Using vector (cutting) mode, now run at maximum power and very low speed (so low it is barely moving).

If your laser has sufficient power, you should get a line of black glass about 1.5mm (1/16") wide.

Works well with my 60W.

The process does create intense white light and certainly some gets back down the mirror chain to the laser tube, but most of the energy goes every which way : I wasn't worried about my tube.


I did try normal raster engraving on ceramic and found the results very disappointing, only producing anything like usable results on two out of the dozen or so tile types that I tried.


CERAMIC OBJECT because we don't use the B work in public as there is a patent.
Unlikely that it would stand up in court (the patent describes a very specific method and procedure), but the fund-raiser B people could still make life difficult if they thought you were taking business away.

[Dan Hintz]

To those of you who have a co2 laser engraver . Use caution as to engraving clay brick pavers ( bricks ) your tube may burn out a lot faster or even catch fire.

I done a brick and it didn't look nothing like i seen on web sites so i called the manufacture and that is what they told me. There are certain laser engravers ( he told mE the names ) i do not remember there names off hand. Just thought i would pass this along

I would ignore this person's technical advice from now on...

[Dave Sheldrake]

Use caution as to engraving clay brick pavers ( bricks ) your tube may burn out a lot faster or even catch fire.

I'd agree with Dan Junior, probably not a good idea to be calling those folks again unless you believe the Earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese

[Sarah Ford]

Find the focus point and then lower the CERAMIC OBJECT by about 10mm (3/8") so it is OUT of focus (or raise the lens if that is how your machine works).
Using vector (cutting) mode, now run at maximum power and very low speed (so low it is barely moving).

If your laser has sufficient power, you should get a line of black glass about 1.5mm (1/16") wide.

Works well with my 60W.

This is excellent advise for engraving bricks on a CO2 laser, it can take a while, but I've never had issue an issue with pricing when I charge my standard hourly rate. I would also suggest to run everything as a vector with a contour to the center with a very small offset.

You should also know that you'll receive the best "dark" color marking when you use a red through-body brick with the smoothest face possible. The type of brick you use can have a MAJOR impact on the quality of the marking. You should look for a molded brick with a smooth face and no sand on the finish. I've never had an issue with how wet or dry a brick was though, so I would take the advise to burn it with a grain of salt. I would think burning the brick in your oven might damage the integrity of the brick itself as they've already been kiln fired and some even come pre-sealed with waterproofing agents.

[Bill George]

So there are the precast cement/concrete that look like bricks and the "real" clay brick fired in a Kiln so we need to find out which instructions are for each. Or do we?

[Dan Hintz]

So there are the precast cement/concrete that look like bricks and the "real" clay brick fired in a Kiln so we need to find out which instructions are for each. Or do we?

Concrete won't give you nearly the same look as clay...

[Dale Weber]

As a CO2 laser manufacturer and repair shop, we "burn in" lasers overnight prior to final QC in order to shake out any weak component in the RF power supply. We use bricks as the beam stop when we run these lasers. The reason we use bricks is that there is very little out-gassing, they dissipate heat relatively well, and they are non reflective. From a laser manufacturer, I can state, there is no problem firing a CO2 beam at a brick.

[Sarah Ford]

Concrete won't give you nearly the same look as clay...

Exactly. You might get the faintest of marks on a concrete paver, but it's a totally different process than what you get from running the laser on a clay brick.

[Bill Cunningham]

I haven't tried it yet, but Laser Sketch has clay brick, and a technique to engrave them. Just ask, Capt. Jim will send you a .pdf

[Junior hall]

Bill i got Captin Jims way and Laser Sketch buys there bricks from one of 4 places and one being Pine Hall Brick out of Greensboro and Winston Salem NC

[Sarah Ford]

Adding onto Junior's tip about Pine Hall being on of the Laser Sketch providers, you can also check in with your local brick distributor and see if they carry Whitacre-Greer or Belden pavers, as I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar that's where the beveled brick are coming from.

[Scott Challoner]

One other thing you need to think of when doing pavers for outdoor use is efflorescence. I did a walkway at our church using Pine Hall pavers (from a local material supplier) and come springtime, they looked horrible. I thought it was just from spreading too much salt in the winter but the more I read, the more I discovered the problem was occurring naturally from salts created within the brick itself. I read that most manufacturers include an additive to reduce the efflourescence, but apparently Pine Hall doesn't. You can see the difference in the 8x8 pavers that I used from a different supplier. I bought some sealer and I'm going to play around with sealing them up before engraving, but you should probably recommend a good quality polyurethane sealer to your customers who are installing them outdoors. I tried cleaning them several times, but it seems the best thing to do is to wait until it goes away and then seal them.
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[Sarah Ford]

I would recommend sealing the pavers with Siloxane or Sure Klean from a company called Prosoco. You should be able to find it at the same local supplier that distributes bricks. Some bricks come pre-sealed but they're more expensive and the distributor should let you know when you purchase them.