Part marking samples · Dot peen and laser · Real parts
Every sample below was marked on a real part in our sample room, not rendered. Each one shows the material, what was marked and which machine did it. If your material is not here, send us the part and we will mark it for free.
Filter by what you are marking, what industry you are in, or which technology you are weighing up.
Each card names the material, the code that went on it and the machine that did the job. Follow any of the links on a card to go deeper into that material, that industry or that machine.
About depth and speed. Where a depth is given it is a typical range for that method on that material, not a promise for your part. Depth, contrast and speed all shift with the material, its hardness, and how much content the mark holds — a six-digit serial runs faster than a full rating plate. We measure the real figures on your own part before you order.
Most enquiries come down to one question: does the mark need depth, or does it need detail?
This is how we decide, and just as importantly, where each method stops being the right answer.
Method | Choose it when | Avoid it when |
|---|---|---|
The mark has to survive shot blasting, heat treatment, paint or decades outdoors. The part is rough, curved or too big to move. You need depth you can feel with a fingernail. | The wall is thin and cannot take an indent, the surface must stay perfectly flat, or you need very small codes under about 2 mm. | |
You need fine data matrix codes, logos or small text at speed, on metal or coated metal. Nothing touches the part, so thin and delicate items stay intact and nothing is removed. | The mark must survive heavy abrasion or be readable by touch. A fiber laser mark is shallow by design. | |
You want a dense black mark on stainless steel, a light mark on black anodized aluminum, or you need to mark a thin coating without cutting through to the metal. | A standard fiber laser already gives you the result. MOPA costs more and you would be paying for control you do not need. | |
The material burns, melts or discolours under a fiber laser. Typical cases are polycarbonate, thin films, glass bottles and ceramic packages. | You are marking bare metal. A fiber laser will be faster and cheaper. | |
You are making awards, gifts or personalised pieces and the image has to sit inside optical crystal or glass with the outside left untouched. | This is industrial traceability. Subsurface marks cannot be read by a scanner on a production line. |
Two methods can both work. A serial number on a steel housing can be dot peened deep or lasered fine, and the right answer depends on what happens to that part next. Where the call is close we mark it both ways and let you compare the two in your hand.
The sample room holds far more than fits on one page. Send us the part and we will test it, at no charge.
Post us one real part, or a scrap one from the same batch. If you cannot ship it, a photo with dimensions and the material grade is usually enough to start.
Our engineers pick the method, mark your part and record the settings. You get close-up photos and a short video of the machine running, not a stock image.
The marked part comes back to you, together with the machine and settings we used. Where the result can be measured we give you the figures; where it cannot, you have the part in your hand and can judge it yourself.
Yes, with both methods, but they behave differently. Our dot peen machines use tungsten carbide styluses and mark steel up to about 60 HRC. Above that a fiber laser is usually the safer choice, because it removes no material and adds no stress to the part.
Hardened mold and die steel is the common case. See our mold marking page for how we handle tool steel.
That is exactly what dot peen is for. A dot peen mark is a physical indent, so the surface treatment goes over it rather than removing it. A mark 0.3 to 0.5 mm deep — that is depth into the metal, not character size — normally stays readable after shot blasting, galvanising and paint.
A laser mark is shallow by comparison and often disappears under a coating. If the part gets finished after marking, choose dot peen.
A fiber laser holds a readable data matrix down to about 2 mm square, and line widths around 0.02 mm. Dot peen is limited by the pin diameter, so the practical floor is larger, usually 4 to 5 mm square for a data matrix.
If the code has to be graded against ISO/IEC 29158 or AS9132, tell us the grade you need and we will mark a sample and grade it before you order.
Yes, with a UV laser. UV works cold, so polycarbonate, ABS and thin films mark cleanly with no melted edges or heat halo. A fiber laser will usually burn these materials.
For coloured or filled plastics we test first, because the additive package matters more than the base polymer. More on plastic marking.
In everyday use they overlap, and most buyers use them interchangeably. Where it matters: marking changes the surface without removing much material, engraving removes material to create depth you can feel, and etching removes a very thin layer to change the colour or finish.
What matters for your part is not the word but the result: how deep, how much contrast, and whether it has to survive a later process.
It helps, but no. If shipping is difficult, send photos with dimensions plus the material grade and we will mark the closest equivalent we have in the sample room. We will say clearly that it is an equivalent rather than your actual part.
For anything going into aerospace, medical or defence, we recommend testing your real part, because surface finish and alloy variation change the result.
Yes. There is no charge and no obligation to buy. You pay the shipping to us, and that is the whole cost to you.
We do it because it is the fastest way for both sides to find out whether a machine will actually solve the problem, and it is cheaper for us than a returned machine.
Both depend on your part, not on the machine alone. Depth shifts with the material and its hardness, and with how hard the machine is set to strike. Time shifts with how much content the mark holds — a six-digit serial runs faster than a full rating plate with a logo.
Any figure published on this page is a typical range for that method on that material. The only number that means anything for your job is the one measured on your own part, which is why we do that step before you order.
Tell us the material, the code that has to go on it and what happens to the part afterwards. A specialist will tell you which machine fits — and which one you do not need to pay for. Every enquiry is answered within one business day.
