Process Date: November 2001


Marked using a Synrad  CO₂ laser and FH marking head.
Using 10W of power, a Synrad CO₂ laser and FH marking head produced a nicely contrasting mark on PVC coated 18 AWG wire with a character size approximately 0.039" (1mm) high. Wire marking with Synrad FH Series marking heads can be accomplished in Index mode where wire movement pauses during marking or in Tracker mode where marking is performed "on-the-fly" while the wire is traveling past the marking head.

When marking cylindrical objects, the key is to ensure that the area to be marked does not fall outside the lens’ depth of field since the beam’s energy density drops by the square of the distance as the material curvature drops away from the point of focus.