Rotary Laser Engraving: the Ultimate Guide

Rotary laser engraving: A term you might be familiar with if you're in the manufacturing, personalization, or craft industries. It has revolutionized the way we inscribe our products, making it possible to customize rounded objects with intricate designs and text.

In this post, we will explore what rotary laser engraving is, its inherent challenges, and how to overcome them. We will recommend a top-notch rotary laser engraver to make your selection easy.

What is Rotary Laser Engraving?

Rotary laser engraving is the process of using a laser engraver to engrave on a rounded surface, such as a tumbler, a ring, or a baseball.

Typically, when you use a laser engraver for engraving, you place the object in the engraving area. The object remains still, and the machine does engraving. This is the ideal case when you are engraving on a flat object. In the case of cylinder engraving, a special attachment is needed. This attachment is capable of rotating the object 360 degrees to make the engraving wrap the surface of the object. 

The attachment is connected to the laser engraving machine and is commanded through laser engraving software. However, you can also find a rotary laser engraver on the market that has a built-in rotary attachment fixed to the machine

Simply put, rotary laser engraving means you are using a rotary attachment to rotate the object during engraving. This type of engraving is suitable for cylindrical objects and spheres.

Why Rotary Laser Engraving is Difficult?

Regular cylindrical objects are easy to engrave, but when it comes to irregular shapes like wine glasses and mugs with a handle, you need a special rotary attachment to engrave them. 

A roller rotary attachment has two rollers over a plain base. The rollers are separated by a distance that can be adjusted according to the diameter of the object. It is only suitable for regular cylindrical objects. Commonly available rotary attachments on the market usually are this type. 

For irregular cylindrical objects, a chuck rotary attachment is suitable. This is also a very common rotary attachment for laser engravers. But it also has various limitations, such as it cannot hold objects having a large diameter. In addition, it cannot be disassembled to work on longer objects. 

Thus, both rotary attachments have some limitations, and they cannot be used for all shapes of cylindrical objects. If you want to engrave all shapes, you need to buy both types of rotary attachments, which will increase the overall cost of the rotary laser engraver. Secondly, there are still a few objects, such as rings and spheres, that cannot be engraved well with these types of rotary attachments.

It is a serious predicament for users, but there is a solution. What if these two rotary attachments are combined into one? It would be a great idea, and the user will be able to engrave a wide range of objects.

Best Rotary Laser Engraver

xTool S1 is one of the best options for rotary laser engraving. It is a desktop diode laser engraver that features a powerful 40W diode laser module, catering to diverse engraving and cutting needs for DIY and small business alike. It is also available in 10W and 20W models. 

It has a large working area of 19.6" x 12.5" and can engrave on materials such as wood, leather, fabric, paper, acrylic, rubber, glass, stone, some metals and more. It comes with the world's first 4-in-1 rotary attachment, RA2 Pro, that allows you to engrave most cylindrical objects with ease. 

Best Laser Engraver Rotary Attachment: xTool RA2 Pro

xTool has introduced the world's first 4-in-1 rotary attachment, Rotary Attachment 2 (RA2) Pro. It does the work of four types of rotary attachments, including roller rotary, chuck rotary, sphere rotary, and ring rotary. Due to the combination of four types of rotary attachments, RA2 Pro can work on 90% of daily cylinder engraving and sphere engraving scenarios.

The roller rotary is excellent for regular cylindrical and irregular objects, such as drinking glasses, wine glasses, and bottles. Usually, roller rotaries are only for regular cylinders, but because of the separable level tool, the RA2 Pro can engrave irregular and extra-long cylindrical objects.

The diameter range of the roller rotary is 3mm-198mm, which is quite a lot compared to other roller rotaries on the market.

The chuck rotary is perfect for irregular cylinders, such as mugs with a handle. The soft-pad jaws grab the objects without damaging them. You also have different types of jaws to grab different objects: Single-step jaws and Double-step jaws. The double-step jaw components can be installed as the steps facing outward and inward. With that being said, it can accommodate a wider range of objects. Specifically, it can hold objects up 100mm in diameter.

Spheres are quite difficult to engrave as it is not easy to keep them stable during engraving. But RA2 Pro has a special sphere rotary that keeps the sphere in place. There are special stud components that are fixed to the jaws of the chuck rotary. These hold the sphere with perfection, and the tail module helps in smooth rotation.

Moreover, the stud components have dedicated slots to hold rings, making it a ring rotary that keeps the ring stable during engraving. 

RA2 Pro is an all-in-one laser engraver rotary that can help you do all the cylindrical engraving tasks without any hassle. With a rotation accuracy of 0.45 degrees, it offers high engraving precision even at a very high working speed. It is compatible with all xTool machines and many third-party laser engraving machines. The users can use LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, and LaserGBRL to operate the attachment.

XTOOL RA2 PRO

4-in-1 Rotary Attachment for Laser Engravers

World's first 4-in-1 rotary attachment to process both regular and irregular cylinders and spheres.

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