Laser Marking Samurai Swords

Check out how we mark 2 Samurai Swords with the Hattori Hanzo logo from the film Kill Bill!

We use a CO2 laser on one sword, and a Fiber laser on the other with the same machine to demonstrate the Speedy 300 flexx's amazing ability.

Find the Hattori Hanzo logo online then copy and paste it onto Corel Draw.

Zoom in and you'll find greyscale around the image because it's basically RBB greyscale. What we want is is the image to be in black and white.

To convert to black and white press Bitmaps → Mode → Black and White → Line Art

Left click on the left window and you'll see the preview of the conversion on the right hand side.

You can adjust the Threshold setting if you want to darken or lighten the image. Press OK.

To convert to vector form press Trace Bitmap → Outline Trace → Line Art

You can get rid of any double lining by sliding Detail downwards.

Remember you can get rid of anything you don't want.

If you click and drag the image to the right you'll see the new form and the original on the left. Delete the original.

Huzzah! You are done setting the image to black and white AND vector form. You're amazing.

Now you need to measure the area that you want your image on.

We're using the LMM-6000 Black for Metal to coat one samurai sword to allow the CO2 laser source to make a mark on the sword.

Shake up the can then do a quick coat on the area you wish to engrave.

Since you are using 2 laser sources the way we will control the lasers are with color.

Black will be CO2.

Send over the CO2 laser image to the Job Control software.

Select the image, size it down to the size desired (we did 3/4 inch) and because the head of the logo is to be facing West on the sword, rotate the image 90 degrees.

Select the logo, go to File → Print → select Trotec Engraver for printer.

Press Preference Settings and adjust the length and width to your size needs (we did 1.29 x 0.8) then press My Settings → Engrave for Black.

Now for black set the Power to 100 and Speed to 30 and press OK.

Next press Layout → Re position to Center of Page → OK

Red will be for fiber.

Change black to red by pressing Edit → Find and Replace → Replace Objects → Replace a Color. Set Find to Black and R to 0, G to 0 and B to 0 Set Replace to Red and R to 255, G to 0 and B to 0 Press OK → Finish → Replace All

Now select ghd logo, press File → Print and do a similar process to how you adjusted the CO2 laser but this time we change Black to Skip and for Red choose Engrave FLP.

Set Power to 100, Speed to 10 and Hertz to 20,000 then press OK.

In this lesson we are using two samurai swords in one Speedy 300 flexx laser machine at the same time but with two separate lasers, one CO2 and one fiber.

Due to this amount we need to make sure that both swords are at an equal level when placed inside the machine.

You can use a roll of tape like we did or anything available (as long as it does not create a safety hazard).

As for the machine using the flexx lens will be the best as it allows you to do both CO2 and fiber consecutively!

Open Job Control.

First Sword

Place the physical laser head right over the center of where you want your logo to be. For us, we did 1 and 1/4 inch from all sides.

Now back to Job Control, create a marker using the F8 key then move the laser head down.

Second Sword

Do the same as you did for the first sword. This will leave you with two markers and one laser head, all not touching.

Snap the corresponding images to the markers, set up the flexx lens, close the machine lid and press start!

After watching the experiencing the magic of engraving wipe the swords with a damp towel when it's safe to reveal your shiny samurai swords! Have fun and don't hurt anyone.

Written by: Zina Aahmed