i recently saw the roland laser engraving foil machine at a trade show
it uses a laser to transfer hot stamping foils onto products. the foil is rested on the product ( pen , key ring etc) and the process transfers the hot foil onto the product.
my thoughts were this can’t be that powerful a laser otherwise it would be cutting the foil, the foil after it had finished was still intact. although in the specification its a class 1 laser.
yes i have done similar this way, but the roland is using a different process, it transferring hot stamping foil ( not vinyl) straight onto the substrate using the laser to activate the hot stamping foil.
so where the laser fires is foiled rather than a traditional cut & weed.
It was the only place I could find that showed how it actually works. If you don’t know it requires a special film that heats up when hit with the laser. Essentially a very localized heating effect that transfers the foil. Cool idea.
That being said: this doesn’t appear to be a CO2 laser. I suspect diode but maybe fiber. I’ll leave it to someone else to figure that out. The point is that I’m not sure if the heat film will be activated by the wavelengths that CO2 operates on.
The film is directional. I suspect that means that there are two layers, with one layer (top) is transparent to the laser and the bottom layer laser-absorbent. This implies that it’s probably wavelength-sensitive and isn’t great news if I’m correct. Granted, I’m making a lot of guesses here.
The film is consumable: it costs $175 (AU? US? Unclear) and is separate from the foil costs.
Anyway that all the time I’ll spend on this right now. I’d say your best bet to be sure is to ask Roland directly.
