How to Laser Engrave Knives with Fiber Lasers

When it comes to custom knife and blade manufacturing, laser engraving has become an essential finishing technique due to its quick and long-lasting results. Ideal for personalizing your collection, branding a company, or adding traceability markings to tactical blades, laser engraving delivers fast, clean, and permanent etchings on many types of metals.  

Laser-engraved knives are best achieved through fiber laser technology. While CO₂ and diode lasers may work on certain surfaces and coated metals, they simply can’t match the depth, contrast, or durability that fiber lasers provide. For anyone serious about knife engraving, fiber laser tech is the professional standard.

Why Fiber Lasers Are Best for Knife Engraving

Knife blades are typically made from hardened steel, tool steel, stainless alloys, or even titanium. These metals are prized for their edge retention and toughness—but they’re also notoriously hard to mark permanently. That’s where fiber lasers excel.

Fiber lasers use a concentrated 1064 nm wavelength, which is highly absorbed by metals. This wavelength allows them to:

• Etch deeply into raw metal without surface coatings
  

• Create high-contrast black or white marks depending on the settings
  

• Engrave at high speeds without sacrificing precision

In contrast:

• CO₂ lasers, which operate at 10.6 µm, have poor absorption on metal. They require ceramic marking agents (like Cermark), and even then, the results are surface-level and prone to abrasion.
  

• Diode lasers, while accessible and affordable, usually max out around 10W and cannot achieve the depth or permanence required for knives made of tool-grade steel.

If your goal is durability, visibility, and fine control, fiber lasers are the best option.

The Knife Engraving Process: Step by Step

The actual process of engraving a knife with a fiber laser is efficient and straightforward once your machine is set up properly. Here’s a typical workflow:

1. Prepare Your Design

Using software like LightBurn or EZCAD, create your artwork—this might be a maker’s mark, company logo, model number, or personalized name. Vector files (e.g., SVG, AI, or DXF) work best for crisp detail.

Scale the artwork to fit your target area on the blade—usually the flat section near the handle, known as the ricasso.

2. Clean the Blade

Before engraving, clean the knife thoroughly with alcohol or acetone to remove oil, polishing compounds, or fingerprints. This ensures full laser energy transfer to the metal surface.

3. Secure the Knife

Place the knife securely on the laser’s work surface. Many engravers use jigs or custom clamps to hold blades flat and in the same position for repeat jobs. Stability is critical for clean engraving.

4. Set Focus

For best results, the laser beam must be sharply focused on the metal surface. You can do this manually using a focusing ruler or height gauge, or automatically with a fiber laser that features autofocus.

Proper focus ensures the laser beam penetrates evenly and reduces the chance of burn marks or soft edges.

5. Input Engraving Settings

Dial in the correct laser parameters:

• Power (e.g., 30W or 50W for deep marks)
  

• Speed (slower for deeper etching, faster for surface marking)
  

• Frequency (measured in kHz, affects texture and depth)
  

• Hatch spacing (controls fill density of engraved areas)

These values vary depending on the steel hardness and finish of the blade. A few test runs on scrap metal can help dial in the perfect combination.

6. Engrave

Once everything is aligned and settings are saved, hit start. The fiber laser will trace the design line by line, vaporizing microscopic layers of metal to create either a bright white, matte black, or shaded grayscale mark—depending on your settings.

The whole process often takes less than a minute for logos and up to a few minutes for larger, filled-in designs.

7. Post-Processing

After engraving, wipe the blade clean again. Most marks require no finishing—fiber laser engravings are clean and oxide-free by default. However, for a darker contrast or decorative effect, some knife makers apply oil or polish after engraving.

What Can You Engrave on a Knife?

Fiber lasers offer incredible flexibility for knife customization:

• Maker’s Marks – Display your personal logo, initials, or brand stamp
  

• Serial Numbers or Batch Codes – Perfect for production blades and quality control
  

• Tactical or Survival Knives – Add grid coordinates, blood types, or usage instructions
  

• Personalization – Names, quotes, dedications, dates for gifting or collectibles
  

• Decorative Elements – Patterns, scrolls, animal silhouettes, tribal designs

Unlike stamping or acid etching, laser engraving causes no distortion to the blade, requires no contact, and can be repeated precisely on multiple knives.

Meet the OMTech Autofocus Fiber Laser

If you're looking to get started with knife engraving or scale up your current shop, the OMTech Autofocus Fiber Laser Marking Machine is a top-tier choice built for both professionals and makers.

Why it’s ideal for knife work:

• Autofocus Precision: Automatically adjusts focal height for different blade thicknesses and shapes, reducing setup time and mistakes.
  

• Multiple Wattage Options: Available in 20W, 30W, and 50W versions to meet your marking depth and speed needs.
  

• Fast Marking Speeds: Achieve speeds up to 10,000 mm/s—perfect for batch production or limited-run custom knives.
  

• Compact Galvo Head: Delivers pinpoint control over small, intricate areas like knife spines, tangs, and flats.
  

• Software Compatibility: Works seamlessly with LightBurn, EZCAD2, and EZCAD3 for full creative freedom.

Whether you’re engraving blades daily or doing one-offs for collectors and customers, this machine delivers the speed, precision, and reliability knife makers need.

Final Thoughts: Why Knife Makers Choose Fiber Lasers

Laser engraving has become standard in the knife world—not just because it looks great, but because it's clean, permanent, and scalable. Whether you're adding a simple logo or a detailed artistic design, fiber lasers give you complete control over your creative and production process.

Unlike CO₂ and diode alternatives, fiber lasers can engrave directly on raw metal, producing sharp results that won’t fade, flake, or wear away. For knife makers, it’s not just about customization—it’s about craftsmanship and professionalism.

Ready to take your knives to the next level?

Explore the OMTech Autofocus Fiber Laser and discover just how powerful and precise knife engraving can be.