What is a UV Laser and Why To Choose It?
Ultraviolet light is highly absorbed in most materials which means that UV lasers don’t need much power. Most UV lasers range from 3 to 10 watts, and these types of lasers are usually quite expensive, with 10-watt models selling for over 10k$. They often require an additional water chiller as well.
However, the ComMarker Omni 1 is a compact, 5-watt air-cooled machine, and it’s one of the most affordable 5-watt UV laser engravers on the market today. Despite its low power, the machine is neither slow nor weak. It engraves at lightning fast speed, and thanks to UV light’s efficient absorption, it causes minimal heat damage and warping to metals and plastics.
Unlike fiber lasers, which engrave by heat, UV lasers alter surfaces by breaking chemical bonds. Combining this with an incredibly small laser spot size, it allows UV lasers to produce very detailed and crisp engravings on wood and similar materials and being able to engrave and cut materials that can’t be cut with any other laser type.
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Table of Contents
ComMarker Omni 1 Review and Test
Now, let’s take a quick look around the ComMarker Omni 1 before we evaluate its performance by testing various materials. Compared to the ComMarker B6, the Omni is a much larger machine, but still one of the most compact UV laser engravers!.
With the machine, you receive safety goggles, a foot pedal, a ruler, a lifting table, 150mm and 70mm lenses, and other essentials. It can be operated using either EZCAD or LightBurn. I personally prefer Lightburn, although you can do a lot in EZCAD too.
The air-cooled UV laser generator is mounted on top and connected to the galvo head. The galvo head contains two mirrors that can move extremely fast and precise and are used to direct the laser beam on the surface.
At the back, you’ll find connections for the rotary attachment, enclosure, foot pedal, and the Z-axis column.
After turning on the machine, you also need to activate the laser source, which takes about a minute to warm up to operating temperature. Once it’s ready, the button stops flashing, and a blue dot appears on the surface.
The galvo head has two laser pointers for focusing purposes. The machine can be focused manually or electrically. It’s in focus when the two red dots align, or you can measure the correct distance with a ruler. I made this easier by creating a simple focus stick that I use to check if the distance between the lens and the object is correct. When the machine is perfectly focused, the engraving noise is loudest when using a powerful setting. This is the easiest way to find your perfect focus distance.
UV Laser Has No Power Setting!
Regarding the power setting, UV lasers don’t have a traditional power setting (0-100%) due to the nature of the laser source.
Engraving power is controlled by the frequency and the Q-pulse parameter. The smaller the Q-pulse, the stronger the engraving effect, and with a higher frequency, more pulses are emitted within a given time. It takes some time and test patterns to get a feel for it but it is not difficult at all to understand it.
UV Light Is Invisible To The Eye
Another thing to mention is that UV light is not visible to human eye. But on most materials, you can see the preview due to the fluorescence effect. You should always use the included safety glasses when engraving!
UV lasers usually use their laser beam for previewing the location of the engraving directly. Most materials have the fluorescent properties, but for previewing the engraving location on materials that don’t have fluorescent properties, you sometimes need to use a paper sheet, or translucent acrylic or a yellow marker to make the beam visible. But many materials allow for previewing without that.
Compared to red light previewing like with fiber lasers, the UV beam preview is much more crisp and the lines are much thinner, allowing for incredibly precise positioning.
Now let’s do some tests to see what this machine is capable of! I used 150mm lens for all tests unless otherwise noted.
Engraving Plastics With The ComMarker Omni 1 UV Laser Engraver
First I will test the ComMarker Omni 1 on plastics as this is the material where UV lasers feel right at home.
Engraving Acrylic
I tested it on black acrylic by engraving a simple test pattern which varies frequency and Q-pulse. On black acrylic a nice white engraving with great contrast can be produced. Engravings on black acrylic are similar to the one which can be made with infrared fiber lasers, but the UV laser produces shallower engravings which don’t stick out that much.
I also tried engraving blue and yellow acrylic which I had on hand and it also produced good results. Fiber lasers were not as successful engraving these colors. UV laser works very well on translucent acrylic too. It produces a very good white engraving effect.
Where UV laser especially shines is at photo engravings as its laser spot size is way smaller than that of the fiber lasers. The level of detail is incredible!
A bit less success I had with engraving transparent acrylic. The UV laser beam went right through and engraved the material below. Acrylic comes in two types – extruded and cast acrylic. I think mine is extruded and I think that the cast acrylic is much better for engraving. People had great success engraving transparent acrylic with UV lasers. I tried a different piece of acrylic and the result was a bit better, but still not the best.
Engraving various consumer plastics
Next, I tried engraving various spray bottle plastic caps I had laying around. It produced good results on all of them. The translucent white cap produced a various range of deep and shallow engraving effects. The opaque white has produced various shades of gray with varying depth. And the black cap produced white markings.
Here I have a random electronic product which already has laser markings on it done by the factory. The ComMarker Omni 1 can reproduce the exact same quality of markings which are indistinguishable from factory ones. This is because the exact same type of laser is used for making these markings on majority of plastic products.
Polyethylene plastic
I also tried it on polyethylene plastic and it produced fantastic results. Markings are smooth and undetectable by touch.
Engraving plastic bottles
You can mark plastic water bottles too. Here is a translucent gray plastic water bottle and the ComMarker was able to produce very high quality white mark that looks as if it was printed on, but it is much more durable than the print and cannot be sanded off.
Engraving plastic tools
Another cool way of using an UV laser is marking your tools so people don’t steal them. You can produce incredibly detailed permanent markings on plastic and metal tools. The engraving is shallow as the UV laser can be set so it doesn’t remove the material, but it can break chemical bonds directly, changing the chemical structure of the surface.
Engraving Metals With The ComMarker Omni 1 UV Laser Engraver
Speaking of metals, I think it’s time to see what this machine can do with different types of metals.
Metal business cards
Metal business cards are very easy to engrave as you can get great results with a wide range of settings.
Raw aluminum
Raw aluminum also engraves very well with a UV laser. Although it produces shallower engravings than a fiber laser.
Copper, brass and similar metals
Copper, brass and other similar metals also produce great results, although you can’t make the engravings as deep as with fiber laser.
Stainless steel
UV laser also works very well on stainless steel. You can engrave thinner sheets since it produces less heat, and the metal is not warping as much as with fiber lasers.
If you want to engrave colors on stainless steel, you should check out my reviews of the MOPA fiber lasers like the ComMarker B4, ComMarker B6, or the Monport GA60.
Anodized aluminum
The ComMarker Omni 1 produces durable white engravings on anodized aluminum, similar to fiber lasers. But due to having a much smaller laser spot size, even more details can be achieved.
Measuring Laser Spot Size – UV Laser Has The Smallest Laser Spot!
I engraved a test pattern on a piece of scrap anodized aluminum to measure its laser spot size. Looking at the interval scale, we can see that the laser spot size is approximately 0.04mm (0,00157″), which is incredibly small for a 150-millimeter area lens.
And small text engraving test has shown that it can engrave incredibly small text with amazing details despite the high speed that was used to engrave it. I think 0.1mm tall text would still be possible to engrave clearly.
At higher speeds the machine ran out of power and usable frequency range as the engraving became dotted and pale. But this is incredibly fast speed for such detailed work.
I repeated the test using the included 70mm area lens which should achieve even smaller laser spot size. Looking under a microscope we can see that with the 70mm lens, the laser spot size is approximately 0.02mm (0,00079″) thick! This means that with the smaller lens, much more power density can be achieved. But the downside of the smaller lens is a much shallower depth of focus and just a small variation of height will cause issues.
Engraving and Cutting Glass With The ComMarker Omni 1 UV Laser Engraver
The next material we’ll be testing is glass. UV light is absorbed by glass, allowing you to engrave it directly with the ComMarker Omni 1.
A UV laser is the only type of laser that can directly ablate glass; other lasers simply heat the surface until small cracks are formed. The result that the ComMarker Omni produces is a perfectly clear engraving, indistinguishable from sandblasting (but more details can be achieved).
For comparison, this pickle jam text above the logo was engraved using a diode laser and the surface was painted with black paint before engraving.
And this logo below was created with a MOPA fiber laser and black transfer foil, which caused the glass to crack due to the heat. And the flask was engraved with a CO2 laser, which leaves an even rougher surface. The results from the UV laser above are noticeably superior.
Engraving IN THE MIDDLE of the glass?
I engraved some test patterns on a piece of tempered glass that was once part of a document scanner. Interestingly, I noticed that certain settings produced engravings at varying depths within the glass—some parts appear to be etched on a deeper level than others.
Using the same settings, I created one engraving on the surface and another within the middle of the glass. They truly are at different levels. When I shine a light from above, both squares cast shadows on the paper below, but if I flip the glass, the surface engraving no longer casts a shadow, while the other one still does, indicating it’s actually embedded within the glass.
I repeated this experiment on a thinner piece of glass, and this time, one engraving was made on the top surface, and the other was on the bottom. It’s a fascinating phenomena. If anyone has an explanation, please leave a comment below.
Cutting thick glass!
Since this machine can directly ablate glass, I wanted to see if it could cut it. I ran 10 passes over the logo to create a deep engraving and 50 passes for the cutout.
I can’t believe it actually managed to cut through this thick piece of glass! 5W machine! It produced a beautiful piece. The edge has a slight angle, which is common with galvo lasers, but this can be minimized by adjusting settings and readjusting the focus height midway through. But it still blows my mind, this is so cool!
Engraving Wood With The ComMarker Omni 1 UV Laser Engraver
Next, I tried engraving wood. The UV laser works beautifully with wood, creating incredibly crisp engravings without any smoke stains. I ran a few more passes to add some depth, and the result was a picture-perfect, deep engraving with zero smoke stains and stunning detail. I’m incredibly impressed!
To test the precision further, I engraved a regular toothpick. Although the UV light preview is less visible, it’s remarkably accurate, as the lines are extremely thin. Can you make out the engraving? Let’s take a closer look under the microscope. I can’t believe how sharp the engraving looks, especially given how quickly it was completed! And this was achieved with the larger 150-millimeter lens!
Engraving Fabrics and Cloth With The ComMarker Omni 1 UV Laser Engraver
Engraving Denim (Jeans)
The ComMarker Omni 1 is excellent for engraving different types of fabrics. Because it’s gentle and produces little heat, it can easily remove color from the surface of dyed fabrics like denim. The UV laser ablates the dye while leaving the fabric fibers intact, preserving the fabric’s strength. The HOT ROD engraving was done by the ComMarker Omni 1. For comparison, the two engravings below it were made with a diode laser, which created darker engravings but reduced the fabric’s strength due to the heat. UV lasers are commonly used to create artificial wear patterns on jeans. I also engraved a black hat with great success.
Engraving and cutting felt
Thin felt, like this piece, is perfect for making Christmas decorations or similar items, as it can be engraved and cut very quickly.
I also tested a polyester sports towel. Since polyester fabrics aren’t dyed like traditional fabrics, the laser darkens the material and removes the fine fluff on top. The result looks great, with no damage to the towel’s structure, allowing it to retain its durability. This is a fantastic way to create customized gifts, and I’m very pleased with the results!
Testing The Focus Range Depth
Next, I wanted to determine the usable focus range depth with the 150-millimeter lens. First, I engraved my logo directly onto a plastic bottle, and then I used cylinder correction in LightBurn to demonstrate how easily you can correct cylinder distortion without using a rotary tool. Comparing the two results, the difference is striking! This also shows that the 150-millimeter lens has a very wide usable focus range. The 70mm lens will have a significantly more shallow focus range.
Engraving Various Random Materials
Remove paint from Coke drink can
The ComMarker Omni 1 can also be used to remove paint from drink cans.
For the first engraving, the settings were adjusted to remove only the paint, revealing the bare aluminum underneath. The second engraving used higher power, which also marked the aluminum, creating a white frosted look similar to what I achieved with a fiber laser in a previous article.
Engraving ceramic cups
The UV laser is also highly effective on ceramic cups. It completely removes the paint, exposing the shiny ceramic surface below and producing a crisp, white engraving. For comparison, the engraving above was done with an infrared MOPA fiber laser in one of my previous reviews.
Cutting High-Temperature Gaskets (Only UV Laser Can Do It!)
Despite having only 5 watts, the ComMarker Omni 1 can cut materials that other lasers can’t handle. Here, I’m cutting 2-millimeter thick high-temperature gaskets used for exhaust manifolds, and the machine cuts through them in just 10 passes using a wobble setting. The gaskets turned out perfect.
For comparison, on the second picture I tried to make a cut with a fiber laser and a CO2 laser, both of which were unable to cut through even at slower speeds, and a blue diode laser didn’t work either.
Engraving faux leather
The UV laser also excels at engraving faux leather on notebooks, producing results far superior to those I previously tried with a fiber laser. The bottom test patterns were made with the UV laser, and the top ones were the best efforts done with the infrared MOPA fiber laser. This shows the huge difference between a fiber laser and a UV laser when engraving thin plastics like faux leather.
Engraving real leather
ComMarker Omni 1 also produces great results on leather. Since it works with low heat it doesn’t produce burn marks. It can also cut the leather if it is not too thick. This UV laser has produced way better engravings on leather compared to any other laser so fat (diode, fiber, CO2…)
Engraving cardboard and paper
And of course you can engrave cardboard too. As it doesn’t burn the surface it is easy to make customized gift boxes or awesome packaging for your products. Paper can also be easily engraved with the ComMarker Omni 1.
Engraving slate stone
Slate stone also produces great results. The color is slightly different compared to other lasers I have reviewed which have more power, but this can be fixed by running multiple passes.
Engraving dried leaves
Another cool thing you can do is to engrave dried leaves. This method shows how delicate and precise this laser can be. The laser beam removes the leaf’s surface and leaves the underlying structure of the leaf untouched, producing a cool effect when shining a light through it.
Conclusion – ComMarker Omni 1
With it, you can engrave and cut plastics, metals, rubber, leather, paper, wood, glass, and more. Plus, it generates very little heat, which prevents thin metals or plastics from melting and leaves no smoke stains on wood—a feature unique to UV lasers. This machine is an excellent choice if you want a simple, versatile device that can handle almost everything.
At checkout, you can use my coupon code “jtmakesit” for 5% OFF!
However, if you’re more interested in fast or deep metal and stone engravings, or need a wider range of engraving effects on metal, a fiber laser like the ComMarker B4 or ComMarker B6, or the Monport GA60 (click the links to read my full reviews) may be worth checking out. But note that fiber lasers aren’t suited for engraving wood or glass and aren’t as effective on plastics. You should also check out he dual beam lasers like the xTool F1 Ultra, which has two laser beams – blue diode and infrared fiber laser, which also opens some new possibilities!
*The links on this website can be affiliate links. I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. When you buy through these links you will support this website, which helps me to run this website(which cost money and a TON of time) and provide all these extensive reviews and information to you for free, without any paid membership.
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