Handheld laser welder - GIF

[KustomsbyKent]

I have seen this type of welder when I was in China. There is not a filler metal being added, it is fusing the base materials together. Because the weld bead is so shiny, it looks raised, but is not. The weld bead is concave, like a fillet, rather than being raised or convex like a conventional filler based weld.
The ones I saw were in a machine fixture, but operated just like this. Most common use for them was making the channel letters for store logos. The flat of the back was laser cut, and then the perimeters were flat sheet, anywhere from 25mm to 50mm wide, and scored in places so that it could form around the letter or logo shape. Then the laser welder was used to join the back to the perimeter. Typically the inside was filled with some LED elements and then the face was a piece of tinted plex that fit in. Then you had some nice lit up letters or logos to promote your business.
Here's an example of one... I got to try something very similar myself, pretty cool!

[baja]

I have seen this type of welder when I was in China. There is not a filler metal being added, it is fusing the base materials together. Because the weld bead is so shiny, it looks raised, but is not. The weld bead is concave, like a fillet, rather than being raised or convex like a conventional filler based weld.
The ones I saw were in a machine fixture, but operated just like this. Most common use for them was making the channel letters for store logos. The flat of the back was laser cut, and then the perimeters were flat sheet, anywhere from 25mm to 50mm wide, and scored in places so that it could form around the letter or logo shape. Then the laser welder was used to join the back to the perimeter. Typically the inside was filled with some LED elements and then the face was a piece of tinted plex that fit in. Then you had some nice lit up letters or logos to promote your business.
Here's an example of one... I got to try something very similar myself, pretty cool!

In the 80`s I worked at a small sign shop making channel letters like those (and sign cabinets) but we used paint-lok and spot welded them. Before the days of LED sign lighting so the pattern would go to the neon shop to have neon bent to fit inside. Nothing like this, we traced the pattern on the paint-lok and cut the back out with snips and wrapped the return around it. Good memories.