Stainless steel engraving & marking
Stainless steel is the most marked material in modern fabrication — from food-grade kitchen kit to medical instruments, from corporate gifts to architectural hardware. We mark stainless from our Leith workshop using a fibre laser, with the option of full-colour MOPA marking for premium pieces.
Three mark types
- Annealed (heat-mark) — heat-changes the surface to dark grey or black. No material removed, smooth to the touch, food-safe, ideal for kitchenware and medical parts.
- Engraved — physically removes material. Tactile, accepts paint infill, abrasion-resistant.
- MOPA colour — controlled oxide colour for full-colour branding. See MOPA colour marking.
What we mark
- Distillery bottle plaques and cask plates
- Hospitality table numbers, signage, menu holders
- Award plaques and corporate gifts
- Chef's knives, ice tools, kitchen kit
- Architectural hardware — door numbers, address plates, bracket marks
- Industrial nameplates and data plates
- Medical and laboratory instruments
Stainless grades
- 304 — the most common food-contact grade. Marks beautifully.
- 316 / marine-grade — for outdoor and coastal use. Marks as well as 304.
- 430 / ferritic — magnetic, less corrosion-resistant. Marks fine.
- Polished, brushed and bead-blasted finishes all take marks well — surface finish changes the look of the mark.
Annealed marks and food safety
Annealed marks are particularly valuable in food and medical contexts because the surface stays smooth — there's no engraved channel to trap food residue, bacteria or cleaning chemicals. They also pass through cleaning cycles, sterilisation and dishwashers without fading.
Capability
- Bed: 175 x 175 mm; rotary attachment for bottles and cylindrical parts
- Engrave depth: up to ~0.2 mm in single pass; deeper with multi-pass
- Smallest text: 1 mm tall stays legible to the eye
- Files: vector preferred (SVG, AI, DXF, PDF); raster acceptable for photographic engraves
Supplying material
We can supply blank stainless plaques and plates in standard sizes, or mark your own parts. For larger production runs we'll work with you to spec sheet size, finish and edge treatment.
Pricing
Single pieces from £50. Batch rates available for runs above 50. MOPA colour adds a per-piece premium — get a quote that breaks out the options.
See also fibre laser engraving and industrial metal marking.