Which cutting and engraving machines for award and trophy making?
Discover how to make an award, a medal, or a personalized trophy using professional cutting and engraving machines.
Want to create a personalized trophy or award that stands out? With Gravotech’s trophy-making machines, you can design, cut, engrave, and assemble unique awards, medals, and plaques for any event, competition, or corporate celebration. Generate additional sales with high-quality custom trophies and achieve professional results without any prior training, combining precision, creativity, and simplicity.
With laser and mechanical cutting and engraving machines, personalize every trophy. Experiment with different colors, shapes, and materials like acrylic, metal, or wood to design awards with a real “wow” effect.
Which machines and engraving materials to create a trophy or an award?
Laser is the ideal technology for manufacturing trophies in acrylic, wood, or plastic, combining the cutting of custom shapes and engraving of texts or visuals. This solution offers precision, speed, and flexibility for the production of custom-made trophies, in small or medium series.
- LS100: Compact and versatile, perfect for cutting and engraving acrylic or wood trophies with a high level of detail.
- LS100 EX: Suitable for larger formats, allows the production of trophies of various sizes with a clean finish.
- LS900: Designed for intensive production, this machine offers a large working area for serial trophy manufacturing while ensuring speed and execution quality.
Feel free to check out our comparison guide of mechanical and laser technologies in signage!
Small CO2 laser engraver and cutter for personalization, signage and creative.
LS100
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Medium CO2 or Fiber laser engraving and cutting machine for signage and small series.
LS100 EX
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Large laser engraver and cutter that can do everything.
LS900
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Mechanical engraving is essential for manufacturing trophies in metal or brass, requiring marking depth and durable finishing. Ideal for producing engraved plates, bases, and volumetric elements, this technology ensures perfect machining quality on rigid materials.
Gravotech offers an extensive range of engraving materials to make an award and create a trophy:
- Laser Wood is our wooden material, available in various wood types and thicknesses.
- Acrylics, our acrylic range, can be combined with Laser Wood to create trendy, personalized trophies, awards and medals for all occasions: sports, businesses, various events.
- Gravobrass™ Exterior is a brass material compatible with mechanical engraving machines, perfect to create trophies that will be heavier, with an authentic appearance.
- Lastly, Gravostral™ is a two-ply material, ideal for medal making. Engravings are naturally contrasted thanks to the black base color.
Let your creativity flow!
Acrylics
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Think Green. Go Green.
Laser Wood
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The material in watchmaking-quality brass for outdoor use
Gravobrass™ Exterior
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The advantages of aluminium combined with those of a phenolic base
Gravostral™
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Technology | Materials & applications | Height cutting limit | Key advantages | Price | Considerations |
| Laser machines | Acrylic, wood, plastic (cutting and engraving); metal (Fiber source, engraving only) | Limited by the source power and the focal lens |
| $$-$$$ |
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| Mechanical machines | Metal, brass (engraved plates, bases); rigid plastics | Limited by tool length |
| $-$$ |
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How to start trophy making with acrylic?
Make awards that are classic-shaped by assembling a horizontal base and a vertical plaque using a slot on the base. Often made of acrylic to mimic glass or crystal, this type of trophy is simple to create and custom in terms of shapes, colors, and engraving.
Once your two plaque models are created, they can be easily reproduced and customized on the fly.
Easy to customize awards
Start by designing your personalized trophies and awards using a single material. We recommend choosing acrylic combined with laser technology, an easy to work with material that is available in various finishes and colors. This will immediately provide you with a wide range of creative possibilities without being limited by the complexity of your trophy and medal making machine settings.
Add the finishing touch to your personalized trophy with color or a logo using a UV printer. Acrylic is a particularly suitable material for printing. Our materials are perfectly suited for these processes.
Perfect glass imitation
Acrylic-based trophies offer all the benefits of glass trophies without the inconvenience. They are lightweight and elegant, making them extremely easy to create and custom. Our laser trophy and medal making machines can cut any shape, regardless of the thickness of your acrylic sheet.
(The maximum cutting thickness depends on the laser source power of your machine: approximatively 10 mm for a 40W CO2 laser.)
How to create complex custom trophies?
Do you already know how to make a trophy? Take it to the next level by combining multiple materials, colors and shapes. Replicate items, play with depth and transparency or simulate motion, and create a “Wow” effect that will leave a lasting impression.
The more complex your awards are, the higher the perceived value and quality become.
Wood and acrylic:
A high-quality trendy result
Making a trophy using a combination of wood and acrylic is now prevalent in all fields where awards are presented: sports, science and research, intellectual achievement, corporate events, artistic distinction, and more.
Sturdy and lighter than traditional glass or metal awards, wood and acrylic trophy making is also more straightforward thanks to laser engraving and cutting technologies. Wood and acrylic are particularly suited for this creative process.
The wide range of colors, thicknesses, and different finishes available in both materials opens up endless creative possibilities. The contrasting blend of wood grain and the shine of acrylic provides a sense of quality. You can also introduce contrast to your engravings on acrylic with our range of gilding waxes.
Metal:
Guaranteed high added value
Create trophies and make awards with metal to create heavy and sturdy awards. Weight is often perceived as a mark of quality.
Brass and aluminum can be engraved and cut using a mechanical trophy and medal making machine, or marked with a CO2 or Fiber laser. A coloring product like Metal Marker G can highlight a text, a name or the distinction when engraved with a CO2 laser.
How to simply make custom medals?
Just like trophies and awards, medals are evolving and are now available in various materials and material combinations. Create trendy medals using wood or acrylic, maintain a more traditional style by working with metal, or stand out by offering medals that combine multiple materials.
Simple medal making
Medals made from a single material are the easiest to create. Simply cut the desired shape, include a slot for attaching a ribbon, and engrave text, logos, or any other element.
Trendy and modern, acrylic, wood, and brass are the most suitable materials for beginners in medal creation because they are the easiest to engrave and cut with a medal making machine.
Medals made from a single material can be produced quickly, in large quantities and series, allowing you to sell them at a reasonable price while maintaining a good profit margin.
Combine materials
for sophisticated medals
Using multiple materials to create a medal adds value. Combine various finishes, colors, thicknesses and textures to create relief and give them a unique personality.
Adding sophistication to a medal is simpler than for a personalized trophy because its shape or assembly is less complex.
Here again the combination of wood and acrylic works perfectly, but using fine and flexible engraving materials like Flexilase™ adds color and highlights the individual's name or the prize won.
By offering original personalized medals composed of two materials, colors, or finishes, you enhance the perceived value of your products, arouse your customers' interest, and stand out from your competitors.
| FAQ: The 2 questions most frequently asked of our experts |
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🔽What is the best engraving machine for trophy making?
The LS100 EX Laser is the best trophy-making machine thanks to its high versatility and accessibility. It offers a great balance of work area and performance. Its 60W power is ideal for cutting thick materials like 5 - 6 mm wood and 10 - 15 mm acrylic for trophy assemblies and batch production.
🔽What are the best materials for making awards and trophies?
Laser Wood (birch, beech, oak, walnut) and acrylic (up to 10 mm thick, in various colors/finishes) are recommended for trophy making. These Gravotech’s materials offer creative potential and the necessary thickness for durable trophies.
Flexilase™, a thin, multi-layer plastic, offers highly contrasted, adaptable color options, including metallic finishes.
