First, the emblem has to be designed and approved by the customer before it goes to production. Once approved, if it isn't already correctly to scale, it will be sized to exactly what size the finished emblem in real life will be. Next, it is sent to production with the instructions embedded in the file. The producer looks at this file, deletes the instructions, and sends the file to the laser cutting machine. The producer loads the material and the machine goes to work as shown in this video below. In the video, the emblem being cut is just a random complicated design in order to test the producer's equipment's capabilities.
The machine cuts the material to a certain depth depending on the artwork it's converting. There are only three settings: all the way through, halfway through, and no cut at all. Cuts can be approximately as thin as a human hair.
Once the machine is finished, the producer takes the emblem and finishes it depending on the order. This includes: screenprinting the colors, clearcoating the surface, using epoxy resin to add a domed emblem effect, and⁄or adding the 3M adhesive. Once this is done, the emblem is finished and ready to ship. Below is an extreme closeup of an emblem straight from the laser cutting machine. The emblem below measures exactly 3 inches by 3 inches and several lines (one in particular) are the minimum thickness for the laser, which is approximately as thin as a human hair.
