US Patent 7985941 Seamless laser ablated roll tooling

A system for generating a laser machined tool from a substantially cylindrical work piece. The system includes a laser producing a laser beam, a mask positioned within the laser beam for shaping the laser beam into an image, and an optical system for imaging the laser beam image onto the outer surface of the work piece. The system coordinates rotational and translation movements of the work piece with activation of the laser in order to use the laser image for ablating the outer surface of the work piece, creating microstructures within the surface of the work piece to form the cylindrical tool.