A laser alignment tool, in lapidary practice, is a small low-power laser fixture mounted on or beside a faceting machine, transfer jig or dopping station, used to project a thin red or green reference line through the rough so that the cutter can centre the optic axis, growth axis or chosen culet point exactly under the dop before wax is set. The device is purely a sighting aid; it does not cut, mark or alter the gem.

In a typical workflow the rough is held lightly in a chuck or on a wax base, the laser is switched on, and the operator rotates and tilts the stone until the projected line passes cleanly through the intended axis. For coloured stones, this is most often the c-axis of corundum or beryl, where pleochroic colour is at its strongest along one direction; for diamond it is more commonly the chosen orientation that minimises waste against the included or twinned regions. Once aligned, the dop stick is brought down along the same line and bonded.

Older bench cutters performed the same task by eye, using a swinging plumb line or a simple cross-hair mounted in a sighting tube. The laser version is faster, more repeatable and easier to teach, which is why it has become standard in commercial cutting houses and in the better-equipped hobby shops since the early 2000s. It is not a precision metrology instrument and should not be confused with a laser inscription unit or a laser drilling rig, both of which apply energy to the stone itself.