Lonn
Member
Can some one steer me toward a laser engraver for pens? What is the best bang for my buck.
I THINK I NEED A LASER ENGRAVER
- Thread starter Lonn
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Turned Around
Member
i think i'm in the same boat as you. wouldn't hurt for me to start pricing either.
Chthulhu
Member
$10,000 plus for a decent low-end marker-cutter.
John Pratt
Member
I thought about that at one time and figured that unless I was going to engrave several thousand pens it was cheaper to find someone to do it for me. Even after buying the laser there are several other costs associated with it. Maybe one of the laser guys will chime in and tell you the real costs (or better yet, give you a deal on doing it for you).
Woodlvr
Member
Lonnie there are a couple of discussions about tips for buying them and what to watch out for. I have also wanted to get one and keep looking but a trophy shop around the corner wants $15 a pen just for a one line name. Maybe you could get a setup and engrave your pepper mills if that is ever requested.
studioso
Member
are you planning on engraving more than 1000 pens?
unless the answer is yes, even your expensive trophy shop is still economically preferable.
the real question is: what's the lowest sum of $$$ that I have to part from for a shiny new addition to my shop?:biggrin:
because I'm sure that your brain is running through the "possibilities", extra things you will be able to churn out etc.
we've all been there!
Fibonacci
Member
It depends on how technical you are.
I have a $1200 Chinese knockoff one and it works fine. The software is a pain to use, but I do all of my design in inkscape and just use their software to cut/engrave. I do have to tune it up once a month or so, but that only takes an hour or so. The intial setup/tuning took a couple days, but it was not hard.
You can spend $15k+ for a nice Epilog or Universal, and they do have a lot of really nice features. With a good quality commercial one, you can print directly from your image software, not have to fiddle with it, and get higher power/smaller kerf. If you are looking to engrave names and such on pens or engrave acrylic, the cheaper one will be fine as long as you maintain it. If you want to make laser inlay kits, then you will probably want to get the commercial units. There are other differences, but those are the simple ones.
PM if you want more info.
If I could afford it, I would either buy an Epilog or build one from scratch. There is not a significant difference between a laser cutter and a gantry mill. Either can be built for about 3k with a 4'x4' cutting area.
I have a $1200 Chinese knockoff one and it works fine. The software is a pain to use, but I do all of my design in inkscape and just use their software to cut/engrave. I do have to tune it up once a month or so, but that only takes an hour or so. The intial setup/tuning took a couple days, but it was not hard.
You can spend $15k+ for a nice Epilog or Universal, and they do have a lot of really nice features. With a good quality commercial one, you can print directly from your image software, not have to fiddle with it, and get higher power/smaller kerf. If you are looking to engrave names and such on pens or engrave acrylic, the cheaper one will be fine as long as you maintain it. If you want to make laser inlay kits, then you will probably want to get the commercial units. There are other differences, but those are the simple ones.
PM if you want more info.
If I could afford it, I would either buy an Epilog or build one from scratch. There is not a significant difference between a laser cutter and a gantry mill. Either can be built for about 3k with a 4'x4' cutting area.
RSidetrack
Member
A buddy of mine just got a "cheap" $2000 one. It works, but it isn't extremely practical for pens. Software is horrible (inkscape is a saver) and doing anything more than one small line requires turning the pen.
On the other hand - that same buddy has one at work that is full auto for everything, turn the pen automatically, etc - but it is a $27,000 machine.
If you really really want one economically and you have a lot of know how you can build one. I am in the works of building one - was originally going to be a CNC Router - but now I decided laser. Looking like $1000-$1200 in the end with no software except some that you can buy out there and Mach3 to run the machine. However - with this you can build it exactly how you want with the features and size you want.
In the end it is cheaper to just have someone do the engraving for you. I believe woodturningz is a good price but don't quote me on that.
Break down the economics and decide. If you choose to charge $20 for custom engraving on a pen, and you manage to sell over 100 of those then a cheap knock off with a lot of frustration behind it would work, or a home made one - again the frustration as you have to use multiple softwares to get what you want or spend a couple grand to get a good software to run it.
Now if you think you are going to sell thousands of them - it might be worth the $10k-$30k investment.
Then of course look at what else you can do with them and possibly sell. Name plates, engrave signs, acrylics, etc. Now if I had tens of thousands laying around that just wants to burn a hole in my pocket I would probably buy one just to have fun with it - and make a little money, but for me it is not economical at all - especially since I have a buddy who would do it for free (with the exception of the darn manual turning of the pen) or have him take it into his place of employment but that is a whole issue in and of itself.
On the other hand - that same buddy has one at work that is full auto for everything, turn the pen automatically, etc - but it is a $27,000 machine.
If you really really want one economically and you have a lot of know how you can build one. I am in the works of building one - was originally going to be a CNC Router - but now I decided laser. Looking like $1000-$1200 in the end with no software except some that you can buy out there and Mach3 to run the machine. However - with this you can build it exactly how you want with the features and size you want.
In the end it is cheaper to just have someone do the engraving for you. I believe woodturningz is a good price but don't quote me on that.
Break down the economics and decide. If you choose to charge $20 for custom engraving on a pen, and you manage to sell over 100 of those then a cheap knock off with a lot of frustration behind it would work, or a home made one - again the frustration as you have to use multiple softwares to get what you want or spend a couple grand to get a good software to run it.
Now if you think you are going to sell thousands of them - it might be worth the $10k-$30k investment.
Then of course look at what else you can do with them and possibly sell. Name plates, engrave signs, acrylics, etc. Now if I had tens of thousands laying around that just wants to burn a hole in my pocket I would probably buy one just to have fun with it - and make a little money, but for me it is not economical at all - especially since I have a buddy who would do it for free (with the exception of the darn manual turning of the pen) or have him take it into his place of employment but that is a whole issue in and of itself.
Lonn
Member
Guys, Thanks for a lot of good information. I am the guy that weighs his options before spending the cash. The only way out would be to purchase 1,000's of 20 cent pins, engrave custom logo for companys to help pay for the machine, then justify the investment so i can engrave my turned pens and pepper mills for corporate orders .