When do you lazer engrave?

[gerryr]

I have to make some pens that will be lazer engraved on the barrel. My question is at what point in the process should this be done? Should I sand to 12000MM and then have it done before the final finishing or at some other point? The fellow who's going to do the engraving says he has normally done it after the wood is entirely finished, but somehow that seems wrong.

Thanks

 

[melogic]

I have only had one pen laser engraved and I had it done after it was totally completed and it worked great! Some of the other more experienced in this field could help you more.

 

[Old Griz]

You have it laser engraved after the pen is completely finished... the engraving burns through the finish and into the wood or acrylic.
Depending on what you want to have engraved some pens need to be done after finishing, but before assembly... my dragon jade had to be done that way because it had to be put on a rotary fixture.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Ditto what Tom said. My guy wants before assembly. They rotate on rollers and things like clips don't allow for smooth rotation.

 

[gerryr]

Thanks for the input. I didn't even think to ask the engraver about assembly, I just assumed I would give it to him before assembly.

 

[btboone]

If it's a simple thing like a name engraved on the side, most engravers have a nesting fixture for the pen. Any design that goes all the way around needs a rotary axis, where the pen is put on a 1/4" rod and rotated, so needs to be taken apart for that.

 

[Fangar]

When I have sent my pens out, I was told to finish them first. The laser will leave a residue on the wood that can be easily wiped off of the finish, but tends to stain the wood. I've had both CA finishes and acrylic done with great results.

Cheers,

Fangar

 

[Ron Mc]

Most of my pens will be completely finished when my engraver picks them up. You need to keep in mind that depending on the nature of the wood as well as any segmented design that may be involved that if you give the blanks to the engraver before you complete the pen that you need to let them know exactly where you anticipate the clip to be. Otherwise they may engrave the name in a bad location on the top barrel. You would also want to consider this when submitting 2 blanks to your engraver that has a heavy grain pattern that you would like on the front of the completed pen.
My 2 cents.