Rick - I know that Jonathan Brooks
@Brooks803 has a laser which he uses to engrave stainless steel fountain pen nibs, he might be able to offer some advice.
Jonathon uses a MOPA fiber laser. I believe it's 20W but it might be 30W.
This is the model I'm leaning toward
xTool D1 Laser Engraver
If anyone has this model I sure would appreciate your thoughts on it engraving steel.
THANK YOU to everyone who has commented, I've learned I have a lot of research to do!!!
I had one. Briefly. It is very well built, went together easily, and fit and finish was top notch. I ended up selling mine for two reasons. First, I was looking to engrave plastics and was told that it got very finicky having to adjust setting for every different material. Second, the main circuit board on mine was bad and so was the replacement they sent. I never actually got it running and just gave up and sold it for parts.
Be aware of a couple of things.
1. Despite the first inclination to believe the new 20W unit xTool just released is more powerful than the older 10W unit, the 10W is actually approximately the same power as the new one due to the 20W having almost twice the spot size.
2. Watch some videos of the machine actually working, it is not fast by any measure. If you have seen videos of a CO2 laser cutting wood, this is not that. It is most certainly not fiber speed. The time can be manageable if you set it to run and then go work on something else while keeping an eye on it, but when figuring out the value to a business, throughput matters. I mention this especially since engraving metal is going to be a lot slower than say wood and could require multiple passes. Obviously, the longer the machine is running, the higher the chance of something crashing/power failures/bumping the table/etc.
3. Be aware a laser of this type is not going to be able to actually engrave steel, you are going to need to use a product such as Cermark. In which case you are more fusing a dark material to the surface. It's actually closer to enameling than engraving. From what I understand, you will be left with a raised "bump" you can feel. I have read that it is pretty sturdy when done right, but it can also be chipped off if your settings aren't dialed in. The difference might not be a big deal, but you should be aware of it. Also, keep in mind, the Cermark is not cheap ($20 or so per spray can) so factor that in to any calculation of the lifetime cost of the machine.