Look, laser engraving on the cheap.....

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That's about standard for a 25 watt system. If you watch e-bay, sometimes they for as low as $4500. If you make your own laser, they're darn cheap, but there's that whole interfacing with the computer thing.

I'll do a writeup on doing engraving with a sandblaster in my "spare time". They can be gotten for around a hundred bucks and can do some, but not all of the designs a laser could do.
 
When I first started looking for a laser, I wanted a 1500 watt metal cutting one. They cost serious bucks. I may have done it, but they only are programmed in G-code, so fancy stuff like designs from artwork couldn't be done easily.
 
Here's a picture of the laser I used to program for GT bikes: http://www.precolaser.com/metal/images/system_images/4stationside.htm It cut all 8 tubes on a bicycle at a time. They paid $750K for that one! Cha Ching. That 10K is looking better and better.
 
Originally posted by opus
<br />I really really really want one!!!
All I need to do is sell about 480 more pens and I'm there!
Anybody want to buy a pen?? [:D]
Click to expand...

HAH! "Anybody want to buy a pen?" LOL [:D][:D]
Boone, you kill me. Talking about $750K like I do when I go purchase a new roll of emory paper or my new Jet Mini. What a COOL shop you must have. It's actually nice to see someone in the serious production end who still loves the art/creative part enough to come to this type of forum and share ideas and tech tips. I would actually be very interested in hearing about the sandblasting idea........
 
Noooo! I didn't buy that one! I worked for a company that had the big one. I was looking for one in the 75K range or so. Still darn expensive but not 6 digits!
 
I'll try to do a good writeup with pictures for the sandblaster technique. In a nutshell, here it is: You make your pen slightly oversized, maybe around .010" (thickness of a baseball card ) or so. Get some thick rubbery electrical tape (Home Depot) and place it on the pen body lengthwise. Do another strip for the back side so the whole wood body is covered. Print out the graphic that you want to engrave on paper with a printer or by a hand drawing. Something around the size of Jim Lambert's shark on the home page is ideal. Tape the picture lengthwise over the electrical tape with clear Scotch tape. Make sure it can't slide around. Use this as a template to cut through. Get a brand new X-acto blade, one of the sharp pointed ones. Cut out the shape by slicing through the picture and electrical tape. It doesn't matter if you cut into the wood. Remove the completed shape by stabbing it with the blade and pulling it out. You should have a section of exposed wood with the rest of the pencovered in electrical tape. The purpose of the electrical tape is to absorb the impact of the beadblaster. The beadblaster is a sandblasting cabinet that uses small glass beads instead of sand. There are cheap tabletop models available for less than $100 from Enco. Shoot the beadblaster at the wood target until it is eaten down around a sixteenth of an inch. Try to shoot perpendicular to the tape. The sidewalls can be undercut slightly for more grip if you like. When it's done, pull off the electrical tape and admire your nicely cut design. You can touch up or undercut the walls slightly with the blade so the inlay is sure to stay secure. It can be left as it is, or it can be filled in with CA. I had good results using thick CA mixed with a small amount of white pearlizing powder and a drop or two of tinting dye. I got these supplies from www.artstuf.com. Squirt around a half inch dollop (depending on the inlay size) onto something slick like the ads from a newspaper. Stir in the color and pearlizer with a toothpick. Glob it into the engraved hole with the toothpick. Don't worry if it gets everywhere, just be sure that the level is higher than flush. You can spray it with accelerator to get it to cure instantly. Turn the pen down to the normal diameter, going right through the built up CA and outer wood surface. Finish like normal. Post on the forum and make all your friends wonder how you did that without a laser.
 
Everything Bruce said is right but if you don't want to spend all that money for a full sized sandblaster here's one that anyone can afford . It's an "Air Brush" that shoots an abrasive and would be perfect for doing small things like pens .
http://www.badger-airbrush.com/260sets.htm
There's others out there but this is the first one I found .
 
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