Neen advise...Lasers For Dummies

[RGVPens]

I;m look at adding a laser engraver to my shop. Most threads I found were about a problem...or I couldn't understand what they were talking about! LOL

I want to personalize, or a company name, and/or logo on a pen/pencil.
I want to add a name or such on some of my scroll saw work.
I want to engrave on all woods and acrylics/plastics.
I would like to be able to engrave on leather, glass, metal, etc. Might be cool at some later date.

Must be low cost! With scroll saw art, pen making, ring making I can't afford to dump a ton of money into this right now. If it works out I may upgrade later when I know exactly what I want to do with it!

Must be EASY to operate without having to buy software to run it. I use Inkscape with my scroll saw stuff and that would be a plus, or maybe GIMP. Or a machine that comes with a program...?

I know what I would like to be able to do...but have NO IDEA how to go about it. I've never been around one.

Any ideas from those that use one? Or those that have used more than one and can tell me what brand/model to stay away from?
I know a guy on the east coast that uses a NEJE, ??, and it works for him. I've also seen Atomstack P7, xToolD1, and a bunch of others advertised.

Thanks!

 

[Mach4]

Your question is so general, it's kind of analogous to - what car should I buy, what pen kit should I buy, what lathe should I buy, what scroll saw should I buy, what air compressor should I buy, etc. There are likely as many answers as people responding and likely none that's really a fit for your situation….or put another way, the answer is - there is no answer. And for the same machine - one person might say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and another would say stay away at all costs. There is no substitute for research. Google is your friend and YouTube is a wealth of information. It takes lots of hours to begin to understand the options, the pros and cons, and to begin to formulate basic parameters for your needs and then to explore machines with appropriate capabilities to meet those requirements….and lie within your budget.

That said, I'll share my experience and journey. Years ago I got a NEJE 1000mw laser to play with. It was dirt cheap, used floppy disc steppers and had a minuscule engraving area. It engraved most woods and as long as the text was small it would personalize a wood pen. Later I designed and 3D printed a rotary adapter to do multiple lines or images on a pen. It later failed and I got another one. I wanted a bit more power and a larger engraving area so I got a NEJE Master 3500mw laser. It's worked great, though the software leaves something to be desired - but it is entirely workable. I recently added a Comgrow rotary roller to do custom engraving on 50cal and 308 shell pens. It won't engrave them directly but after a tremendous amount of research and trial and error I've developed a workflow that works for me to allow engraving a resist and then electroetch the shells with the text or images. I recently tried marking using Cerakote and I just don't have enough laser power. I like my setup and it works for me. Do I wish I had a 100watt CO2 laser….of course. Would I buy one…not at the present time.

I know all that's not really an answer, but maybe it helps a bit…

 

[RGVPens]

Your question is so general, it's kind of analogous to - what car should I buy, what pen kit should I buy, what lathe should I buy, what scroll saw should I buy, what air compressor should I buy, etc. There are likely as many answers as people responding and likely none that's really a fit for your situation….or put another way, the answer is - there is no answer. And for the same machine - one person might say it's the greatest thing since sliced bread and another would say stay away at all costs. There is no substitute for research. Google is your friend and YouTube is a wealth of information. It takes lots of hours to begin to understand the options, the pros and cons, and to begin to formulate basic parameters for your needs and then to explore machines with appropriate capabilities to meet those requirements….and lie within your budget.

That said, I'll share my experience and journey. Years ago I got a NEJE 1000mw laser to play with. It was dirt cheap, used floppy disc steppers and had a minuscule engraving area. It engraved most woods and as long as the text was small it would personalize a wood pen. Later I designed and 3D printed a rotary adapter to do multiple lines or images on a pen. It later failed and I got another one. I wanted a bit more power and a larger engraving area so I got a NEJE Master 3500mw laser. It's worked great, though the software leaves something to be desired - but it is entirely workable. I recently added a Comgrow rotary roller to do custom engraving on 50cal and 308 shell pens. It won't engrave them directly but after a tremendous amount of research and trial and error I've developed a workflow that works for me to allow engraving a resist and then electroetch the shells with the text or images. I recently tried marking using Cerakote and I just don't have enough laser power. I like my setup and it works for me. Do I wish I had a 100watt CO2 laser….of course. Would I buy one…not at the present time.

I know all that's not really an answer, but maybe it helps a bit…

"It won't engrave them directly ..." Why? need more power, 5000mw/5watt, or some other reason?
Does NEJE work with Inkscape, or does it use another program?

 

[showcaser]

You get what you pay for.

 

[RGVPens]

You get what you pay for.

So which laser are you using? What do you like and dislike about it?

 

[showcaser]

Fiber lasers engrave metal but not any of those other things. CO2 lasers do all the other things. I've had luck with laserbond on brushed stainless. Anodized aluminum can be done with a CO2 engraver also.

 

[showcaser]

So which laser are you using? What do you like and dislike about it?

Epilog Zing 40watt There isn't anything I don't like about it. It's a great machine. Great service and support.

 

[showcaser]

This is on artificial ivory with a black colorfill. Rotary attachment used also.

 

[gimpy]

Go with a "YoraHome"

 

[ramaroodle]

You want/need something versatile. I suggest a NEJE Master 2S 40W machine. Works with Lightburn. It can cut, etch, engrave and do pens using the Benson Pace jig. Here is a link to the Benson Pace FB page. Also YouTube. I have the Master 7W but upgraded to the Master 2S 40W. It can even do tile etching. (So can the 7W but it takes about 10 hrs to do it)

Doesn't have to be a NEJE. I've had about 4 of them over the years and seem to want to upgrade every couple of years. None of the NEJE's have failed but I'm a weekend warrior. Just that I've found that versatility is the key and the 40W has incredible resolution. Speed is also a factor. The 40W can do a pen in 2mins vs 15-20 with the 3.5 or 7W. People said that the 7W didn't have as good a resolution as the 3.5W but I found that even the 40W has great resolution as seen in my Facebook post. Plus, it will cut wood.

Welcome to the laser rabbit hole!

 

[RGVPens]

This is on artificial ivory with a black colorfill. Rotary attachment used also.

Very nice! If I were doing a personalized pen, would I need a rotary accessory for 2 lines...or just 3 lines/small logo etc, ?

 

[RGVPens]

Go with a "YoraHome"

What power is your machine?

 

[RGVPens]

You want/need something versatile. I suggest a NEJE Master 2S 40W machine. Works with Lightburn. It can cut, etch, engrave and do pens using the Benson Pace jig. Here is a link to the Benson Pace FB page. Also YouTube. I have the Master 7W but upgraded to the Master 2S 40W. It can even do tile etching. (So can the 7W but it takes about 10 hrs to do it)

Doesn't have to be a NEJE. I've had about 4 of them over the years and seem to want to upgrade every couple of years. None of the NEJE's have failed but I'm a weekend warrior. Just that I've found that versatility is the key and the 40W has incredible resolution. Speed is also a factor. The 40W can do a pen in 2mins vs 15-20 with the 3.5 or 7W. People said that the 7W didn't have as good a resolution as the 3.5W but I found that even the 40W has great resolution as seen in my Facebook post. Plus, it will cut wood.

Welcome to the laser rabbit hole!

That tile etching video was cool, I didn't even think of that. So you can upgradeyour laser by switching to a better module without having to replace the whole thing?

Yes...it's another rabbit hole!

 

[showcaser]

Very nice! If I were doing a personalized pen, would I need a rotary accessory for 2 lines...or just 3 lines/small logo etc, ?

not likely with 2 but three probably. You can get pretty much all the info in two lines anyway.

 

[showcaser]

This is two lines done with no rotary

 

[Mach4]

"It won't engrave them directly ..." Why? need more power, 5000mw/5watt, or some other reason?
Does NEJE work with Inkscape, or does it use another program?

Underpowered and diode rather than CO2. Typically Inkscape would be used to create the image which would be imported to the NEJE native software.

 

[ramaroodle]

So you can upgradeyour laser by switching to a better module without having to replace the whole thing?

No. The rabbit hole is deeper than it looks. Not that simple. All I know is NEJE but the lower-power NEJE machines that are 3.5 & 7W have different electronics and don't support Lightburn and some of the higher-end software like the Master 2, so it is better to get a more powerful laser if you want to do more than pens. It would take all night to burn a tile. (ask me how I know). The upgrade would cost more than a new one. I bought a 20W off of ebay for $175 before I realized I needed 40W if I actually wanted to cut thick parts, but it will do the tiles, pens and cut 1/8" parts. It's new in the box and I think they go for about $225. I'd sell it to you for what I paid. There is at least one other company that makes laser pen jigs other than Benson Pace.

 

[jrista]

I use an Ortur Laser Master 2 myself. I am actually in the process of creating a batch of 4 sets of different kinds of pens with a particular engraving for a client. I am due to etch another set of the pens this weekend, and I'll try to get some photos of my setup. The Ortur LM2 is a good engraver for standard stuff (i.e. wood, resin blanks), and can do some very limited engraving of metal, as well as do cutouts (depending on depth, you may need more than one pass, which it can handle.)

I use LaserGRBL and LightBurn, both work great with the Ortur. It has a reasonably large engraving area of 400x400mm, however they recently released an expansion kit that allows it to engrave a 400x800mm area, if you actually needed that (with 400x400, I can engrave up to 15" diameter bowls or platters, which is pretty darn good!)

I picked up a rotary system from Crossgate Crafts, called the Endy, for my pen engraving. Combined with engraving a grid into a piece of plywood, and then setting up a set of wood blocks to raise the Ortur LM2 up to a necessary height, and finally adding the Ortur Z-axis adjuster, focusing and engraving pens has become very easy.

The rotary jig I use is here:

Endy150 for Neje and Ortur Master Laser Engravers – Crossgates Crafts

I'll see if I can get some photos of my setup in action in the next couple of days. I'm not an expert with this yet, I've only engraved a few dozen pens, but I'm at the point now where my setup is very stable, does not shift around with use (used to be a problem), is easy to focus, and allows very repeatable, sharp and detailed engravings. I can engrave wood, resins, glass, and with some of those coating also "engrave" metals.

Note that if you want to do serious metal engraving, then you might want to consider the new fiber engraver unit from Ortur. They are releasing (or may have already released) a new 1064nm fiber laser module. Not sure if it works with the LM2, but they also released the LM3 recently, and you may need that to use the new fiber laser module. Anyway, if you really need the metal engraving, then you need the increased power. Just note, you will have to pay for it! I spent around $700 on the Ortur LM2 setup I have right now, including the Z-axis adjuster module, the rotary jig and a few other items from Crossgate Crafts. A fiber engraver is going to cost a good deal more.

 

[RGVPens]

This is two lines done with no rotary

Very nice! That is exactly what I want to be able to do, mostly. And you could do a logo the height ov the two lines? I could add a rotary later if need be for other projects.

 

[RGVPens]

Underpowered and diode rather than CO2. Typically Inkscape would be used to create the image which would be imported to the NEJE native software.

I mentioned Inkscape and GIMP as I already have those and use them in my scroll saw art. It would take a lot of coffee to get this old brain to learn a new program...LOL.

 

[RGVPens]

I mentioned Inkscape and GIMP as I already have those and use them in my scroll saw art. It would take a lot of coffee to get this old brain to learn a new program...LOL.

OK...I went to Lightburn website and watched a couple of videos. It looks like Lightburn and Inkscape are pretty much the same thing, with Lightburn having a few laser specifics. So I think I could figure that out easily.

 

[showcaser]

Very nice! That is exactly what I want to be able to do, mostly. And you could do a logo the height ov the two lines? I could add a rotary later if need be for other projects.

it really depends on the lasers ability to focus well for detail

 

[RGVPens]

So...looking at an Adamstack A10. It says laser Power 60W, laser output power 10W.
What do you use to compair different brands? What do you look for, power wise, to do what I posted above?

 

[jrista]

So...looking at an Adamstack A10. It says laser Power 60W, laser output power 10W.
What do you use to compair different brands? What do you look for, power wise, to do what I posted above?

Laser output power is ultimately what matters. The input power is going to be converted from one form (i.e. electrical) to another form (i.e. optical, photons), and there are always losses in that process. My laser is a "40W" laser, but it has a 5.5W output laser power, and its that 5.5W that matters. I think the laser unit is actually sold as a "40W laser" and the simple fact of the matter is that is disingenuous...the input power doesn't really matter, and different input powers, depending on exactly how the device is designed, could produce a 5.5W output power (with some lower threshold on viable input power wattage).

I don't know if all units clearly specify the laser output power. I had to find in very, very find print my output power on a label stuck on the laser unit.

 

[goldendj]

FWIW my wife bought me the Aufero 2, which has multiple different laser heads available. The original is 5W output but there is a 10W available as well. Short focus is suited for engraving, while long focus is better for cutting. We also got the rotary table.

It seems very easy to use, although the only test I've had time for was a quick try to put a picture on my work journal.



Very easy to use. Don't have to use the same software to create the artwork and engrave it. Anything that generates either vector (SVG) or bitmap (JPG, GIF, PNG) can then be fed into the software that drives the laser

 

[Aurelius]

You are looking to engrave a variety of materials cheaply. It's simply not going to happen. I've been doing my research for a little bit now and here's what I've found:
-The cheapest diode systems are cheap. You can probably get them to work, but you're going to end up spending more time tinkering with your engraving setup than making things to engrave.

-Mid priced diode are serviceable but glacially slow. People don't talk about it much when they post videos, but most of them are sped up like 10x. Want to engrave something the size of a plate? It could take hours (think old dot matrix printer only you're printing a much thinner line).

-Expensive diodes (I'm looking at you xTools) have the power but are still hamstrung by the slow gantry. I had a second hand one briefly but could never get it to work right. I've also been told that it is non-trivial to dial in the power settings for different plastics as each color needs a slightly different setting. Sure you could probably get it close enough but, if close enough is good enough, you probably don't need to spend this much on a laser.

-CO2 can be bulky but is powerful. These are great if all you are doing is cutting wood but will not do much of anything to metal or glass but (you can engrave glass is you use a spray but the laser itself won't work without it.). I had a friend who had an entire business cutting geometric designs out of 3/8" ply using a 30W Trotec. Obviously, something like that is going to set you back a good bit but you could get started with a K40 (generic Chinese 40W CO2) that will take a little babying but can do good stuff. If you like tinkering with electronics and stuff, this might be the sweet spot. Up from the K40, more size equals more money and more power equals more money and they are not linear.

-Fiber laser is fast, powerful and pricey. They work on wood, plastics, and metal but, like the CO2, it can't do anything to glass wiithout a marking spray. An underpowered 20W system is going to easily be $2000+. However, you'll be able to engrave a pen in seconds versus minutes. If you want to do metal, this is probably your best bet. Keep in mind this is a galvo system so to some extent there is a tradeoff between working area and power. This only matters if you want to do large areas.

-You mentioned glass, so I'll include this but it most certainly doesn't fit your cheap criteria. A UV laser is actually the only one designed to mark glass. If you thought the fiber was too expensive, don't even look into these as they are 2-3x more.

Here's one option I'm not sure you have looked into, have you looked to see if there is a local makerspace that has a laser? Usually the membership/access fee isn't too bad and they have staff who can help get you set up and running. Another advantage is that it is a great place to network and potentially find locals who could do the laser for you (for a fee of course).

Hope that was helpful.

 

[RGVPens]

You are looking to engrave a variety of materials cheaply. It's simply not going to happen. I've been doing my research for a little bit now and here's what I've found:
-The cheapest diode systems are cheap. You can probably get them to work, but you're going to end up spending more time tinkering with your engraving setup than making things to engrave.

-Mid priced diode are serviceable but glacially slow. People don't talk about it much when they post videos, but most of them are sped up like 10x. Want to engrave something the size of a plate? It could take hours (think old dot matrix printer only you're printing a much thinner line).

-Expensive diodes (I'm looking at you xTools) have the power but are still hamstrung by the slow gantry. I had a second hand one briefly but could never get it to work right. I've also been told that it is non-trivial to dial in the power settings for different plastics as each color needs a slightly different setting. Sure you could probably get it close enough but, if close enough is good enough, you probably don't need to spend this much on a laser.

-CO2 can be bulky but is powerful. These are great if all you are doing is cutting wood but will not do much of anything to metal or glass but (you can engrave glass is you use a spray but the laser itself won't work without it.). I had a friend who had an entire business cutting geometric designs out of 3/8" ply using a 30W Trotec. Obviously, something like that is going to set you back a good bit but you could get started with a K40 (generic Chinese 40W CO2) that will take a little babying but can do good stuff. If you like tinkering with electronics and stuff, this might be the sweet spot. Up from the K40, more size equals more money and more power equals more money and they are not linear.

-Fiber laser is fast, powerful and pricey. They work on wood, plastics, and metal but, like the CO2, it can't do anything to glass wiithout a marking spray. An underpowered 20W system is going to easily be $2000+. However, you'll be able to engrave a pen in seconds versus minutes. If you want to do metal, this is probably your best bet. Keep in mind this is a galvo system so to some extent there is a tradeoff between working area and power. This only matters if you want to do large areas.

-You mentioned glass, so I'll include this but it most certainly doesn't fit your cheap criteria. A UV laser is actually the only one designed to mark glass. If you thought the fiber was too expensive, don't even look into these as they are 2-3x more.

Here's one option I'm not sure you have looked into, have you looked to see if there is a local makerspace that has a laser? Usually the membership/access fee isn't too bad and they have staff who can help get you set up and running. Another advantage is that it is a great place to network and potentially find locals who could do the laser for you (for a fee of course).

Hope that was helpful.

This kind of breaks down the categories I've been finding on line today. Thanks!

I'm thinking Adamstack A5 Pro, A10 - Ortur Aufero LM2 Pro S2 - Sculpfun S9 or 10 - xTool D1 - NEJE 3 Pro

I think any of these will do what I need now and might be upgradable a notch or two. Will stick with a diode laser of some type. Not going to spend big bucks when not doing production work, just occasionally in conjunction with my other items.

I do want a good quality brand that other people use and can answer any questions I may come up with. Not one that nobody's ever heard of.

Any comments about the ones I listed?

 

[ramaroodle]

OK...I went to Lightburn website and watched a couple of videos. It looks like Lightburn and Inkscape are pretty much the same thing, with Lightburn having a few laser specifics. So I think I could figure that out easily.

Lightburn is Inkscape on steroids. Free for 30 days but really cheap to own. Worth the investment if you want to do some of the advanced and grayscale etching and engraving, but you need a laser that works with it. My Master doesn't but the Master 2 does.

 

[RGVPens]

Lightburn is Inkscape on steroids. Free for 30 days but really cheap to own. Worth the investment if you want to do some of the advanced and grayscale etching and engraving, but you need a laser that works with it. My Master doesn't but the Master 2 does.

Great!! I have and am familiar with Inkscape. So it shouldn't be hard to be up and running.
Right now I have to cut each letter on a name special. I want to laser the name .

 

[goldendj]

Lightburn is Inkscape on steroids. Free for 30 days but really cheap to own. Worth the investment if you want to do some of the advanced and grayscale etching and engraving, but you need a laser that works with it. My Master doesn't but the Master 2 does.

Note you're mixing a little bit of apples and oranges here, or maybe oranges and tangerines. Inkscape is a vector graphics program, purely (and powerfully). Lightburn is a layout and control program for laser engravers/cutters that has some image editing capability built in. Enough for basics like tweaking an existing image, certainly.

What little engraving I've done I used LaserGRBL (free) to actually control the laser

 

[MRDucks2]

You can create or tinker with the image itself in about any program. I then convert it with Inkscape. Next step it to test it/tinker just a bit with Lightburn then send it to the laser from there for imaging.

If just burning and not shading any GRBL program that has show to work with your laser will do. I will send something new through Camotics to ensure it turns out OK before sending it to the laser - hate seeing something get half way there and just stop.

 

[ramaroodle]

Note you're mixing a little bit of apples and oranges here, or maybe oranges and tangerines. Inkscape is a vector graphics program, purely (and powerfully). Lightburn is a layout and control program for laser engravers/cutters that has some image editing capability built in. Enough for basics like tweaking an existing image, certainly.

What little engraving I've done I used LaserGRBL (free) to actually control the laser

Yes. Sorry. You are correct. Adobe Illustrator is Inkscape on steroids. Sometimes I use Inkscape when I want to create a label or sign or font and then just make a JPEG out of it to load into Lightburn or make an svg for my Shaper. Lightburn lets you do stuff like grayscale conversions that look a whole lot better than AI in my opinion. Lightburn is to lasers like AI is to graphics.

 

[RGVPens]

Am I right in that I can create an image, import or scratch, in Inkscape...then save it and open in Lightburn, tweak it as to how I want it to come out on the laser, then burn it from there??? If so what format(s) are best to save it in?

Can I import/create the whole thing in Lightburn?

Does anyone work with GIMP for photos and send it to the laser...or through Lightburn first?

Confusers!

 

[Aurelius]

This kind of breaks down the categories I've been finding on line today. Thanks!

I'm thinking Adamstack A5 Pro, A10 - Ortur Aufero LM2 Pro S2 - Sculpfun S9 or 10 - xTool D1 - NEJE 3 Pro

I think any of these will do what I need now and might be upgradable a notch or two. Will stick with a diode laser of some type. Not going to spend big bucks when not doing production work, just occasionally in conjunction with my other items.

I do want a good quality brand that other people use and can answer any questions I may come up with. Not one that nobody's ever heard of.

Any comments about the ones I listed?

I briefly had a xTool D1 and was impressed with the build quality.
I just saw that they are offering a 1064nm laser head specifically for plastics. Might be worth checking out.

 

[ramaroodle]

Am I right in that I can create an image, import or scratch, in Inkscape...then save it and open in Lightburn, tweak it as to how I want it to come out on the laser, then burn it from there??? If so what format(s) are best to save it in?

Can I import/create the whole thing in Lightburn?

Does anyone work with GIMP for photos and send it to the laser...or through Lightburn first?

Confusers!

Inkscape wants to export SVG files which LB doesn't like so you need to make sure you export a JPEG or PNG out of Inkscape.

 

[goldendj]

Am I right in that I can create an image, import or scratch, in Inkscape...then save it and open in Lightburn, tweak it as to how I want it to come out on the laser, then burn it from there??? If so what format(s) are best to save it in?

Can I import/create the whole thing in Lightburn?

Does anyone work with GIMP for photos and send it to the laser...or through Lightburn first?

Confusers!

Yes. I used laserGRBL but I'm sure it's the same. You can do both images/photos and line drawings. Results with images depend on the material--the laser adjusts intensity to try to produce different shades, but some materials don't really show it.

For bitmap images like photos or any jpg/png/gif artwork the laser reproduces it as a series of dots the same way a printer does. For vector images from Inkscape it can actually trace the lines more like a plotter.

 

[gimpy]

I have a 40

What power is your machine?

 

[MRDucks2]

My "big" diode laser is a 7 watt. At 7 watts my input wattage is 27.5 watts. When it finally weakens, it will cost me about $500 to replace the laser… just the laser head with a new lens. I can achieve a spot size of .005 inches at two different focal points. I can control it with a dual amperage driver set for 5 amps in 16 increments between about 3 watts and 7 watts output. If my driver ever fails, it is another $225 to replace.

In the end, it isn't about a number. It is about all the numbers.

"engrave on all woods and acrylics/plastics… engrave on leather, glass, metal, etc… Must be low cost!"

Buy for what you want to do or what you can afford but get realistic at the same time. I would like a Lamborghini that I can still haul a half cord of wood with for under $10,000. But instead I have an old Ford pickup truck and an older Pontiac Solstice and neither of them cost under $10,000.

My 7 watt will "engrave" several types of materials. It will "etch" a lot more. It will cut some. A lot of the fun is figuring out how to use the tool to get the result.

 

[jttheclockman]

Am I right in that I can create an image, import or scratch, in Inkscape...then save it and open in Lightburn, tweak it as to how I want it to come out on the laser, then burn it from there??? If so what format(s) are best to save it in?

Can I import/create the whole thing in Lightburn?

Does anyone work with GIMP for photos and send it to the laser...or through Lightburn first?

Confusers!

Great!! I have and am familiar with Inkscape. So it shouldn't be hard to be up and running.
Right now I have to cut each letter on a name special. I want to laser the name .
View attachment 340467

Hello Gary. I know nothing about lasers but seeing your scrollsaw work, I think I have seen this before. Are you a member here https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/. There is someone doing just what you are asking on that site. Also there is a guy there named Kevin who is a big deal there and he bought a laser to do this too and other things in wood. Maybe join that site if you are not a member and check out his work and ask questions too. By the way what scrollsaw are you using?

 

[RGVPens]

Hello Gary. I know nothing about lasers but seeing your scrollsaw work, I think I have seen this before. Are you a member here https://www.scrollsawvillage.com/. There is someone doing just what you are asking on that site. Also there is a guy there named Kevin who is a big deal there and he bought a laser to do this too and other things in wood. Maybe join that site if you are not a member and check out his work and ask questions too. By the way what scrollsaw are you using?

Hi JT! Yes I've seen you on scrollsaw village. I haven't been on there much since going down the pen maker's rabbit hole. I need to get back on.

I forgot about Kevin, and didn't know he had a laser. I'm one of Iggy's (Scot Siefer) "Puzzle Zombies" and when he got one, a NEJE I think, it put the thought in my head. In the pictures above, the coat hanger with "Ollie" on it is one he did. The "Slayton Farm" on a Bacon cut is one of mine. Untill now everytime someone wants a personalized piece I have to cut each letter. This adds a TON of time to a $20 piece even when I add $5 for a name. I'm going up to $25 this season, the "winter Texans" at the craft shows will **** and moan...but costs have gone up and I've never raised my price.

We were in Hobbs NM a couple of weeks ago for an uncle's funeral and stopped at Fredericksburg TX on the way back. There are a bunch of wineries and a few breweries there. While sipping a nice glass of wine I spotted a glass case with 4 pens in it. There were 2 cigars and 2 Sierras in a nice, but plain, wood with the winery name lasered on them. They were priced about 2 1/2 times what I would have on them for the kit and wood! Bingo...another idea! I keep seeing things around me that I could use one for, and add to my sales.

I probably didn't use the right terms when I started this thread, but knew very little about lasers. Still don't...but Ive heard and read a bunch in the last few days. Other than a couple of smart ass comments, all the posts have been very good info. Also points I didn't know of, like operating programs, to investigate.

What I'm wanting to do is put names and designs on wood, pens (wood and resin...?), maybe a beer or wine glass, leather (wallet or keychain), possably on some metal (I now know if it is reflective I need to paint it first), plastic (as in a phone case, key chain, other small doo dads). I'm not sure if this is called "etching or engraving" in the laser world.
To be able to cut 1/4" (6-7mm?) or less might be useful.

For a scrollsaw I use a King 16" with Pegas blade chuck, and blades from Denny. I really like the raising arm, and tilting head leaving the table flat. Someday I might sell it and get a 21" of the same brand or design. I got the 16" to fit in the front cargo hold of our 5th wheel when we came down here for the winters. We have sold the 5th wheel and moved down to the Rio Grande Valley permanently, again, so I don't need a "travel saw for the winter workshop" any longer. LOL