Question from the new guy........

[William A. Foster]

As to the piece on the left I would probably prep the areas circled for the engraving.

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[Bert Kemp]

I would also agree with Tim, outsourcing at first to get an Idea of what the laser can do and what kind of market you have is a good idea and the least expensive way to test the waters.

[William A. Foster]

I would also agree with Tim, outsourcing at first to get an Idea of what the laser can do and what kind of market you have is a good idea and the least expensive way to test the waters.

I took that advice and.......
I have found a shop about an hour away from me that is getting me some quotes. Being only an hour away I could gather up the materials and images on a thumb drive and just take this to their shop....
I found another shop that would do this for a $15 set up and a dollar a minute laser time but there would be shipping the material back and forth involved with that shop.

[Bert Kemp]

William keep us posted as to how this venture works out for you. We'd like to see some pictures of a finished piece when you get them back.

[William A. Foster]

William keep us posted as to how this venture works out for you. We'd like to see some pictures of a finished piece when you get them back.

I will do that. It will be a bit before things get started but it's-a-commin........
Getting through all the setup stage at this point, I think I will be going with the co. that is an hour away, I can go in and talk with them as well as get things fine tuned.
The proprietor seems knowledgeable and they were very helpful during our initial phone conversations.

I have also found a source for a laser engraver that is less than 3 hours away from me. The owner was very helpful and the prices were very fair for the equipment... He sells engravers and CNC routers.

[Frank barry]

Hi I would suggest you get someone to do some samples as suggested above but I would also suggest you learn to do the art work yourself (if you cant do it all ready) in that way if you decide to but a laser you will have much less to learn

good luck with your project Frank

[William A. Foster]

Hi I would suggest you get someone to do some samples as suggested above but I would also suggest you learn to do the art work yourself (if you cant do it all ready) in that way if you decide to but a laser you will have much less to learn

good luck with your project Frank

Already on that road....... Thank you for you input here, all is appreciated.

[Samuel Espy]

Welcome William. Great comments above from some people with way more laser engraving experience than I have, but I will add my thoughts in case they might be of some use. First thing that comes to mind is that if the driftwood products are 95% of what you plan to make, then the really fine-scale beam quality and positional accuracy difference that exist between western lasers and Chinese systems will likely not make any difference in the final appearance of your product. The spot size burned into the driftwood will likely be sufficiently large compared to the beam and accuracy differences and it will not require an enormous power density to get a good burn. That still leaves the quality of the software and support differences between western and Chinese systems so it seems that you should weigh that against your budget and your skills/temperament as Mike A. mentioned. Many people on here run Chinese systems and do great work with them.

The other thing I would suggest is that you carefully consider your z-height needs--both in terms of total z-travel of the table and max z-distance below the lens when the table is fully lowered. Some of the lower-end systems may have less space and travel in z than you will need with odd-sized non-flat driftwood. Best of luck to you.

[Ernie Balch]

If you plan on engraving on anything but perfectly flat surfaces, you should look into getting a longer focal length lens and compensating for the power loss with a higher power laser.
I engrave boxes full of parts on not flat surfaces for one of my customers using a 4" lens, 80 W rabbit laser set at 325 mm/sec and 20% power
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[Clark Pace]

How much of a tinker are you? My first chinese laser was one of those cheap 40 watt ones ($400), and while it was finicky it was a good way to get my feet wet on the chinese lasers. It could engrave and cut 1/8" material with not problem. Large image it did not handle well, but vectors cutting and smaller engraves worked great on it. Though I have heard some people getting them and not working so well. So it's a risk.

As a matter of fact I'd still have it if I had not out grown in, and gone to a Redsail x700. which is my first choice. It has been very reliable, and rock solid. Support as been great. And while it's not a speed demon on engraving if you are not doing a lot large engravings it's a good buy. After hearing all the problems with other lasers here, and having worked with other chinese brands, I can honestly say that when I am ready I will be buying another redsail machine.