Looking to buy a Laser Engraver for small bamboo and wood iPhone Cases

[mike bean]

I know there's probably a lot of noob questions on this forum and you sick of answering them, but any help would be appreciated.

I'm looking for an engraver to engrave designs on small wood items like iphone cases. Would one of the cheap engravers off ebay be fine for the job? Or should I go with an epilog? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[David Somers]

Hey Mike!

What kind of volume are you looking at doing? Is this for a hobby or business? If a business what is your tolerance for down time? Do you need fairly high volume production or a more liesurely pace?

Keep in mind that the cheap ebay lasers are just that. For hobby use probably OK. For a business? Mmmmm. Best have a very flexible manufacturing need? And best to have a good skill set for making your own mods and repairs since the ebay companies tend not to have responsive tech support. If anything at all.

The chinese based lasers tend to be better cutters than engravers. If you really need fine fast engraving you are better off with the western lasers. If you need exceptional engraving speed focus on a Trotec.

By chinese lasers those ramge from rhe cheap ebay K40's up through the Shenhui's and machines like mine and the western offered machines like Rabbit Laser USA and Boss, etc.

So my suggestion would be to ponder your needs a bit more and then come back with the added info so we can help more? Dig a bunch in the forum on the ebay machines too.

[Jack Clague]

Anyone important question is space.. do you have sufficient space for a larger machine or are you wanting to work out of a small room etc? this will play a big factor in what recommendations we could make

[Glen Monaghan]

Also, how do you do with technical things, especially if something optoelectromechanical one day isn't working right or the documentation you are given is sparse, lacking, or potentially poorly translated and you can't readily speak to the manufacturer? Can you dig in and suss it out yourself or will you need to be able to call someone to either walk you through troubleshooting or do it for you? What kind of budget are you working with? Are you looking to purchase a new machine or might you want to shop around for a used one in order to get "more machine" for your money? How do you feel about using a water tank/bucket in your work space for cooling the machine, versus having a completely air cooled system? You haven't given anywhere near enough information for anyone to offer you a serious, reasoned suggestion.

[Kev Williams]

Without knowing any more about the work to be done than "small wood items", sounds like perfect parts for a Glowforge...

(I am reserving any judgement of the thing until someone who's actually used one for a week or so chimes in!)

[Rory Shepherd]

If you are only engraving small wood objects, then you won't need a powerful laser. Probably anywhere from 40W to 60W will do the job. And there are many US companies selling cheaper laser machines than epilog, if price is a deciding factor. I would stay away from ebay, but that's just my opinion.

[Dan Hintz]

And there are many US companies reselling cheaper Chinese laser machines than an epilog, if price is a deciding factor.

Clarifying that one...

[Jerome Stanek]

Clarifying that one...

If you are quoting then don't add something that wasn't posted

[Dan Hintz]

If you are quoting then don't add something that wasn't posted

Hence the bolding, to make the changes obvious...

[mike bean]

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the replies. I have attached picture for an example of want I want to engrave. This will be for a business and I estimate I will need to engrave 10-30 times a day. Space isn't a huge issue, but since my items i will be engraving are so small i don't see any reason for a big machine?

So what laser would you get to engrave this type of stuff? Would i be better off with a impact engraver? or is this laser
6yfAjRw.jpg

[Keith Winter]

Precision work like the back of that watch you're going to want a western machine. Trotec, Epilog, or Universal

[Bert Kemp]

Keith I have to disagree I can do that all day long on my rabbit and to tell you the truth it will look a lot better then that picture he posted.

Precision work like the back of that watch you're going to want a western machine. Trotec, Epilog, or Universal

[Clark Pace]

Precision work like the back of that watch you're going to want a western machine. Trotec, Epilog, or Universal

Hi Keith, what kind of China laser do you have? I ask because my China laser can do that kind of detail way easy.

[Bert Kemp]

Excuse me if I missed it but what is your budget for a laser?

I know there's probably a lot of noob questions on this forum and you sick of answering them, but any help would be appreciated.

I'm looking for an engraver to engrave designs on small wood items like iphone cases. Would one of the cheap engravers off ebay be fine for the job? Or should I go with an epilog? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[mike bean]

Excuse me if I missed it but what is your budget for a laser?

I don't really have a budget for the laser, but saving money is always good. I just want something that will do the job easily and I won't have to worry about any problems or issues with the laser.