what are you guys using to engrave pens?

[Sean Geerlof]

i am new to turning and i have started with pens and i am looking to sell them on ebay for a few bucks. i saw a couple other guys will engrave your name for 5 bucks. i was wondering what machines would work well for this. thanks for any suggestions.

sean

[Nancy Laird]

A laser engraver.

Nancy (11 days)

[Gary Keedwell]

A laser engraver.

Nancy (11 days)

Nance ...was ready to send you PM until I seen your post. Is the laser the one you used for the beautiful bookmark I just received in the mail?That is a beauty. I just got through showing a friend and he wanted one, too.!!! Thank-you Nance.
Gary

[Nancy Laird]

Yes, Gary, we have two laser engravers and do a lot of work on small stuff--pens, bookmarks, key tabs, name tags, plaques, glassware. We have about 10 regular customers, including one that has us do personalization on the dog-related novelties they sell. It's becoming more steady and a little more lucrative.

About the bookmark, that's something that we've done the past two years for Christmas, and I'm doing those for schools' booster clubs as fund-raiser items for them, the library gift shop, etc. They go like hotcakes when I do them specifically for each high school at which I participate in craft fairs--the students snap them up 2, 3, 4, or 5 at a time, along with the logo'ed key tabs. All of the schools around here have either the band or ROTC kids available for fetching and carrying, and at the end of the day, I give whatever tabs and bookmarks are left over to the sponsor for distribution to the kids who worked. You'd be amazed at the responses!!

Nancy (11 days)

[Sean Geerlof]

do you have a link that could direct me to low cost laser engraver? the ones i am seeing are like 10 g's..... do they just cost that much?

[Scott Pearson]

I have been looking around for a cheap one as well and it appears that the $10 grand ones are the cheap ones.

To me it does not really seem feasible for the hobbiest, I think you would have to start up some sort of business just to pay for the darn thing. Which is too bad cause they sure look like fun.

Scott

[Nancy Laird]

No, Sean and Scott, this is not a hobby purchase. The "cheap" lasers are the Chinese--very new to this country and very unproven. For example, my 20W ULS machine is a 1996 model, and is still on the original tube with no loss of power or quality of engraving. The Chinese lasers are being sold and shipped with a spare tube, which leads me to believe that they aren't too sure of the life-expectancy of their tubes, nor the supply and supplier.

If you are seeing $10G lasers, you are looking at the cheap ones. My 20W (if you could get one these days), went for about $13K new, the 40W was $28K new. (I'll admit that we didn't pay that for them--we bought both from the original purchasers.)

Nancy (8 days)

[Sean Geerlof]

Wow..........

[Pat Salter]

I take mine to a local "trophy" shop and get it done. they do the pens for $5 and if there is a box that is also $5. I figure that I would have to make quite a bit of pens or whatever to justify purchasing one of those puppys.