Allen Scott
12-10-2012, 8:26 AM
I have an old Epilog Summit laser engraver from around 1990. Its amazing how long this thing has lasted on its original laser, bearings, etc. The only thing I have ever replaced is a belt and an x motor. I couldnt even count the amount of hours I have put this through.
That being said, i do not use it near as much anymore, maybe only a few jobs a month. Its still alive and kickin, but my fear is that anyday now Im gonna go out to the garage to use it and the laser or something major will be out. So Im starting to plan for my next machine.
I used to own a retail trophy store, and no longer do this much. I have literally about 5 customers I do out of my garage part time. Id guess I make maybe 3-5k a year doing this. Since I have a full time job, most the money I make doing this is just play money. But Iv been thinking about maybe trying to get a few extra customers and make it a real part time job and just put everything I make in savings, for an extra savings account. But since my laser is probably on its last leg, im hesitant to go after any new business.
So i have a question. Mainly everything I do now is the flexi gold plastic engraving sheets with the 3M tape on the back. I raster engrave the words and then vector cut (not all the way through) the borders so that the plates stay on the sheet, and then basically "peel" them out like a sticker to put on trophies. Occasionally Ill do a crystal, plaque or something else, but really 99% of what I do is these plastic plates.
Now heres the kicker, I dont want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a laser that will take me forever to make the money to pay for. Iv seen and heard of these chinese lasers before and Iv read a few things about glass tubes not lasting real long, no real support, etc. But im a pretty techy guy and can adjust a laser beam, set the rules, replace a tube, etc. I dont mind the tubes going out sooner if they are cheap to replace.
What would you guys say is my best bet if im looking for a laser for as cheap as possible for my application? Id like it to have good enough quality so I could engrave about 8-10pt font sizes on 2" plates.
in a perfect world, the laser would be about 24"x12" engraving size (can live with a little smaller), red dot pointer for those odd jobs, use Corel Draw and Windows 7, etc... Id perfer something now water cooled and can just plug in and use my exhaust system I already have.
That being said, i do not use it near as much anymore, maybe only a few jobs a month. Its still alive and kickin, but my fear is that anyday now Im gonna go out to the garage to use it and the laser or something major will be out. So Im starting to plan for my next machine.
I used to own a retail trophy store, and no longer do this much. I have literally about 5 customers I do out of my garage part time. Id guess I make maybe 3-5k a year doing this. Since I have a full time job, most the money I make doing this is just play money. But Iv been thinking about maybe trying to get a few extra customers and make it a real part time job and just put everything I make in savings, for an extra savings account. But since my laser is probably on its last leg, im hesitant to go after any new business.
So i have a question. Mainly everything I do now is the flexi gold plastic engraving sheets with the 3M tape on the back. I raster engrave the words and then vector cut (not all the way through) the borders so that the plates stay on the sheet, and then basically "peel" them out like a sticker to put on trophies. Occasionally Ill do a crystal, plaque or something else, but really 99% of what I do is these plastic plates.
Now heres the kicker, I dont want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a laser that will take me forever to make the money to pay for. Iv seen and heard of these chinese lasers before and Iv read a few things about glass tubes not lasting real long, no real support, etc. But im a pretty techy guy and can adjust a laser beam, set the rules, replace a tube, etc. I dont mind the tubes going out sooner if they are cheap to replace.
What would you guys say is my best bet if im looking for a laser for as cheap as possible for my application? Id like it to have good enough quality so I could engrave about 8-10pt font sizes on 2" plates.
in a perfect world, the laser would be about 24"x12" engraving size (can live with a little smaller), red dot pointer for those odd jobs, use Corel Draw and Windows 7, etc... Id perfer something now water cooled and can just plug in and use my exhaust system I already have.