Engraving baseball bats?

[Justin Madden]

I own a small baseball bat company and I am currently pricing lasers to engrave my bats. I have never used a laser before so I don't really know what to look for. I don't have a fortune to spend so I am open to any suggestions...thank you!

[matthew knott]

I own a small baseball bat company and I am currently pricing lasers to engrave my bats. I have never used a laser before so I don't really know what to look for. I don't have a fortune to spend so I am open to any suggestions...thank you!

There loads of info on here but i can be hard work trawling through it all, whats your budget? that's the biggest decider, obviously you will want the best possible for the lowest cost but as with anything better often costs more! I would say you have 3 main options

Import from China: cheapest but with learning curve and little support.
Chinese machine from US re-seller : cheaper and some support.
Western Trotec/Universal/Epilog etc: best machines and support but you will be paying for it.

Start with budget and take it from there, if its less than $5k that pretty much limits you to one option anyway !

[Mike Null]

Before you buy a laser have some of your bats laser engraved to see if that's the look you want. If they're made of ash resist the temptation to colorfill them.

Also consider an electric branding iron for your logo.

[David Somers]

Mike,

For a very focused operation like this......engraving baseball bats, would a CNC setup be better than an engraver? Or is that kind of a wash in terms of pros and cons?

Not being a baseball addict, my opinion is pretty worthless, but I always thought engraving of some sort looks nicer than wood burning. Unless a burned logo on a wooden bat is better from a nostalgia/tradition standpoint?

Any chance he is doing anodized aluminum bats too? That might make laser more attractive over all?

Sorry....lots of thoughts and questions out of ignorance! <grin>

Dave

[mike klein]

I engrave 100's of bats every month, both Maple and Ash. The only difference between the 2 is the ash is more grainy than the maple but a lot of my customers
like that look.

[Don Necaise]

I would like some information on locating a few bats to engrave .Can you send me some info Please?

[Justin Madden]

I currently use a vinyl sticker for my label and want the laser for engraving the barrel. I have had some engraved already and liked the way they turned out. My budget is around $7k and I talked to legacy today about their 500 model...they seemed very helpful and willing to take the time to answer my hundreds of questions...

[Tim Bateson]

I too engrave 100s of bats every spring/summer. My 2 cents is buy a couple bats and have someone-else engrave them to see if it's what you are expecting. Some wood just doesn't leave that burn look at all & paint filling can be very time consuming & doesn't always come out well. Outsource & spend some time working these details before dropping a ton of $$ on a laser,