New to the world of laser engraving, need help to set up a project

[Jean-Nicolas Raymond]

Hi everyone. I am new to the world of laser cutting and engraving. I have a project and I need your help as I know nothing about what I will need. I'm looking to do acrylic tokens and I'd like some tips on achieving this project. Tokens are similar to these:

http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0196/1722/products/NetrunnerTokens-8_small.jpg?v=1421871232

I'm planning to make the tokens out of coloured transparent acrylic. Size should be about half an inch to an inch in diameter and 3mm thick. There will be engraving and cutting to do. If you can help me, here are the questions I have for you:

-How can I calculate the time it will take to create one token base on the spec of a specific machine. I understand that machine are different therefore it would be impossible to calculate the time to cut base only on my project. However if there is an average and you can provide it base on my information, it would be great.

-What type of machine would you recommend for this? Someone told me I would need a 40w machine but I really know nothing at this point. What should I expect to spend on said machine and what spaces does it take. Should I go the chinese way, the used way or the american way? Someone recommended me a A LG3040/LG500 from G.Weike but I'm afraind of chinese machine, mostly for technical support. Another friend suggested instead that I verify with epilog lader or trodec. What would you guys suggest. I don't expct the machine to be running 40 hours a week at the moment but mainly a few hours in the weekend maybe and maybe a night or two in the week.

-I heard acrylic fumes are toxic and therefore you need a well ventilated space for this. Since I'm in an appartment, it will be impossible to work this from home. What would you suggest in term of space to use a machine like this? A friend of mine is offering me to lend me a space in his basement. How hard would it be to set a saf free environment in basement considering the toxicity of the acrylic fumes.

-Finally. What would you suggest in term of reading material to learn more about lasers cutting and engraving and laser machine in general?

Thank you for your time on this if you can help.

Have a good day

Jean-Nicolas

[Robert L Stewart]

As far a reading material... There are years of knowledge in the archives on this site. 90% of what I know have come from reading
the posts each day, I never miss a day and have read every post since I joined 5 years ago.
I also started at the beginning.
There is so much to learn here. After one year I felt confident enough to purchase a laser.
Robert

[Steven Cox]

As Richard has pointed out, there's a vast quantity of info on these forums one only needs to do some searches. In regards to acrylic, yes it does have a odour when cutting/engraving but if the machine is well ventilated and or running through a scrubber system then it shouldn't cause any undue issues. Also there's some great info on these forums to build an effective scrubber system based on Dan Hintz's design. Don't be scared of on Chinesse Lasers, again there's plenty of help here. My first laser was from China and I never regreted buying it.

Regards Steve

[Robert . Payne]

You 100% need ventilation of some sort, either a blower that extracts externally or a multi pass filter system preferably using a pre-filter/hepa/activated carbon setup.

[Jean-Nicolas Raymond]

Thank you for the replies.

So how would I know what machine to purchase. The only info I have so far is that it should be 40w for acrylic.

JN

[Mike Null]

Inquire about a machine with the software to estimate jobs. Trotec Job Control has such a feature. Just send the job to the machine and it will estimate run time and it is quite accurate.

Acrylic can be done with 25 watts and higher. Lower wattage is slower.

[Bill George]

As far a reading material... There are years of knowledge in the archives on this site. 90% of what I know have come from reading
the posts each day, I never miss a day and have read every post since I joined 5 years ago.
I also started at the beginning.
There is so much to learn here. After one year I felt confident enough to purchase a laser.
Robert

What Robert said, so much info on here and lots of questions like yours. Machine size? How much are you willing to spend? It would be nothing less than a 50 watt machine for what you are doing.

[Jean-Nicolas Raymond]

Inquire about a machine with the software to estimate jobs. Trotec Job Control has such a feature. Just send the job to the machine and it will estimate run time and it is quite accurate.

Acrylic can be done with 25 watts and higher. Lower wattage is slower.

Thank you. What I meant is i need an estimate so I know how long it will take for me to the job before I purchase the machine.


What Robert said, so much info on here and lots of questions like yours. Machine size? How much are you willing to spend? It would be nothing less than a 50 watt machine for what you are doing.

Machine size, it has to fit in a basement. In term of spending, I was willing to go about 5000-6000$ for everything.

As for wattage, why would you suggest 50 watts while Mike suggest 25?

JN

[Bill George]

Speed. Please do some reading on here and you will find the reason. At that price range your looking at Chinese.

[Mike Null]

I didn't suggest 25 watts--only that a 25 watt could be used. It would be my last option. More power equals more speed.

[Bert Kemp]

5 or 6000$ is not going to get you anything but a Chinese machine and theres nothing wrong with a decent Chinese laser. You could look for an old used epilog but good luck not a lot around for that price.You want to look at Rabbit Laser USA, Boss Laser or Automation Technologies for a 40 to 60 watt laser inyour budget range. Time to do the job you asking is irrelevant because of your budget. Time will not be that long anyway. 1 token engraved and cut shouldn't take more then 30 to 40 sec and thats a rough estimate . A whole sheet say 12 x 14 inches 15 min's thats a guess since we really have no info on what your engraving.
If you go to these website they will give you machine sizes and what comes with them for exhaust and all. You have to do some research on your own to get a better idea of whats out there and cost.

[Jean-Nicolas Raymond]

5 or 6000$ is not going to get you anything but a Chinese machine and theres nothing wrong with a decent Chinese laser. You could look for an old used epilog but good luck not a lot around for that price.You want to look at Rabbit Laser USA, Boss Laser or Automation Technologies for a 40 to 60 watt laser inyour budget range. Time to do the job you asking is irrelevant because of your budget. Time will not be that long anyway. 1 token engraved and cut shouldn't take more then 30 to 40 sec and thats a rough estimate . A whole sheet say 12 x 14 inches 15 min's thats a guess since we really have no info on what your engraving.
If you go to these website they will give you machine sizes and what comes with them for exhaust and all. You have to do some research on your own to get a better idea of whats out there and cost.

Thank you for the info.


I thought that you had to import chinese machine directly from the manufacturer in china, I'll have a look at these websites.


As for the time, it is simply to give me an idea so I can plan accordingly.


Thanks again


JN

[Bert Kemp]

You never mentioned your location. Rabbit Laser Is in Ohio, Boss is in FL and Auto tech is Chicago.
All decent Chinese imports with USA support and parts.


Thank you for the info.


I thought that you had to import chinese machine directly from the manufacturer in china, I'll have a look at these websites.


As for the time, it is simply to give me an idea so I can plan accordingly.


Thanks again


JN

[Glen Monaghan]

At that price range your looking at Chinese.

Or a used Western machine, if you do your research and due diligence.

[Bill George]

Thank you for the info.


I thought that you had to import chinese machine directly from the manufacturer in china, I'll have a look at these websites.


As for the time, it is simply to give me an idea so I can plan accordingly.


Thanks again


JN

If you would have done some reading here first, most of your answers have already posted before.

[Nick young]

Check out boss laser. I purchased my machine a few months ago and it's been fantastic doing acrylic tokens and anything else I throw at it.

Also as several others have mentioned read a lot of the posts on this forum. I read this forum religiously for a year before ordering my machine and it has made my life infinitely easier in setting up jobs and troubleshooting the inevitable screw ups.

I'll check my tokens I've made and see if I have anything similar in size so I can give you an idea of speed.

[Jean-Nicolas Raymond]

Thank you all for the help. Actually I asked question because the topics on the forum intimidated me being all very precise and technical.

I'll go with what you guys gave me and work from there.

JN