my laser arrives tomorrow... getting pretty excited

[Lawrence Richards]

Thank you to the members here- I appreciate the inputs you've all given both in my questions a few months ago as well as the information I've gotten reading of others' experiences.

My new laser (a 50W Helix) and rotary arrives tomorrow. I'm excited to add this tool to my shop and look forward to the capabilities it will provide.

I'm a pretty experienced woodworker with a full shop including 5+ years using a CNC router at a hobby level and am now entering the business world where I am specializing in gifts and memorabilia for the military and first responder communities. The laser will be used to personalize both the wood and glass on flag and helmet boxes etc. as well as the engraving "standards" like tumbler engraving and awards work. My customers are a mix of both individuals as well as government agencies through contract opportunities. (My company was just CvE certified as a service disabled owned small business) I have applications for licensing for all the major services for their trademarks so will be able to legally engrave the military logos.

Any tips, hints etc. beyond those I would normally glean from using the search function are greatly appreciated (especially with regard to the rotary, which is the standard one, not the 3-jaw)

Not sure if it is within the rules or not to post a link to my business website, so I'll hold off on that here.

Thanks again and wish me luck as I set off on this new, exciting, enterprise
Lawrence

[Jeanette Brewer]

Congrats on the new laser! I'm presuming you'll be using Corel to "drive" the laser? If you're a Corel "newbie", I have a list of resources I can send you via email since I'm as unsure as you are about posting any links here. :)

Email me at jeanette at engravingconcepts dot com and I'll send those resources back to you right away.

[Hal Welke]

Congratulations on the new laser. I remember the excitement of getting my first laser and that was 7 years ago. The Universal is still chugging along

[Ross Moshinsky]

Laser has it's own things to learn but it's much easier to learn than the CNC. If you can run a CNC, you should be able to figure out the laser in a few days.