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David Sabot
10-18-2005, 7:08 PM
First of all hi! My name is Dave Sabot and I just got a 25W Pinnacle M Series that I am having a blast with, no pun intended. I found this forum and I just think you guys and gals are the cats meow. Really informative bunch of folks here. I am really going to enjoy learning from you.

Anyways, on to my question. I sell cigar accessories like humidors, cutters, lighters, etc. One of my competitors offers engraving on actual cigars. You can see a link here

http://www.coronacigar.com/Laser_Engraved_Cigars_cid12_pg1.html

They state the process is patended. I looked up the patent and it is a process for engraving on organics, like flower petals, leaves, etc. So what are your thoughts. Can I just take a nice cigar and throw it in my machine and engrave on a low power high speed setting, or am I going to burn the crap out of the thing and get sued for giving all my employees 2nd hand smoke :) Looks like they use a gold foil. Any thoughts?

Joe Pelonio
10-18-2005, 7:35 PM
I love your thread, because when I have time some day I really plan to try some odd things too. First, did you know that lasers are used to put "freshness" dates on fruit and vegetables now? They use low power to just bleach the skin. For a cigar you would have to use enough power
to burn away the foil without burning into the tobacco, and I'd guess that tobacco burns faster than foil so that could be tricky. Let us know what happens if you try it. Oh, and the 2nd hand smoke will go out your ventilation system so they shouldn't complain.

Anyway, my craziest idea, that I do intend to try is to laser a graphic into a flat, round piece of ice, to float in a punchbowl. Maybe I'll try it for the holidays. I also want to try to vector cut a piece of cheese. Might be a big seller for corporate events. Hmm, I do know a guy that does catering at Microsoft.

George M. Perzel
10-18-2005, 8:16 PM
Hi guys;
First time I've seen engraved cigars- can't imagine what about the process could be patented unless it's the gold material used.
I have laser engraved the following organics:
1. Sugar Cookies-individual names for granddaughters party
2. Bagel- Do not touch! This bagel belongs to..
3. Eggshell-have to really play with the settings to engrave but not cut
4. Ivory- needs slow speed to cut through 1/8"-engraves beautifully and looks like scrimshaw if filled with india ink.
5. leather- easy to make luggage tags or purse names-smells, though.

Lotta fun!!
George

Joe Pelonio
10-19-2005, 9:22 AM
My office plant made a sacrifice in the interest of science:
http://members.aol.com/bisjoe/leaf2.gif

I have thought of a couple of possibilities for the cigars. Seems like
a gold "cermark like" material or foil would be really nasty if the cigar
burned to that point. Maybe they rastor thru a transfer tape mask and then airbrush the gold with food grade as used on cakes. Or, perhaps they have managed to turn the food grade gold into a heat activated applique sort of like cermark tape or patent leaf.

David Sabot
10-19-2005, 3:27 PM
That looks pretty cool actually. Though I am sure your plant wasn't too happy. I guess I will play around with it a little bit to see what I can come up with. Not a huge idea, just something I thought was interesting.

Matthew Leber
10-19-2005, 9:57 PM
Smaller pumpkins work well. Just make sure they don't have to much "curve". They were a big hit at the craft show. Not a big money maker but adds a little color to the booth.

Rodne Gold
10-20-2005, 12:11 PM
You can get an adaptor for most small engraving machines that converts it into a CnC hot foiling machine. There is a weighted heated tip with a foil below and where the heated tip touches the objet , it "engraves" it and transfers the foil. (gold , silver/whatever)
We bought one and "foil/engrave" the odd item or 2. It doesnt do fine detial well but the big problem is where the tip goes up and down to move to the next piece , cos the tip contacts the start and end point for a longer time and transfers more foil at those points , so O's have a blobby bit at the top where the tip starts and leaves.
Its actually pretty good on most items
http://www.rse.co.za/images/Hot%20News/Gold%20Print/Gold%20Print.jpg

Nick Adams
10-21-2005, 5:04 PM
Anyway, my craziest idea, that I do intend to try is to laser a graphic into a flat, round piece of ice, to float in a punchbowl.

I had fun Playing with Ice, I was actually able to get nice results. But the table although it is flat and alum. stays cold, but still rapidly melts the ice.

I found out that within 3 minutes in the laser that table along with the air passing through was enough to take almost 1/4 inch of ice off the bottom of a 2 inch slab.

Great fun though.

ps. use a towel.

Thomas Hempleman
10-24-2005, 1:02 AM
Nick...
How about this idea: use a marble or granite floor tile under the ice you're engraving. Put the tile in a cold freezer for a few hours before you're ready to start engraving. Set the tile on the laser table and cover the tile with a towel. Then set the ice sheet on top of the tile and laser away. The cold tile should retain the coldness longer than the aluminum laser table. Or maybe freeze some ice in a shallow pan, put the pan of ice on the laser table, cover with a towel and set the ice to be engraved on the towel. Also, why not turn off the exhaust fan and air assist during engraving? That should help solve the warmer air from coming into the laser and melting the ice.