small laser machine in the mall?? anyone done this?

[Harry Radaza]

hi!

I'm in the philippines and our wooden plaques with pictures are a great hit with the tourists. However, most tourists stay 3 nights 4 days which provides they would prefer to wait for their piece. Is it possible to install a small laser machine in a kiosk in a mall? how would you deal with the exhaust issues? Has anyone done this?

what is a small portable size laser and how many watts? how much?

[Lee DeRaud]

ULS makes a stand for the Versalaser that has the exhaust blower and a couple of filters built into it: http://www.versalaser.com/english/laser_systems/accessories.html.
(Not clear that it works with the VL300...the dimensions on it make it look like it's VL200-specific.)

The two main issues that came up when I inquired about it are (1) it's hideously expensive and (2) the filters clog up rather quickly if it's used for cutting/engraving wood...and the replacement filters aren't exactly cheap either.

I also think the noise of the machine would be at least as much of a factor in a mall setting as the exhaust.

[Joe Pelonio]

I saw this being done at a mall in Honolulu about a year ago. They had a variety of wooden items they were selling in a kiosk, and had a little 12x18 laser set up with the fancy air filtration system. They were charging $5 to add the personalization and another $5 for a clipart graphic (limited choice of Hawaiian themed and Christmas stuff). Noise was not a problem, the place was crawling with Japanese tourists all talking so there's no way you could the laser. I asked the guy at the time if he was there all year (like I was coming back, Ha) and he said he only does it from Thanksgiving to Christmas.