I'm Ordering My Laser today!

[Paul Torrigino]

http://www.pariarts.com/tonys.jpg
Well, I'm taking the plunge today! I met with our local Epilog dealer yesterday to see a machine and I decided on the 45 watt 12" x 24". It will be delivered in early January. So here's the story - we have a successful home sign business making these custom tiki signs, and after 5 years of hand cutting on the scroll saw, my hands are shot! So for this next year, we'll be redesigning our catalogue to make use of laser cut parts to save my hands and also step up our production. I have lots of ideas for acrylic and wood items to sell. So we're very excited about it... I figure we'll spend the first month or two coming up with new items, and slowly transition from the hand cut to more laser cut pieces.
These pictures are some of our handmade pieces. I'm thinking we can make more detailed items with the laser, and I'm thinking of using it primarily for the vector cutting as opposed to the raster engraving. That's the latest!
http://www.pariarts.com/cat/custom/images/cust115C.JPG

[Vicky Orsini]

Congratulations! Your signs are beautiful. I'm sure the laser will make life a lot easier ... and less painful ... for you. :)

[Nick Cardone]

Hi Paul,

Congrats on your Epilog purchase ! Your signs are totally awesome ! Im also on the fence between Epilog, ULS, and Xenetech. There is a trade show ( Imprint Canada ) up here in Toronto in January, so im hoping to see some of the local reps ( ULS is going to be there ) and see the machines in action.

Cheers,

Nick

[Joe Pelonio]

You are doing really nice work. Hopefully the laser works out well to make it easier for you. Remember to clean more often that they tell you when doing mostly wood, it does cause more debris and smoke haze than other materials, and feel free to ask for help if needed.

[Vicky Orsini]

There is a trade show ( Imprint Canada ) up here in Toronto in January Hi Nick. Do you have a website for the trade show? I haven't been to one yet, but would love to go.

[Paul Torrigino]

Hey Nick,
Yes I looked at the Universal also on the web. I decided on the Epilog because it looks like a good quality machine overall and all the elements seem to be pretty well thought out. Also, the local sales and support are about a mile from my house, so I felt comfortable with that... you know, instead of having support available in the next state or something. I hope I made the right decision. I'll let you know how it goes! Can't wait to start cutting!

[Nick Cardone]

Hi Vicky,

Not a problem...Here you go :

http://www.imprintcanada.com/TICS2007.htm


Nick

[Vicky Orsini]

Thanks, Nick! :D See you there.

[Mike Hood]

If you're coming from a world of scroll-sawing... you'll LOVE the laser!

[Bill Cunningham]

There is a trade show ( Imprint Canada ) up here in Toronto in January, so im hoping to see some of the local reps ( ULS is going to be there ) and see the machines in action.

Cheers,

Nick

ULS is usually there, (With CESCO) as well as Engravers supply with the Epilog.. They usually have the 12x24 running, with an air scrubber... I have never seen any others there though! The show is mostly screen printing, and a great source of free Tee Shirts.. ha.. I usually do that show, then head on down to the Toronto Boat Show held at the same time, just to drool...... A LOT of walking in one day:D

[rich shepard]

The signs look great. Don't know how thick your material is , but if your cutting plywood think larger then 45 watt. I have a 35 watt and it is maxed out on 1/4 inch plywood and hard woods. The laser does not like the glues in plywood and they same piece of ply will not all cut the same, depending on the amount of glues used.
rich

[Bill Cunningham]

The signs look great. Don't know how thick your material is , but if your cutting plywood think larger then 45 watt. I have a 35 watt and it is maxed out on 1/4 inch plywood and hard woods. The laser does not like the glues in plywood and they same piece of ply will not all cut the same, depending on the amount of glues used.
rich

If you can get a scrap of the same plywood your cutting, it always helps to try it first.. It's funny, but I have a 3/8" plywood here, that just cuts like butter, at a much faster speed, than the standard 1/4" birch.. I don't know what it is, or where I got it. It just looks like a G1S poplar ply..
Even considering the focus going out a bit, using the standard Legend TT24 lens... Cuts right through every time.. A little black on the edges, but not charcoal..
The glue definatly has a lot to do with it..

[Paul Torrigino]

Thanks Bill and Rich - The sign pieces I cut on the scroll saw are 1" redwood. We tried to cut through a piece with 2 passes on the 35 watt machine at the Epilog sales room here, and it did it - but with a lot of scorching - too much. I'm thinking of trying some 3/8" redwood - or some other soft wood I can cut in one pass and then coming up with new designs, layering the pieces to get some high relief here and there. The trick will be finding a local source for the material. I might try some mdf in various thicknesses also. I'd imagine it would cut beautifully, but I don't think it would be good enough for exterior pieces, even with primer and sealer, but I don't know, I'll have to make some samples and see how they come out. I have to do some scouting around here and test some different woods. I love using the redwood or cedar because the rough surface texture looks great when we paint it for our particular style of signs, but finding it in thin pieces may be tough. There's no way I'd want to end up planing down boards for every sign!! I bet I can find something if I look around hard enough.

The 45 watt laser is the max I want to pay for right now... !! So I will design our new products for whatever I can get the machine to do. I have ideas for new plastic items using 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic. I have a TAP plastics just blocks from here, so it will be easy to try a bunch of different materials.

[Dave Fifield]

Hi Paul, congrats on ordering your new laser, and on your fine signwork!

I have found that 45W will cut 3/8" MDF okay. It's slow going though, and the edge is always very blackened. Also, MDF seems to give off quite a lot of smoke and leave quite a bit of sticky residue (that cleans up okay with water, but is a chore).

45W is also fine for cutting up to 1/4" thick acrylic (but again, it's slow going at 100% power, 5% speed or so).

To cut 1" thick wood cleanly in one pass, you would need a lot more power - 100W or more IMO. Maybe you can save up some of your early laser-enabled profits and get a more powerful machine at a later date...

:Dave F.

[Paul Torrigino]

Thanks for the advice Dave. I was at Home Depot today and I see they have some kind of thin house siding product that looks like a type of hardboard. What interested me is that it has a molded wood texture on the face of it that would paint up very nicely to simulate a rough wood. Does anyone have any experience laser cutting this material?
Also in the garden section, I found some thin (less than half inch) redwood fence stakes with a rough texture. So I'll add those to my list of things to try once I get my hands on the machine.
I'm glad it will cut the MDF, can't wait to try it.

[Rodne Gold]

Why dont you use the laser to make blasting masks and sand blast the wood , you will get amazing textures in the blasted bits and can get incredible detial as well as doing multidepth quasi 3d carvings.
You can use artificial "sign" wood for this too.
You could also cut wood grain formicas and face them on MDF.
Personally, for your application and signs , I would have imagined an overhead router as being a better tool than a laser.

[rich shepard]

Why dont you use the laser to make blasting masks and sand blast the wood , you will get amazing textures in the blasted bits and can get incredible detial as well as doing multidepth quasi 3d carvings.
You can use artificial "sign" wood for this too.
You could also cut wood grain formicas and face them on MDF.
Personally, for your application and signs , I would have imagined an overhead router as being a better tool than a laser.

Rodne's right a cnc router would be better for what you want and faster also. A plus is they cost a lot less check out a shop bat. I'd put the laser on hold if you can, till you look at all the options.
rich

[Keith Outten]

I second Rodne's suggestion that a CNC router would be the better choice for sign work. Generally speaking a CNC machine is about half the price of an engraver with a larger power supply and a router will provide much more capability for working large jobs and thicker materials.

I planned on purchasing both an engraver and a CNC router, bought the engraver first which was a mistake. I should have purchased the ShopBot first as it would have paid for the engraver and allowed me to purchase a laser with more power. Both machines compliment each other but a CNC router is a much more profitable machine.

.

[Paul Torrigino]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I've considered a cnc router for years, but to tell you the truth, noise is a factor as well as space.

Sandblasting, yes I know. I love what it can do, but again noise and debris. I have a great big compressor already that would handle it, but when it's on -- you can hear it all over the block! I really can't take the noise - well, for a small project here and there okay, but not everyday. If I had a shop in an industrial area it would be a different story. But our business is in a home workshop in a residential neighborhood. It's a nice workshop, about 10' by 34' or so. I guess I'm to the point where I want something quiet here. We were able to talk in a normal voice next to the Epilog when it was cutting, and the exhaust sound from the outside was comparable to a dryer vent. You know, way back when I first started scrolling, the noise factor was one of the selling points - it's a quiet running machine.

The sign business actually was a result of having the scroll saw, not the other way around. I guess my point is, I feel confident enough that we can come up with profitable products using the laser. Actually I'm looking forward to making something different other than signs as well, for the change of pace. We'll still make them, but they'll be different (hopefully nicer) than our old ones.

Also I have ideas for some acrylic products other than signs to sell. I'm looking forward of the challenge of coming up with something new. Lately I've been intrigued with the notion of doing some kind of HO scale building kits. As an old architectural modelmaker myself, I see a potential there.... and those laser cut kits can go for a good price. Anyway, that's one idea.

Anyway, thanks for mentioning those other options.

[rich shepard]

. Lately I've been intrigued with the notion of doing some kind of HO scale building kits. As an old architectural modelmaker myself, I see a potential there.... and those laser cut kits can go for a good price. Anyway, that's one idea.

Anyway, thanks for mentioning those other options.

As for the Railroad kits let me tell you it is a hard market to get into. The top of the line kits that get the price are not so much laser cut ,but so called craftsmen kits, a box of strip wood and a book of instructions. The true laser kit is done for just above cost and sold though a wholesaler and their dealer network. On a 30 dollar kit you get about 13, the dealer gets 40% off of list the the wholesaler gets his 15%. Plus most kits have cast details that add to your cost if you buy them out, best if you can cast them yourself. Mine makes payments and not much more when all is said and done.
rich

[Paul Torrigino]

Here's an update - the laser came two weeks early! It was supposed to ship from Colorado around Jan 15th but I guess because of the snow storms they couldn't ship to the east, so they shipped this one out west to me first. So it came yesterday! I wasn't ready for it... I'd planned to take the next two weeks to get the shop ready for it, but I had to clear it out in one day.

The attached picture is the back end of our shop. This was formerly a catch-all area full of junk. The laser is in the box on the right. There's a window there, and the vent will go through that wall under the window. To the left is the table where the computer will go. I think the space will work out just fine. My mission today is to get a computer - no problem. I ordered Corel Draw a few weeks ago online and it's coming UPS ground, so I'd imagine it will be here soon after the holiday sometime.

The Epilog installer will come mid next week to help me get everything up and working so I should be up and running next week. I can't wait to start testing materials! I found some 3/8" redwood I'm going to start with - then some plastics. I'll let you all know how it goes.

That's the latest.

[Vicky Orsini]

That's very cool! You must be thrilled. You have way more patience than I do, leaving it crated up like that. My machine came on Thursday, the trainer is coming on Wednesday, but we couldn't wait for him so we uncrated it and got it all hooked up. I'm waiting for the exhaust blower, though. We got the machine up and running but we can't try any wood or acrylic until the blower gets here (on Tuesday). So, we've been playing with glass in the mean time. We've been having a blast with it, too! :D So far, we've done a couple of glasses and a boring light fixture (not so boring any more! ;) ).

[Dave Fifield]

Paul, do those double doors open to the outside? If so, you might want to re-think your security measures - an old screwdriver through a simple clasp isn't going to do it IMO! ;) I wouldn't be able to leave the laser uncrated either.....

Vicky, if you have a vacuum cleaner and some duct tape, you are in business! Go for it..... :)

[Paul Torrigino]

That's funny Dave! No, the double doors go to a walk-in closet. The single door to the right goes to the outside and it has an iron security screen door outside of it.

Well, I probably WILL uncrate it before next week. But I was busy today getting a new computer to sit next to it. I got an HP and already installed the fonts and a few other programs we use on it. I'm still waiting for Corel Draw but now it looks like Tuesday is a post office holiday also... so it will be Wednesday at the earliest!

Does anyone know if I can use Corel Painter to print to the laser? I have that program already.

[Dave Jones]

Personally I've only used it with Corel Draw, but the Epilog driver is a printer driver and should work with virtually any graphics program, at least for raster engraving.

Make sure you get your exhaust system set up before you start lasering anything, and if you bought an air assist pump, get that set up too.

BTW, you can download a 15 day trial copy of Corel Draw from the Corel site.

[Mitchell Andrus]

If you don't know Corel Draw I recommend CorelDraw Unleased by F. Coburn, the DVD version. It's saved me a lot of time and I'd buy it again.

http://www.unleash.com/

Corel user's forum:

http://www.oberonplace.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Have fun.

[Bill Cunningham]

That's very cool! You must be thrilled. You have way more patience than I do, leaving it crated up like that. My machine came on Thursday, the trainer is coming on Wednesday, but we couldn't wait for him so we uncrated it and got it all hooked up. I'm waiting for the exhaust blower, though. We got the machine up and running but we can't try any wood or acrylic until the blower gets here (on Tuesday). So, we've been playing with glass in the mean time. We've been having a blast with it, too! :D So far, we've done a couple of glasses and a boring light fixture (not so boring any more! ;) ).

A vaccume and duct tape may be ok for the wood Vickie, but if your running it in your house, I would avoid the Acrylics until you get a 'well sealed vent' or it could take quite a while to get the stink out.. Rubber has a lingering dead skunk smell, and leather smells like a wad of burning hair.. Just a heads up :D Have fun!!!

[Vicky Orsini]

Thanks for the tips, fellas, but I don't plan to use my vaccuum as an exhaust system. It's a central vac system, and the canister is quite full of dog fur at the moment. With my luck, some smoldering bit would get sucked into the canister and the whole thing would go up in flames within seconds. I'll wait 'till Tuesday, thanks. ;) In the mean time, I'm having enough fun with glass & marble to keep me busy for a little while. I'll have to stop at some point today to ring in the New Year anyway. :D

Dead skunk and burning hair ... funny how the salespeople never mentioned that. Oh, well. It should blend in quite nicely with the manure aromas that come from the farm fields surrounding our little subdivision. Now all I have to do is figure out how to convince the neighbour that it's a naturally occurring phenomenon and not a result of the 4" hole I just drilled into the side of my house. :D

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year!

[Bill Cunningham]

Thanks for the tips, fellas, but I don't plan to use my vaccuum as an exhaust system. It's a central vac system, and the canister is quite full of dog fur at the moment. With my luck, some smoldering bit would get sucked into the canister and the whole thing would go up in flames within seconds. I'll wait 'till Tuesday, thanks. ;) In the mean time, I'm having enough fun with glass & marble to keep me busy for a little while. I'll have to stop at some point today to ring in the New Year anyway. :D

Dead skunk and burning hair ... funny how the salespeople never mentioned that. Oh, well. It should blend in quite nicely with the manure aromas that come from the farm fields surrounding our little subdivision. Now all I have to do is figure out how to convince the neighbour that it's a naturally occurring phenomenon and not a result of the 4" hole I just drilled into the side of my house. :D

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy & prosperous New Year!

Hi Vicky; Some of the things the sales people don't tell you!! The sales people usually leave out the little inconveniences associated with some smells, and the 'air exchange' you may not have considered. Actually the wood smells very nice (I think so anyway). If your neighbour complains, or notices your new vent, 'play dumb' and tell them you are installing a new 'dryer vent' , or you will be blamed for every little smell, that wafts in from any field. Try to do the real stinky stuff after midnight..
Once your vent is installed, remember that you will also be pumping a lot of your house heat out through it.. Mine is about 750 cfm (my shop is separate from my house) so it sure don't take long for the shop furnace to come on once it starts. If your home is R2000 airtight, you may have to run another vent to allow air in, you'll know if your ears need popping..:D If your house is air conditioned in the summer, it won't be any more, while your working anyway..
I think Innisfil has eased off a bit on home business's, and won't give you any hassle in your sub-division unless someone complains.. If you have a neighbour that, known from past experience, 'may' complain, then make them something nice. Perhaps a nice piece of birch with their children's photo etched into it. If they accept it, they probably will not be as quick to point you out to 'big brother'.. Have fun.. It's gonna take a while for the 'gee whiz' factor to wear off anyway.. Happy new year...

Bill

[Mike Hood]

Play with th 1/4" MDF. It's really cheap by the sheet, cut's fast and clean and works well with other shop tools.