Cost to start a small Laser Engraving unit

[Mike Berndt]

Hello all,
I teach technology eduction at the middle school level and am interested in starting a unit on lasers and engraving. What are some estimated expenses to starting/running this type of unit? I am trying to write a grant to fund this venture. Any information will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

[Doug Griffith]

This thread may help a little.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=89229

Since the laser will be set up at a school, you most likely will need a filtration set-up.

[Jack Harper]

I can't imagine a laser manufacturer worth their salt that would not offer educational pricing on their lasers. I would recommend you pick 2 or 3 solid manufactures and have them estimate a whole A to Z setup for your purpose. I will note one potential problem though, you mentioned middle school, this may not qualify for such a discount. Usually the motivation for the manufacturer is to prime their future customers with a craving for the technology and a bias of brand. Middle school is a little far out for that and may not qualify.

[Darren Null]

Equipment:
laser
air assist
stable power supply
venting in the room for (toxic) exhaust fumes
extractor unit

Optional equipment:
Lenses: the unit will probably come with a 2" lens. You may want to add a 1.5" for detail and/or a 4" for getting round corners. Lenses can and do crack, particularly with more powerful lasers, so you may want to keep a spare 2" on hand to avoid downtime
Rotary device
If you are ever going to work with the top open you'll need (class size)* safety goggles.

Laser maintenance:
Whatever tools you need to dis/reassemble the various bits of your laser (allen keys, a couple of different-sized phillips screwdrivers and a socket set in my case)
Alcohol for cleaning vapourised 'stuff' from the bed and other parts of the machine
Mini vacuum 'dustbuster type'
Lens/mirror cleaning paper + fluid
Blower brush

Materials:
Acrylic sheet/plywood/glass/whatever you intend to use as your teaching medium. You can specialise on one material; keep a stock of various types of raw materials in; or buy readymade laserable products from a place like laserbits (there's a few of them out there).

Pre/post processing kit:
Depending on what sort of things you're going to be doing, you're also going to need other tools and substances...this is just some of them:
I find myself using for everything:
Micrometer, Dremel, clamps
For wood:
Shellac, poly varnish (+ paintbrushes, brush cleaners, alchohol, cloths) selection of screws, PVA adhesive, woodworking tools
For acrylic:
Acrylic adhesive (you can use ether, but that's illegal here in Spain, so they've replaced it with a carcinogen (!)) and hypodermic syringes to apply it with (the tiny syringes that diabetics use are the best)
For colourfilling:
Paint, application tools (vary from car spray to airbrush via palette knives and other methods), WD40, cleaning agents, Rub'n'Buff, almost infinite range of people's favourite nostrums.

The list just goes on, and varies according to personal preference and what material you're considering working with. There's no prices on anything because 1) I'm in Spain and 2) The prices all depend on what buying decisions you make. I hope I've given you some idea of what you're up against.