Thinking of buying a laser

[Blake Koehn]

Hi, I am new here at the creek. I have been reading for a while but never posted.

I own a Sign business. We sell signs mostly, plus screen printed tee shirts, and other ad related stuff.

We have been thinking of adding a laser engraver. We would like something about 24 x 36, not sure of the wattage we need. IF we could get one with a passthru we would consider 18 x 24.

We have talked to several namebrand salesman and it seems like it is going to take about 20,000.

Is there anyone out there using the "other" lasers? If you are what do you think? Is there one that you would recommend?

Thanks
Blake

[Blake Koehn]

Another question, both a laser engraver and a cnc router would fill a need in our shop, we are having a hard time deciding which to add first.

Do any of you laser people also have a cnc router? Which one did you purchase first?

I know every case is different but I value your input and it would help in the decision making.

Thanks again.
Blake

[Margaret Turco]

Hi Blake, welcome to the Creek! These people are a great help to newbies like me. I think it all depends on what you plan to engrave. I got a Universal because that is what I learned on, but everybody learns the machine and software they have and gets great results. I got an 18" * 36" table just in case, but I think that a lot of people have smaller tables. I also got 60 watts just in case but a lot of people have much lower power and do very well.
I got a good deal on a used machine that happened to be available when I was looking and you may be able to do the same. The pass-through would give you a lot more flexibility on the size of things you engrave, but I personally wouldn't feel comfortable using that feature. That's just me, though.
I learn something every day just reading posts on this forum and I'm sure you'll hear from other people shortly. Good luck!

[Keith Outten]

Blake,

I own both a Laser Engraver and a CNC Router. I suggest that you purchase a CNC machine first, it will pay for itself much faster than a laser engraver will...at least it did in my case. The good news is that CNC machines are generally less expensive than laser engravers and will help you pay for your new laser when you decide it is time to purchase.
.

[Rodne Gold]

I have a sign and trophy Shop , with 6 lasers and 4 small cnc rotary engravers and a large format Tekcel. The lasers werre the BEST investment by far and as you see we have 6. All of them are 30w (Gcc exploreres and spirits). In essence , although we bought the lasers first then the Tekcel , you need both machines and a small digital print and cut largish format printer to REALLY service the market.
We bought 6 lower power lasers with the largest having a 1m x 500mm bed. We dont need bigger or more power - 30w cuts 8-10mm pex just fine.
Our business took off exponentially with the lasers .......we bought the big tekcel with the profits. Our smaller rotary engravers/cnc's do about 10% of the work they did before we got our first laser , our tekcel does very little "large" cutting , we just whack sheets of brass or the like on it and cut zillions of brass bage backs etc. We do some engraved brass signage on it and so forth. I dont believe it makes economic sense if you are doing decent volumes of work to buy a single high powered laser , I feel the extra thruput of 2 smaller lasers at the same price of a big one is well worth it , apart from the redundancy aspect.
We had 5 staff with our first laser , we now , 7-8 yrs later, have 30. The laser was the thing that made my business grow to that extent. As a signage guy , you will be amazed at what extra you can offer clients with a laser and how fast you can do it....NOTHING is a problem , from the finest detail to complex cuts in pex etc. Get one , you wont be sorry , especially if you already have a good client base. Of course , the key to success with the laser is to market , market , market , market it...........
Pass thu is useless , we have used it like 5x perhaps , so are other bells and whistles like rubber stamp mode , 3d mode etc.

[Mark Winlund]

Rodne... is the Tekcel a laser? Do you have a web site? I googled it and got no information. If you are cutting brass badge blanks with it, it must have some serious output.

I would be interested in that type of capability as well. What is the approximate investment? I am probably crazy to be thinking about this when the US economy is in a tail spin, but you never know...

Mark

[David Fairfield]

Hey Blake

The big yes/no issue concerning buying a first laser is do you already have an application and a customer base? I think in your case, the answer is yes. You already have the business, and a laser will certainly help you add value to your services and products.

Like Rodne said, its a problem solver & time saver. I think of my laser as my robot employee. I tell it what to do, it does it. :)

The folks who buy a laser and then fish around for a business application will probably have trouble.

Dave

[Rob Bosworth]

We have sold many laser engraving systems to sign makers. The ones that are the most successful consider their laser engraving systems as adding another dimension to their business. The less successful owners have had trouble of thinking of the lasers as an added capabilities to their business. All they think about is how do you get a 4 ft. X 8 ft. sign into a machine that only has 32" X 18" or less.

If your main business is large outdoor signs, then you probably have plenty of equipment to make those kinds of signs. Adding a laser system to your existing business should be viewed as adding expanded opportunities to your customers.

[Blake Koehn]

Thank you all for the great information!! I was hoping to here some more input on the cheap lasers.

I have the money to buy one of those for cash whereas I will have to either wait or borrow more to get a more common brand. What would you do?

I do have some work for it in my sign shop however as you all know it is hard to sell something that you cant produce. So until we get the laser and get started it is hard to know how it will go.

[Scott Shepherd]

Why don't you take the work you're passing on and find a local who has a laser and sub it to him until it reaches the breaking point? Then you have no real risk.

That's how we got our vinyl plotter. We subbed vinyl cutting out until the cost of doing it made more sense to buy one and do it in house.

We are a sign shop, that's 98% of what we do, and while I agree, the laser is good for that, I don't see big dollar items like I do on the routers. I've seen a number of people with ShopBots pay for their machines with one job, or a couple of jobs. I can't say I've meet too many people with lasers who have paid for their laser with one job.

Dimensional letters done with a router can easily yield some good money, and take you into substrates you can't cut with the laser.

[David Fairfield]

Learned it from Grandpa, a master carpenter: never skimp on tools.

He was right, I re-learned it the hard way, more than once. :(

Dave

[Michael Hunter]

Thank you all for the great information!! I was hoping to here some more input on the cheap lasers.

If you go for a "big name" laser, help is just a phone call away. If something breaks you can get new parts the next day.

So question the supplier of "cheap" lasers - how good is the tech backup and how soon can replacement parts be delivered. Can they send an engineer to site if you can't fix it?

[Rob Bosworth]

I am a tool nut. I started buying tools when I was still in high school. I have upgraded and collected tools all of my life. I started out with Craftsman tools because they offered lifetime warranties. I have never regretted any of the high quality tools I have purchased. I have also fallen for tools that are just so cheap, I couldn't pass them up. It seems every time I use one of these "super deal tools", I just hate them. I bought a set of impact sockets when I started using an impact wrench. They were very inexpensive, and there inch, metric, deep well as well as standard. I have spun, broken, stripped most of them over the years. All I have to do is put one on and strip the head of a bolt, or break the socket, and I remember how much money I saved. Now I have a nice set of impact sockets, and smile every time I use them. (Turns out that the organizer box that I got with the cheap impact sockets was the best part of the deal.)

Just my $ .02 worth.