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Thread: Can you make a decent living with a laser engraver?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
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    Fall River, WI
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    Can you make a decent living with a laser engraver?

    I'm getting ready to purchase a laser for my side business. I'm wondering if most people with a laser engraver are doing it as a hobby, or are making a good living from it. I know, a good living is in the eyes of the beholder. My other business is on the down swing, like a lot of businesses in this wonderful economy. Now I need extra income from somewhere else, and laser engraving turns my crank. Sublimation was next on my list. So, how much do you make a year??

    Mike

  2. #2
    Doing what? Making baby photos in granite? No. Making 90% of the things shown in a demo by a laser company? No.

    Is it possible? Certainly.

    What will your return on investment be? Low. I can think of 3 other items in my shop that had much higher returns on investment.

    A CNC router, a vinyl plotter, and dye sublimation.

    That's my take on it. Your mileage may vary.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  3. #3
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    You can make a decent living with nothing more than a hammer, saw and two screwdrivers (one screwdriver if you know how to press really, really hard). It's possible, you just have to use it the right way.
    Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )

    Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
    CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
    USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
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    Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
    Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
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    Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
    Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
    Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5

  4. #4
    Even though I Haven't been in the business long (only a year) I can honestly say that a laser engraver alone will not make you money if you want to do the "promo style" products that you see in laserbuzz or at demos. You have to think of it as a tool in your arsenal, it's all about what you do with it. I run an engraving shop, so yeah, it comes in handy, but I use the laser to cut acrylic for signage and acrylic cases as well, which has proven to be a lucrative side business. I don't use a laser to exclusively make products to sell, I use it as a tool in making the products I sell, if that makes any sense. Its like Dan said, You can go to lowes and buy a hammer, but its what you do with it that makes you money.
    Legacy lasers 1100 series 80 wattTrotec 25 watt speedy 1 (10 years old)2 champion 1900 table engravers.UScutter 24" Laser plotter

  5. #5
    Honest suggestion? Find someone with a laser and ask them if you can go out and do sales for them. They'll do the work, you get the client base and make a few bucks while building your future business. If it works out, you know if you can run a business. If it doesn't, then you know it's just a pipe dream.
    Equipment: IS400, IS6000, VLS 6.60, LS100, HP4550, Ricoh GX e3300n, Hotronix STX20
    Software: Adobe Suite & Gravostyle 5
    Business: Trophy, Awards and Engraving

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Michael J Smith View Post
    laser engraver are doing it as a hobby, or are making a good living from it. extra income from
    Mike
    How does the old (and revised numerous times) joke go.......

    How do get an engraver off your front porch?......... Ready?

    You pay him for the pizza!


    It is tough in this economy to do it, yes some do, but usually they have a niche market.
    Be careful listening to Laser Sales people they want to sell a laser.

    Whether you can justify the cost or payments that's something you'll decide very few make good money, mostly it seems a break even or a few etra bucks proposition with
    a lot of hours involved.

    If you do decide to go forward, this isn't something learned overnight. Not so much
    the laser operations as it is learning the software. If you have a strong graphics arts background with computers and software the curve is a little less steep.

    Good luck with your adventure!
    Martin Boekers

    1 - Epilog Radius 25watt laser 1998
    1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2005
    1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2007
    1 - Epilog Fusion M2 32 120watt laser with camera 2015
    2 - Geo Knight K20S 16x20 Heat Press
    Geo Knight K Mug Press,
    Ricoh GX-7000 Dye Sub Printer
    Zerox Phaser 6360 Laser Printer
    numerous other tools and implements
    of distruction/distraction!

  7. #7
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    Using it as tool to add value to products that there is some demand for is the way to go , I have a multitool shop which makes a lot of products , the laser is a way of making those products more unique , however its only a complement to the arsenal of other tools used in the production process of those products , as a stand alone , I doubt I would be making good money.
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    No you can't selling to the public. Find commercial uses, subcontract cutting, signs, cut letters etc. I have read post after post on here where laser owners make some really neat things and try and sell them at craft shows and flea markets etc. Most of them are absolute failures or at best break even propositions. You also need other things to sell, cut vinyl (plotter), cnc router work, sublimation, transfers etc., combine these capabilities with your laser and you stand a chance.
    Epilog Legend EXT36-40watt, Corel X4, Canon iPF8000 44" printer,Photoshop CS6, Ioline plotter, Hotronix Swinger Heat Press, Ricoh GX e3300 Sublimation

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Fall River, WI
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    Thanks for the responses, people. I know my questions are very vaque, but just trying to get an idea of the potential with this industry. My real job is a surveyor, so I have autocad experience. I bought Corel X4 last week, watched a gazillian tutorials already, and now I have some confidence with it. Now I send my engraving info to the engraver via crd files, instead of a plain email.
    One other thing that is spurring me to do this, is that there is no immediate competition in my City.

    Vision, without execution, is just hallucination...

  10. #10
    Michael,

    I am one of the people who use the laser to serve a niche market and it is profitable for me. But the laser is only part of the toolbox, my business would be nothing without the design, marketing, research and other skills needed to make it all come together. That said, without the laser, I would not be able to make the products I sell as well or as easily in a timeframe that makes me money.

    You can flail around looking for the perfect product or you can pick something to specialize in... If you are not going to do commercial work, you need a niche market. I recommend doing a bunch of market research first to find your customers, find out what they like, find out what they can't live without and create a new product which they don't even know they need yet, but will want it as soon as they see it. I also recommend targeting high end customers, as their money is not as variable from year to year as regular folks, plus it's better to sell 10 things for $100 each rather than 100 things for $10 each.

    I work as much or as little as I want to right now, which is pure luxury after a lifetime of deadlines. I make enough to be comfortable. But I will not get rich doing this, just a lot of enjoyment. I do have enough work that I needed to get an apprentice this year, which is a nice way to share expertise and have some extra hands to do the work.

    cheers, dee
    Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure

    Red Coin Mah Jong

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    A laser is a great tool to 'add' to an existing business, and existing customer base. Starting from scratch is a tough row to hoe for many businesses. The one positive thing you can count on, is a large assortment of used lasers coming up cheap, from people that listened to a laser salesman tell them how much money they can make!
    Epilog 24TT(somewhere between 35-45 watts), CorelX4, Photograv(the old one, it works!), HotStamping, Pantograph, Vulcanizer, PolymerPlatemaker, Sandblasting Cabinet, and a 30 year collection of Assorted 'Junque'

    Every time you make a typo, the errorists win

    I Have to think outside the box.. I don't fit in it anymore


    Experience is a wonderful thing.
    It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.


    Every silver lining has a cloud around it




  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Bay Area, CA USA
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    Great thread.

    I would never buy a laser, but I inherited one from a bad debt - hmm irony.

    I use it for prototypes to support my main business. I do special projects for family friends after hours. It is a tool not a business. Unfortunately, it is a tool that has a steep learning curve and a lot of restrictions like ventilation, power, and fire concerns.

    I though I could run a job while I do other work but I have to sit close to blow out flashes so now I have labor prices as well.


    Whenever I tell people I have a laser their eyes light up, but in the end they wouldn't spend a lot of money to do things the laser can do. Layout designing eats up a lot of time as well.

    People shoot for $60 and hour payout for the laser, subtract your time to watch the laser, the square footage for rent - 100 sq ft, insurance, risk of fire, risk of damage to the things you are lasering, electricity, and replacement parts and you are taking home a lot less than you budgeted - this is assuming you have paying customers. - cost of sales.

    Most of the users here have another form of income or support.

    It is cool instrument, but there are other ways to make more money out there without worrying about calling the manufacturer to FedEx a motor or display board. I was definitely drawn to the fact that I could make anything, but in the end making anything has a lot of scrap and limitations. In the end, a < 100W laser can cut Delrin and Acrylic. It can engrave, but why not go the the engraving guy in your town or order it from the millions of sites online. With plastic prices going crazy and laser prices tanking (both due to the Chinese) a laser is a risky business for someone without other things.
    Last edited by andrew zen; 04-22-2011 at 2:18 AM.
    Legend 24EX, Amaya (Big Red), Server Farm, PBX System Integrator, (5) Shopsmith Mark VII's. Smithy metal 3-1, anything old and grey I will think about buying. " I learn from failure - I learn everyday, but only fail when I refuse to learn."

  13. I'm trying to set up my business focusing in personalizing hi tech items, I'll let you know if at the end of the year it was worth trying.

    I'm also trying to produce some small objets like keychains ad photoframes, and I provide photo engraving

    I'll let you know

    One question, I hear a lot of you talking about implementing the laser in a business with CNC routers, vinyl plotters and dye sublimation.

    Can I ask how you use these machines togheter?
    Epilog Zing 30W
    Adobe Illustrator

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Giacomo Cheslaghi View Post
    One question, I hear a lot of you talking about implementing the laser in a business with CNC routers, vinyl plotters and dye sublimation.

    Can I ask how you use these machines togheter?
    The laser can cut shapes from some materials, which you can then apply vinyl to or dye sub (right material) to make products. If you just had the laser, you couldn't finish the project, you could only do one step of it. With multiple other pieces of equipment, you can do the jobs from start to finish. There's not much value in unfinished product.

    With the laser and a vinyl plotter, you can make many things. However, the vinyl plotter can do things much larger than the laser, so that's where the CNC router comes in. You can cut larger items. Also, you can cut PVC on the router, which then, when lettered with vinyl, makes very nice products.

    A router can pay for itself easily, in my opinion, because you don't tend to do jobs that have a finished price of $45. It's easy to do $500 jobs and up on the router. So the job size is larger. You'll also hear many router owners talk about jobs that are more than $10,000. So that's one job, more than $10,000, and it's not uncommon.

    With the laser, you can end up doing a lot of $8 items. At most, a $100 item here and there. You can get long run jobs that make money, but it's not that common. You're talking about selling items that take minutes to run, so the cost will never be but so high.

    With the vinyl plotter, I've personally done many jobs in the $1,000's of dollars, so the machine paid for itself very quickly.

    Dye Sub, you can do things fast. They are cheap products, but you can do multiple items at one time.

    If I had to do it over again, a laser wouldn't be at the top of my list.
    Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
    Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
    Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers

    Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.

  15. #15
    Join Date
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    Location
    Tennessee USA
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    I Bought my laser in November so far I have made enough to pay off my laser and am looking for another one. I went the cheap way out and bought a chinese laser would I do it again, yes I would now I am looking for a small machine to take with me. I am one of the few that has done this. It is not easy I work a full time job then I come home and work into the early morning hours. When my wife and family see me they say do we know you. But in the long run it will be worth it. I do a lot of industrial tags and I also do a lot of craft shows.
    Rabbit 1290/80, TurnKey 60/40, Croelx4, PhotoGrav 3.0, Probotix Meteor CNC Router

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