Folks - I apologize for asking a horribly deficient newbie question but I didn't find anything in my searches on the forum.
First off - I am blown away by the knowledge on this forum regarding laser equipment. I had no idea of the capabilities inherent in the gear in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing.
In any event, I've been doing woodworking since I could walk into my dad's woodshop as a kid. I plan to make a cutting board as a wedding gift and would love to burn it with their names and wedding date. I have some wood burning pens and tips from my dad's shop but I am not sure I have a steady enough hand to pull it off - nor do I think the result looks very professional.
My near term requirement is pretty simple and I am trying to reconcile the thousands of dollars being bantered about in these threads against the $200 laser setups available from Amazon. My hunch is that if I buy into a machine I'll want to use it for other projects which may force a re-buy downstream if I go too cheap which I'd like to avoid. I can envision using it to stamp my logo on future creations. The bottom line is that I'm trying to figure out where the investment sweet spot is for fairly straightforward burning/engraving use.
Again I beg your indulgence for asking such a basic question.
Thanks in advance.