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Thread: New to the forum but, not to laser and rotary engraving

  1. #1

    New to the forum but, not to laser and rotary engraving

    I got into rotary engraving when I was still in the Air Force. I got a job working evenings and Saturdays at the Skills Development Center (a.k.a. Craft Store) at Eielson, AFB, AK.

    I started on an old rotary engraver and the person that trained me showed me a DOS program she used mainly for engraving text for trophies. I asked her what the Windows program was and she just said she didn't use it.

    I quickly found out I could put artwork into the Windows program and engrave different things on the metal plates along with the text.

    After being there a year, my Boss bought a New Hermes Laser engraver with the rotary attachment for engraving mugs, bottles, that kind of thing.

    Me, I engraved everything I could get my hands on. Cigar boxes were great with the laser and I'd engrave caribou or moose on the boxes. I also engraved the matting they would put around prints (More sled dog scenes, etc) and I'd put dog prints right in the matting and the clients loved them.

    I eventually left Eielson AFB back in 2,000 (Dang, now I feel really old) but, I always thought of getting back into engraving.

    OK, enough about my background. My son works for a place that sells dice of various materials and he wants me to get a laser engraver so I can engrave on the dice that he'll order as blanks.

    My question to the gang here... What laser would you buy for doing engraving on dice of various materials and I'd also like to do some wooden sign engraving.

    I use AutoCad for drawing houseplans these days after working on Intel Fabrication Facilities worldwide doing designs on them. I've basically been using AutoCad since about 1988 (Did I mention I'm feeling old?)

    What software would allow me to laser line as many dice that will fit in the layout area under the laser?

    A client of mine recommended checking out BangGood.com and there's a ton of lasers to choose from.

    I'm not looking to open a business, just working for one company and maybe a few signs here and there at a flea market kind of setup.

    My son brought me a bag full of a lot of various sets of dice and a lot of them aren't just 6 sided. Might have to figure out a way to be able to hold those when engraving..

    Any help is greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Jordan View Post
    A client of mine recommended checking out BangGood.com and there's a ton of lasers to choose from.

    I'm not looking to open a business, just working for one company and maybe a few signs here and there at a flea market kind of setup.

    My son brought me a bag full of a lot of various sets of dice and a lot of them aren't just 6 sided. Might have to figure out a way to be able to hold those when engraving..

    Any help is greatly appreciated.
    My first piece of advice would be to run as fast as you can away from banggood.com. If you open their website, and the top listing is women's clothing, that should tell you something, in that lasers are not their primary business, and you will likely receive zero support after the sale.

    As for recommendations, you will likely get answers all over the board here. The question has been asked many times. For a hobby machine, obviously budget comes into play. For that reason, you'll probably want to avoid things like Epilog, Trotec, Gravograph, etc. You'll be more looking into the US import Chinese machines. In that area, the top recommendations you'll likely find will be Thunder Laser, Rabbit Laser and BOSS Laser. I personally would avoid BOSS. While their support is great, their machines aren't really built that well and they are slow. If I were buying that class of machine today, I would seriously look at Thunder Laser. They have well built machines with some nice features not available on other machines in the same price range, as well as US based support. My 2 cents, for what it's worth.

    Good luck!
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  3. #3
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    All depends on what he makes the dice from. If anything but metal (for the most part) a CO2 laser would be best.
    Coreldraw works for the program, as well illustrator or any number of other programs, some free or very low cost.
    I'd actually search out a small Epilog, probably used if it was me. Chinese would be ok, I own one. I'd not do a k40 or GF. First tends to the toy and tinkering level, the second is way too expensive and poor customer service for what you buy.
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  4. #4
    Thanks for the input John.

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