Where to start with Lasers?

[Jared Greenberg]

I have been tossing around the idea for about a year in investing in a laser. I own a baseball bat company and want the laser to engrave just on the barrel's of the bats. Many other companies do this, so I know it can be done! Right now we do vinyl labels and it works quite well.

A standard area of text would be roughly 4-5 inches in length and maybe 2.5-3" wide. I could actually measure though. There is much of a curve with this size on the barrel.

A few questions:

1) How much would I be looking at for a machine that could do this? Also, I assume there are several models of machines, but what are the sizes of these?

2) What is set up time like. We get many orders with the same person's name with 2-3 dozen, but we also get a lot of 1-2 bat orders. So would I need to type into some software each bat that I want to engrave?

3) I would need to fill some bats with white/silver/black, I think this is possible, but is it time comsuming?

I have seen some video's on different sites where people are lasering bats. If this would be useful to post the link so you can possibly tell what type/brand/size of machine they are using I could do that.

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Robison]

You'd need to find a laser that has a pass through or a very big table. Even a 25watt would be enough wattage for wood. Where on the bat are you engraving? How far from what end?

[Rodne Gold]

Is it worth whiile spending like $15k+ to offer this service? Thats apart from the expenses of actually hiring someone or taking the time to do this?
Why not farm it out ?

[Mike Mackenzie]

Jared,

You should contact Rawlings and or Louisville slugger, They all use the ULS x660 systems. They have these systems in virtually every ballpark in the U.S. they personalize the bats, balls and gloves during the games.

[Scott Shepherd]

When we were shopping for lasers, one thing we had come up with was to lazer engrave the anodized aluminum bats for kids. The bats can run $400 these days, and last thing you want is someone walking off with your kids $400 bat. We thought it would be a great idea.

Then we were informed that the bat manufacturers said doing it would void the warranty on the aluminum bats. It made us reconsider the size machine we did buy. We probably could have pushed it a little, but in the end, we thought it wasn't worth the gamble.

Most kids around here never use wood, so we didn't consider the wood bats.

[Brian Robison]

I guess that shows how old I am. I forgot bats today are made from aluminum!

Scott, void the warranty? Just goes to show you some folks are little crazy.

Jared, where are you located? Are they wood or aluminum?

[Joe Pelonio]

I guess that shows how old I am. I forgot bats today are made from aluminum!

Scott, void the warranty? Just goes to show you some folks are little crazy.

Any excuse to void a warranty on an item with as much liability as an aluminum bat.

Like engraving a few words would weaken it!

[James Stokes]

I engraved a baseball bat yesterday. I used an epilog Legend 32. It is to short to use the rotary drive for it. All I could do was engrave the top. I did not color fill it but in the past I have color filled them. Unless you put a sealer on the engraving first they bleed paint very bad.

[Jared Greenberg]

So would a ULS machine be my best option. Is there a less expensive machine. It would only be used for this type of application.

Are there any dealers in Canada?

Also it is easy to color fill?

[Larry Bratton]

How long is a baseball bat? Do they vary in length? I saw some bats not long ago that had a design etc routed on them for an award. That work was done on a CNC router. I was thinking it would take more than a 36" table to do one but James stated he did one on his Legend 32.

[Jared Greenberg]

I would just be engraving on the barrel of the bat. With the model #, player's name. 3 Lines of engraving, 3" long x 2" in height.

[Nancy Laird]

In the Delta/PC/DW/B&D booth at AWFS, Rawlins had a ULS laser putting names and other info on miniatures and on full-sized bats (I know, I bought three of them!!). I don't know what laser they were using, but it was large enough for the full-sized - 36"? - bats to go into. I know I would not be able to put that size bat into either of my lasers with their 24" beds, not even diagonally. That said, they were lasering three lines on each bat, in an area about the size you mentioned, and had made a cradle for the bats to sit in to keep them perfectly horizontal. They were selling the lasered bats for $40 each; whether that was a show come-on price or not, I don't know (the miniatures were $25 or $30). The lasering on their bats was, IIRC, color-filled, but I wouldn't swear to it. They are already in the hands of the giftees, so I can't even look to find out.

If this is the only application you have for a laser, DON'T. For the size you need, you are looking at (1) a LARGE chunk of change to purchase the laser ($25K and up); (2) a large chunk of change to purchase the dedicated computer to run the laser; (3) a large chunk of change to purchase CorelDraw or Adobe to do the art; (4) a very steep learning curve learning to do the art on the computer (unless you have a familiarity with graphics programs); and (5) more $$$ for all of the other little things that are involved in getting into the laser business. Your profile doesn't state where you are, but you should probably check the thread at the top of this forum and find out if there is an engraver in your area and talk face-to-face to him/her and get some more guidance.

Unless you have a lot of $$$ to spend and not a lot to spend it on, buying a laser for just this one application is, in my opinion, foolhardy. On the other hand, if you buy the laser and the computer and CorelDraw, etc., you will soon find a LOT of other applications for it and you could conceivably pay the purchase price off in 18-24 months, depending on where you are and how much business you could bring in.

Nancy (120 days)

[Brian Robison]

Where do you get wood baseball bats with nothing on them?

[Mike Mackenzie]

Rawlings and Louisville slugger use a top secrete paint to fill the bats with. I have tried several times to find out what and who it came from but they would not tell me.

When we set-up the stadiums they would have this paint in a Tupperware container so I could never find out who made it or where it came from.

Both these companies use the X model which will allow the bat to be placed inside the unit.

[Nancy Laird]

Where do you get wood baseball bats with nothing on them?

Have one of the master turners here at SMC turn them for you???

NO!!! Not me!!!!

Nancy (120 days)