Thinking of buying a laser engraver...

Bill DeShivs

Bill DeShivs

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Messages
12,767
The good ones are very expensive.
I need ideas to make $$$ with it. Think of it as a waterjet for handle materials. It will both cut and engrave, unlike waterjet.
Also unlike waterjet, it won't engrave or cut metal- but it will mark anodized aluminum.
It will cut wood, fiberglas, Delrin, Micarta, plastics-most soft materials. It will also engrave them, plus glass, marble, tile, granite, and others with incredible photographic detail. It will literally engrave hi-res pictures on stone.

Other than the usual plaques, trophys, etc., I'm looking for ideas in knifemaking.
 
I've seen demos of those- nice.
Go big enough to engrave stainless

It would be nice to find customers that want 50 or 100 or more done at a time.


Non knifemaking
Get the wine bottle pivot & do custom wine bottle wedding labels - a nice keepsake
Your pricing can be competitive with paper labels & much more lasting & neato
2 $ per bottle would cover your costs in 2,000 bottles - maybe 10 weddings ?.
Partner up with the bottle your own wine outfits & offer them a $ of action...
Leave some samples there they can see...


contact local businesses and see if they need things
connect with locksmiths - do nice keytags with their logos on or such


security marking of business valuables - small stealth or normal ID


Find gunsmiths that do barrelling - you can engrave the calibre on the barrel perfectly and not risk bad stamping.
& no possible loss of accuracy with out of round barrel - hit the benchrest crowd, once it's fashionable, they will all do it.

and people are engraving all kinds of stupid crap on their guns now- offer it as a service
(just take in parts like slides - no receivers & avoid all that ATF stuff)

a duck hunters favourite dog on his stock, or shotgun somewhere?

http://abesauer.com/__oneclick_uploads/2010/09/smile-gun-engraving.png
Don't forget paintball kids.



Knifemaking
Logos - are fantastic.

Custom marking of things - like they do with zippo lighters & knives of limited runs
(like when ducks unlimited puts a logo & limited # on a run & peddles it off.)

If you had any military or police contacts that wanted stuff with their unit logo on for everybody...
that kind of thing has promise.

Shipping kind of limits that sort of thing it drives up costs compared to local businesses
(which makes the wine bottle thing work for you - if you are local)
Small items are better - lighters - folders - shot glasses - dogtags - unit coin -

Kydex sheath logos - simple to do on a separate piece that gets overlayed on the actual sheath.


Contact those who are doing big runs of blades & do the handle scale profiles
It would save lots of bandsaw & grinding work.
Laser beats waterjet for no delamination ???

The downside with the small units - small material size really kills your ability to nest efficiently compared to 4x8' sheets.




I guess it depends on who you like to talk to...this could go on forever.
 
Last edited:
The machines that engrave steel start at 40 grand. I'm not THAT interested in them! The laser I'm looking at starts around $8000, and will do items 12" X 16". I already have a couple of pantograph engravers for doing metal, and I also hand engrave. I also have a Taig CNC mill (that I have to learn to use!) for engraving/cutting metal.
I don't want to be an "engraving shop," doing wedding stuff, plaques, trophys and things like that. Those shops are everywhere. I am basically involved in the cutlery business (and jewelry and guns, to a lesser extent) and I want to come up with uses for this machine to that end. Things like names on synthetic handles, cutting sheath patterns out of Kydex or leather, etc. Maybe makers' logos and a signature knife picture on granite for knife show tables, custom engraved makers' giveaway items.....
 
Last edited:
When my old friends retired from their jewelry and engraving business, they had two laser engravers. They sold one for $2K and were giving me the other one as a thank you for the many years I did their work, and for helping them close the business. At last minute, they decided to take it with them and "play" with it in retirement doing craft stuff. They gave me a lot of other stuff, and a really neat blast engraver ( sort of like a focused bead blaster), but I would have bought the one they sold if I knew thew were not giving me the other one....anyway.

Lasers are superb for putting checkering, names, and artwork on a handle. Once the artwork is loaded into the computer, the laser takes only minutes to do the job. Filled with colored ink or stain, and hand buffed, it looks like 100 hours of scrimshaw. You can put nearly anything on a handle.

All that said, you have to decide if the cost is worth the return. If the laser costs $8K and you raise the price of a knife $50 because of the laser engraved handle, it will take 160 knife sales to break even....not counting the operating and maintenance costs of the laser ( which aren't cheap). So if you do one custom knife a week, for three years...you will still not have made a dime.
You could make the laser pay by doing other work with it, but then you wouldn't be making any knives.
 
Can it do 3-d imaging in glass cubes ? If so there is a market right there for portraits , objects etc. I've seen them in malls , that do portraits and things like dolphins etc. Also if you set it on the lowest setting you can give yourself scarring tattoo's just a thought.
 
I have seen scales for straight razors done with these machines and they looked really classy. I am also thinking aftermarket folder scales for various knives. If it will cut carbon fiber up to .070" look into chassis for R/C cars etc. Also wooden plane kits. I am sure there are other things you could do.


-Xander
 
Down here in San Antonio, TX, we have a city code that covers laser operation. I found this out at the place I use to engrave my wood projects.

There are two stages of licensing, and they cover the wattage of laser you buy. Both come with different (but similar) requirement for lawful operation. They include fire protection equipment (yes, my guys sets stuff on fire on rare occasion), a booth in which to operate the laser, and exhaust system to remove all fumes from cutting, and a couple of other things.

I was thinking about buying a X,Y lower power laser to engrave wood for the guys in our woodworking club that actually made a living at it. I then needed to budget for a dedicated computer as well as purchasing the correct software to run the laser. I was planning to do jewelry boxes ($25 for the lid) pens (two lines, $10), keepsakes, etc. for all of us and maybe a bit more. By the time I got it all together and had all the stuff priced out to meet our local code restrictions, I was looking at about $12,000 (minimum)to get started.

Plus, the Fire Marshall told me they were illegal to use in a residential location, so I would have had to find some warehouse space somewhere, just like the guy I use now.

10K isn't if you are starting any type of business, but a little stiff if it is a part time side business.

I found I was FAR better off to just take my stuff to my usual guy.

Your mileage may vary.

Robert
 
Stacy-
I really don't make many knives. 70% of my business is repair and restoration of antique knives. Business is good. I can't think of anything to use the laser for that.
I really want the machine to experiment with. I'm sure I could pick up quite a bit of generic work to help pay for it. I just really want to find THE "knife niche" for the machine. I know I can do layouts on painted steel, or cut acrylic patterns in various sizes, etc.
Also, my wife could operate it for the more generic stuff.
Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top