Laser etching - advice for beginner, please!

[MrTig]

I do a fair amount of wood turning and frequently customise larger items with some surface carving. However, I'm increasingly asked to personalise items with text in small sizes - 5mm to 10mm, say. My letter carving skills don't go down that far I'm afraid, so I think laser etching is the way to go.

As s beginner in this area, I find the number of available machines - and the lack of unbiased supporting information - rather unhelpful.

I'd need to etch up to say 150mm x 100mm, but if I could also customise a circular piece of approx 400mm diameter (eg numerals on a clock face) that would be great.

The speed of operation would not be important, and it would be used in a closed workshop with security locks that would prevent access while the laser was in use. Maximum etch width and depth would be 2mm x 1mm, and I'd typically be using wood such as sycamore, yew, oak or cherry.

Could anyone please offer a recommendation for a model or make costing up to, say, £500?

Thanks in advance,
Brian

 

[Sachakins]

Have a look at theseguys, good honest reviews of a range of lasers.



And

 

[BravoNovember]

I use an atomstack, I can’t remember the model right now, but they all seem to work the same. For turned bits and pieces you can get a rotator so that you can engrave on the curved surface. Works a treat.

 

[MrTig]

Thanks for the Atomstack recommendation. I've had a quick look and most of the ones in my price range are out of stock at the moment. I'll keep looking though!

 

[MrTig]

Thanks - it's great to be led to a non-US review site that speaks a language I can understand. I'll be spending done time going through the various videos today.

 

[Sachakins]

I have the Creality Falcon 2 22w machine, it a great laser engraved, but the 22w is above your budget, but they are available in 10w too.

Do you have an idea of what materials you'll focus on?

It's just that I've moved into acrylics. But using clear acrylic and clear glass is a real faff.
Diode lasers won't cut or etch clear materials directly, so you need to pre prepare by painting or etching through onto a substrate that allows the laser to focus. I can get good results but it's a pain to prep, especially if you use some of the painted techniques.

If I get into acrylics more, I'll probably invest in a CO2 laser, which do cut and engrave clear materials as I understand it.

The only CO2 in your price range is the K40 type, which I was going to get for the small clear stuff.
However they are not compatible with the Lightburn software I purchased, as they don't run GRBL based controller boards.

The only one K40 that will is the Monport, that has Grbl controller. They are about $550, but Monport won't to ship to UK.

It's a shame, as both my cnc router and laser run grbl, which I'm getting to grips with now.

My best tip would be look for a strong and rigid frame design. Aim for at least 10w optical output power if going for diode lasers and be cautious of the advertising, a lot are using total powers, and advertise as 40w lasers, but that's input power and they are only 5w optical power.

Don't think there's a CO2 laser that will give upto 400mm cut diameter under £1500-£2000 though.

Best of luck

 

[MrTig]

I have the Creality Falcon 2 22w machine, it a great laser engraved, but the 22w is above your budget, but they are available in 10w too.

Do you have an idea of what materials you'll focus on?

It's just that I've moved into acrylics. But using clear acrylic and clear glass is a real faff.
Diode lasers won't cut or etch clear materials directly, so you need to pre prepare by painting or etching through onto a substrate that allows the laser to focus. I can get good results but it's a pain to prep, especially if you use some of the painted techniques.

If I get into acrylics more, I'll probably invest in a CO2 laser, which do cut and engrave clear materials as I understand it.

The only CO2 in your price range is the K40 type, which I was going to get for the small clear stuff.
However they are not compatible with the Lightburn software I purchased, as they don't run GRBL based controller boards.

The only one K40 that will is the Monport, that has Grbl controller. They are about $550, but Monport won't to ship to UK.

It's a shame, as both my cnc router and laser run grbl, which I'm getting to grips with now.

My best tip would be look for a strong and rigid frame design. Aim for at least 10w optical output power if going for diode lasers and be cautious of the advertising, a lot are using total powers, and advertise as 40w lasers, but that's input power and they are only 5w optical power.

Don't think there's a CO2 laser that will give upto 400mm cut diameter under £1500-£2000 though.

Best of luck

Thanks for the helpful info. I'll just be etching onto wood so a lower powered diode laser should be fine for me.
Brian

 

[Chief Sawdust Maker]

I use an Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro with Lightburn Software. Its a real workhorse, I mainly engrave oak with some beech ash sycamore and pine.
Different woods engrave better than others and some will not engrave with a finish on them

More recent Ortur's can be linked wirelessly however mine needs to be USB'd to the laptop

I have mine in the Ortur steel enclosure with an extract system and have made a range of fixtures for repetitive work. I have just finished an order for 1300 signs around the size of a credit card the machine done 10 hour days for over a week.
Its not the best at cutting if i wanted to do more cutting i would go down the co2 route, if this machine broke i would replace with another Ortur

Happy to help more

D