Laser engraving question

[8shot]

It's raining and I'm bored

Any suggestions for a laser engraver to do some odds and ends on handgun parts i.e. barrels, cylinder (sides).

Have zero experience with them and have questions about wattage, co2 etc.

Maybe someone has one and can recommend a compact unit that does a decent job and not break the bank?

Thanks

 

[jframejoey]

Smith used to offer basic Ala cart engraving back in the day, I.e. late 90s early 2000s, not sure if the still do. It’s was simple stuff not full blown class A coverage.

 

[jframejoey]

https://www.smith-wesson.com/customer-service/engraving-services

 

[NewLiberty]

In order to do engraving on a metal, you are going to need a fiber laser. 30W is about the bare minimum, 50W would be better. There is a pretty steep learning curve on the design/software end.

CO2 is better for wood, plastics, ceramic, etc...

 

[colt_saa]

Do not buy anything less than a 50 watt fiber laser, if you can afford a 100 watt you would be much better off

While a 30 watt might do what you want to do the time to remove the metal will be significantly increased

If you go this route expect a set aside about the space that a desk takes up and expect to spend a good chunk of change

Last year I designed a Challenge Coin for my Office and then produced them on my 50 watt fiber laser.

While our company has its own challenge coin, the coin that I designed is for our office only. We have more than 104 offices and we are the only one Office with our own coin. The guys think that's pretty cool

​

The ADT side of the coin is done in relief and is very deep. It took 350 passes. I usually run my laser at 80%

 

[8shot]

Do not buy anything less than a 50 watt fiber laser, if you can afford a 100 watt you would be much better off

While a 30 watt might do what you want to do the time to remove the metal will be significantly increased

If you go this route expect a set aside about the space that a desk takes up and expect to spend a good chunk of change

Last year I designed a Challenge Coin for my Office and then produced them on my 50 watt fiber laser.

While our company has its own challenge coin, the coin that I designed is for our office only. We have more than 104 offices and we are the only one Office with our own coin.

The ADT side of the coin is done in relief and is very deep. It took 350 passes. I usually run my laser at 80%

Very nice and good info. I noticed the Laser vendors don't mention software. I assume you must supply your own software, if so, are there any decent freeware's to get started?

 

[colt_saa]

Very nice and good info. I noticed the Laser vendors don't mention software. I assume you must supply your own software, if so, are there any decent freeware's to get started?

It all depends on if your laser is a complete package including a computer or if they're just providing you the laser

Mine was a complete package and came with EZcad2 already installed. This software works very well for creating images like the coin I just showed you, but if you are looking to get more of a sculpted 3D kind of look then you have to use Light Burn which requires more file prep