Inexpensive laser etch machine recommendation for album cover etching
Posted by sjenerik
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Inexpensive laser etch machine recommendation for album cover etching July 13, 2015 06:02PM |
Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 1 |
I am a musician and artist. For past projects I have hired someone at my local Makerspace to etch limited edition releases.
I would like to do a series of vinyl releases of 500 copies with etched cardboard covers. Given the number, it seems more cost effective to do the etching myself, if an inexpensive machine will work.
Though I am quite mechanically inclined, I know virtually nothing about laser machines. Also I am not interested in a kit or a massive learning curve. Though I have been a process junky in the past, I have too many DIY aspects of the projects to deal with to have to spend a lot of time messing with the machine. Plug and play is a must.
Primary material: Cardstock/paper. Bonus if it can etch wood, but not a deal breaker if not. Cutting all the way through the paper (like a die cut) would be great if that's an option as well.
Size of Material: 31x31cm - 12.25"x12.25"
Size of engraved area: Can be smaller as I'm doing just the name and logo in a standard format for all releases.
Needs to be Mac compatible
I found these, but have no idea what the difference is for the color of the lasers. The cutting area is small, but it seems that I could put the album covers under the machine. Do you feel that this would work? What is the difference in the 200mw, 300mw, 500mw, 1500mw and the laser color?
[alexnld.com]
Any recommendation of specific machines would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
A couple of past projects:
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
I would like to do a series of vinyl releases of 500 copies with etched cardboard covers. Given the number, it seems more cost effective to do the etching myself, if an inexpensive machine will work.
Though I am quite mechanically inclined, I know virtually nothing about laser machines. Also I am not interested in a kit or a massive learning curve. Though I have been a process junky in the past, I have too many DIY aspects of the projects to deal with to have to spend a lot of time messing with the machine. Plug and play is a must.
Primary material: Cardstock/paper. Bonus if it can etch wood, but not a deal breaker if not. Cutting all the way through the paper (like a die cut) would be great if that's an option as well.
Size of Material: 31x31cm - 12.25"x12.25"
Size of engraved area: Can be smaller as I'm doing just the name and logo in a standard format for all releases.
Needs to be Mac compatible
I found these, but have no idea what the difference is for the color of the lasers. The cutting area is small, but it seems that I could put the album covers under the machine. Do you feel that this would work? What is the difference in the 200mw, 300mw, 500mw, 1500mw and the laser color?
[alexnld.com]
Any recommendation of specific machines would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
A couple of past projects:
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
[scotjenerik.bandcamp.com]
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Re: Inexpensive laser etch machine recommendation for album cover etching July 15, 2015 03:42AM |
Registered: 8 years ago Posts: 14 |
Recommend this laser B2B marketplace for you : http://en.ofweek.com/manufacturer/laser-etching ,you can find more laser etching mahcine
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Re: Inexpensive laser etch machine recommendation for album cover etching August 23, 2015 02:13PM |
Registered: 9 years ago Posts: 58 |
ignore lasercn spam, but do buy a CO2 laser engraver. Diode lasers have too little output to get any speed out of.
Reasonable machines can be had for about 2500-3000 USD with a bed around 30x50 cm. Smaller bedsize is cheaper, but also less quality. The software with these machines (usually lasercut5.3) is horrible, but you can survive it for only 500 pieces. It will not be quick though! expect around 1 hour per piece, depending on settings and resolution. It may be quicker to have a stencil made and burn your image with a gas burner.
Cardboard produces a lot of smoke, so good ventilation/smoke exhaust is a must. It does not smell terrible, but at least sticking the hose outside is a very good thing.
Reasonable machines can be had for about 2500-3000 USD with a bed around 30x50 cm. Smaller bedsize is cheaper, but also less quality. The software with these machines (usually lasercut5.3) is horrible, but you can survive it for only 500 pieces. It will not be quick though! expect around 1 hour per piece, depending on settings and resolution. It may be quicker to have a stencil made and burn your image with a gas burner.
Cardboard produces a lot of smoke, so good ventilation/smoke exhaust is a must. It does not smell terrible, but at least sticking the hose outside is a very good thing.
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