Messages

Madbeans- I'm starting to think you may be correct.  Sounds like I need to change my $500-$1000 budget to a more realistic $2000-$3000 budget.  Any particular fiber lasers in mind? I'd only be using it to etch/engrave aluminum enclosures either powder coat, paint or bare aluminum.

Thanks!

Thank you kindly for your responses.  The main goal would be to precisely burn away the powder coating on the enclosure so as to add the name of controls to each knob/switch etc. (most important) and a plus would be able to add art/graphics to the enclosure via burning the powder coat away with the laser.  Sounds like CNC would be more costly for maintenance and such and perhaps require a bit more work to secure everything in place for a proper engraving. 

The end result would have look "professional" and I'm just not sure which models and price range I should look for.  Here's a link to a quick video showing what I'm after.  I'm assuming (especially by the speed in which the task is completed) that this was probably an expensive commercial engraver.  Would I be able to achieve the same end result with maybe more time with a laser engraver in the $500-$1000 range? 

https://youtube.com/shorts/CSvjiYmIBco?feature=share

Thanks again for your help, I really do appreciate it!

I'd like to start engraving controls and graphics onto powder coated aluminum enclosures and I'm not sure what the best route would be to suit my needs.  I build a lot of pedals and have been using a brother ptouch for labels, but would like to graduate to engraving.  I'd prefer to spend no more than $1k (preferably close to $500) on a machine, but I'm not sure what would be the best option.  Should I go CNC machine or laser engraver? Are there any models in particular that are better for this use?

I just want a clean finish that looks great and I'm hoping to achieve that within my budget.  Maybe I can't, but I figured I'd ask.

Hope everyone is doing well.