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Post by jennifer on Nov 6, 2016 7:30:46 GMT
Any good deals on a laser engraver? I'd like to etch dice blank dice (to be filled in with paint after). Also would be nice to etch blank tokens/chips etc..
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Post by jennifer on Nov 6, 2016 7:37:45 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 14:38:31 GMT
it says it's 1000 wats, and the description states "Suitable for Carving Seals , PCB , Ivory , Bubinga , Hard Wood , Plastic , Bamboo , Rubber , Leather , Paper ect. Can't engrave any kind of Metal / Aluminum / Acrylic / Glass" I would say it can etch plastic dice. thats a nice machine for $199
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Post by Meph on Nov 6, 2016 14:56:53 GMT
Keep scale in mind. That picture makes it look bigger than it is. You engraving area is 38mmx38mm which is 1.49 inches. It will work fine for engraving dice but you will be very limited on what else you can do with that size. If all you plan to do is small items like that, then that looks like a decent price.
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Post by Meph on Nov 6, 2016 14:58:55 GMT
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Post by Meph on Nov 6, 2016 15:04:33 GMT
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Post by jennifer on Nov 6, 2016 15:49:24 GMT
I like the idea of the small one so I can take it outside easily, to avoid the fumes. Was thinking I would connect to the laptop .
looking at that one for $100, I see it's just made out of two DVD drive internals. There is a project for this that you can print on thingiverse.com. But that's too much work I would just buy this one.
It doesn't engrave dice very deeply to fill with paint. But leaves visible Etching. So I guess it would be good for white dice. Or wooden dice.
I wouldn't mind a laser cutter/engraver. So I can make all those wooden projects on thingiverse.com. But I don't know where I would station it, Or how I'd ventilate it.
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Post by fantascientist on Nov 6, 2016 16:32:52 GMT
Just tape a laser to your 3d printer? 1000 milliwatt A 1000 watt laser wouldn't leave much behind of your dice, haha.
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Post by jennifer on Nov 6, 2016 17:17:44 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 20:08:51 GMT
Just tape a laser to your 3d printer? 1000 milliwatt A 1000 watt laser wouldn't leave much behind of your dice, haha. LOL you're absolutely right,
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Post by jennifer on Nov 7, 2016 1:50:20 GMT
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sotf
Advice Guru
Posts: 1,084
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Post by sotf on Nov 7, 2016 2:22:56 GMT
One thing you may consider is waiting a bit to get a better one, something like the Glowforge is easy to use and keep going...
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Post by jennifer on Nov 7, 2016 2:28:06 GMT
BEtter than what? The one I just linked? Anyways, here is a video review of the one I just linked.
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Post by sgtslag on Nov 7, 2016 5:20:46 GMT
I had the opportunity to use a much larger version of this item, back in 2000. It was an industrial model, capable of cutting/engraving much larger items. That unit cost over $10,000! This is quite amazing to see something this powerful, for so very little money.
On an aside, have you checked into the pricing for the gas bottles to run it? Make certain you know the full cost before you purchase the laser unit.
With regards to the fumes, there are activated charcoal filters available. It is relatively simple to assemble an exhaust fan to pump the fumes through a charcoal filter. Cheers!
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sotf
Advice Guru
Posts: 1,084
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Post by sotf on Nov 7, 2016 6:45:03 GMT
BEtter than what? The one I just linked? Anyways, here is a video review of the one I just linked. The big thing with a lot of the ones like that is that they are set up for "professional" use rather than personal. They tend to be designed for someone who already has a lot of experience with them. You need to do a lot more work to clean and maintain them which is far more tedious since it's set up to be for someone who really knows what they're doing already. Things like the glowforge and similar, are essentially designed for someone who doesn't already know how to use them and designed to be easy to work with. Can't remember which video it was, but on Tested, Adam Savage goes through the problems most laser cutters/engravers have and all the crap he has to do to keep his working well. From dust issues and the added cost of cleaning dust off laser lenses which is difficult to do without accidentally wrecking the lasers lenses in the process.
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Post by jennifer on Nov 7, 2016 21:10:26 GMT
I ordered this one, thanks for the link Meph. I like that it is Prime, so if I don't like it I can return it for full refund with no hassles. I like that it is small, and doesn't use expensive laser tubes. I can just take it outside to engrave plugging it into the laptop -- to avoid the fumes. I can't think of anything else I want to engrave right now besides dice and tokens/chips. So I'll give this a go. (I am kind of into board gaming and custom stuff and print & play -- as well as DnD/Wargaming.) I can burn 4 dice at a time or 1 good sized chip.
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Post by fantascientist on Nov 8, 2016 15:17:41 GMT
I'm curious.. how do you make sure whatever you engrave is positioned correctly? Seems tricky, especially when you want to engrave multiple dice at once.
Also could you engrave something on a 3D printed object sometime? Curious to see how that will turn out.
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Post by jennifer on Nov 9, 2016 2:46:31 GMT
I'm curious.. how do you make sure whatever you engrave is positioned correctly? Seems tricky, especially when you want to engrave multiple dice at once. Also could you engrave something on a 3D printed object sometime? Curious to see how that will turn out. It shows you a preview of the area to be engraved by drawing a square over and over with much lower amount of light. You can move the box around on the object with the software as it does it. It keeps drawing a rectangle and you keep repositioning it. However, I am going to design a jig in OpenSCAD for engraving 4 standard dice and print it out on 3D printer. It will be almost a friction fit to the base of the engraver and almost a friction fit sliding the 4 dice in. That way everytime the dice will be in the correct spot without the hassle of doing that preview every time. I don't yet have the device yet, but I am already imagining what I am going to do once I get it
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Post by jennifer on Nov 10, 2016 20:28:09 GMT
Ordered this one as mentioned before. It came in the mail today. Going to return it for a couple reasons. One there is a big circluar bump in the middle of the bed (nothing can sit level on that bed). Also, the bed is hot glued to the dvd drive mechanism and it isn't level.
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Post by jennifer on Nov 25, 2016 17:07:28 GMT
Well I have to return this laser engraver. It's not working correctly anymore. I have read lots of others have experienced problems with these failing in short order. Guess I am going to have to wait until these become more stable and popular. Gettng a good one (perhaps more powerful) at a later date.
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