I’m starting a new business with this laser. I’m thinking of selling laser crafts at a flea market and also on the spot engraving. Can someone point me in the right direction as to how for instance, if someone comes to my booth with a bracelet (made of some type of metal) I can put on the laser bed and have the laser to start in a certain area and engrave it. My laser is a class 1 with a camera, air assist, exhaust fan
If your laser is a diode laser, you will not be able to do this. I think only the fiber lasers ($$$$) can do the job. The only metal typically marked with diodes is stainless steel.
On-site engraving in public makes an enclosure mandatory.
Assuming the laser is the “Mecpow X4 PRO 22W” in your profile, it won’t do anything to a metal bracelet without a marking spray, which will be rather expensive for one-at-a-time small items where most of the spray lands around the engraving area.
You must mask off the area outside of the engraving to keep the spray out of the links / buckles / leather / whatever. Removing the spray requires a generous supply of water and rags.
Also, plan on a long extension cord / generator / power pack with enough capacity for a day’s worth of laser action. This discussion covers some of the possibilities:
If all the bracelets are the same, you can use a fixture. If they’re different, then each one requires careful location and alignment. Perhaps you can make a fixture with slots for the most common shapes.
That might be a good reason to set up a personalized bracelet shop, rather than trying to deal with whatever oddball stuff shows up.
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You can get IR diodes now. I personally have the 2W IR from both XTool for my D1 Pro and the 2W IR from Snapmaker. I’ve engraved all sorts of metals with them so far.
And even cut foil
For mobility, I would suggest the XTool D1 Pro + IR module + enclosure. It’s an open frame 400x400 laser, and the enclosure folds up for easy carrying. Get some form of inverter battery setup and you should be good to go. I’ll check the input of my XTool PSU to find the wattage requirements.
For ease of placement, you’d want some form of board under it and setup a repeatable origin, which is easy enough. You can even quickly engrave a lineup section on your backing board, you can see the grid on mine here;
I also have 3d printed hard stops for alignment as well.
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yes it is diode and enclosure. I guess wood engraving is in my future then
and thks for the reply
thks for the reply
yes I was going to buy one but being my first I didn’t want to dive in too deep. As far as power goes I do have a power station with a 600 watt pure sign wave inverter that shoud do it. My laser says 24dc on the front
no I’m thinking xtool f1 ultra was what it was
is yours an open frame
does anyone think, I could buy an IR laser too fit on my X4
can you get Marking spray in a brush on
Another important consideration for craft shows: If you’re using a laser to engrave wood indoors, make sure you have proper ventilation to manage the smoke.
Even if you’re outdoors, having a filter is advisable, as the smell of smoke could be bothersome to some attendees.
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yes I’ve considered both scenarios
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For on-the-spot engraving, you’ll want to use the camera feature to help with alignment. First, make sure your laser is calibrated properly. Then, when a customer brings a bracelet, you can position it on the bed and use the camera to frame the area you want to engrave. You can create a design in your software and then adjust the settings for the material type. Just remember to do a test run on a similar piece if possible, to ensure the settings are right.
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If you are thinking of engraving at craft shows you will need a “FUME EXTRACTOR” for yours and others safety.
thanks for the reply. Have you done this
Love this idea! For engraving bracelets, the camera will make lining everything up so much easier. I’d say practice on a few scrap pieces to get a feel for the alignment, and maybe mark some reference points on the laser surface—it’ll save you a ton of hassle when things get busy at the market!
All of the fume, material, and safety issues aside, I think could be a recipe for disaster, Ken.
What if you screw up the engraving with a spelling error, alignment error, power glitch, etc? Then you’ll be on the hook for a new bracelet of equal value and type. It doesn’t seem like a good thing to do on the fly laser engraving of random personal items at a craft fair.
Engraving of a select type of item that you sell, have fixtures for, and spares of is a better way to go.
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you know, you bring up some good points. But wouldn’t a sign saying youre not responsible for these issues be suffice
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