Thinking about engraving turned pens. Any suggestions that are US based. Thanks for any suggestions.
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Engraver for pens
- Thread starter Rodney Quesenberry
- Start date
Probably not what you're thinking of, but the Beall Pen Wizard is USA made and guaranteed to make your pens unique.
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- Jan 27, 2005
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- pbase.com
It looks like a miniature version of the Sears Router Crafter.
There are 2 types of laser engravers (reasonably priced) that folks have made adapters for to engrave round objects like pens. Small NEJE cube type laser (I believe the person who makes the one for this type is out of Australia perhaps and EleksLaser-A3 Pro laser engraver and Peter Fabricius (Canada) makes the circular turning device for engraving pens (circular parts). I use this one with one of my engravers and it works perfectly.
Brian Horais
In Memoriam
Rodney, I use my Sainsmart 3018 CNC unit with a laser head to do my laser engraving. The entire unit, with laser, cost less than a few good woodturning tools ($350) and I also use it for CNC cutting and laser cutting. I used a dowel to get the settings correct before engraving 75 pens with our woodturning club's website. These pens were distributed last year in the pens for troops activity sponsored by Woodcraft. You can see the setup I made for laser engraving the pens and some of the finished products. This works well for pens that don't have that much change in depth, but larger curved surfaces requires a different setup. Hope this information helps. Brian
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Thanks. I will check it out.
Sounds like a lot of performance for very little money. Can you tell us more? What thickness wood or acrylic can you cut? Is this sold as a kit?
For under $400 you can buy a 40 Watt unit that will do a lot right out of the box. I have done some upgrades and I can do much more than right out of the box. The EleksLaser-A3 Pro laser engraver uses a diode laser and is shown with Peter Fabrisuis' jig for burning round objects. The CNC (similar to the 2 -in- 1 CNC 3018 sold on Amazon) cuts and I got a 9 watt diode laser for it (unfortunately I have not had time to play with it yet as I want to make a touch plate for it). This like woodturning has so many more things than what you might think that can make it better but it is great that you can get started with lasers and CNC for just a few bucks instead of thousands. If you are interested in cutting with a laser jump right to the 40 Watt laser.
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Bill, Looks like the piece to be engraved is between centers (Eleks), and the piece is rotating because the jig is captured by a spring loaded belt. The piece moves with the laser "arm" (X axis?). Genius.
Brian Horais
In Memoriam
I agree with Bill that more power is better. I have been making intricate cuts on thin basswood with my 5.5 watt laser on the 3018 machine. The 3018 also serves very well as a detailed carving machine and 3D engraving machine on wood and other materials. You have to decide on what all you are trying to do and how much you want to spend. Here's some images of the basswood laser cutouts I have made with my setup and a finished product.
