Laser Engraving

[Cagey]

Does anybody know of a place that will do laser engraving in wood? Not just marking/burning it, I'm talking about something where the cut is deep enough to to either look good on its own, or be able to take a filler. Like a 3D thing. I've seen it on trophys and such and there are a lot of places around here that will do that. But, nobody I've talked to has a machine that can mount something as long as a neck. At least, not as a one-off. I want to put a logo on a headstock, so...

Maybe I'll have to do an inlay, but it seems like the laser thing would be faster/easier/cheaper. Maybe not; I haven't priced inlays. But, I want a nice script thing, which has got to be labor-intensive. Seems like a laser machine would have a computer interface where you just enter in what you want, mount the target, and go have a beer and a cigarette while it does all the work.

Any suggestions?

 

[stratamania]

I have a bookmark for a place in London that I found that maybe could do this. When I am next on my PC I will post the link.

 

[Fat Pete]

These guys are London based and specify a 'bed size' that is much bigger than a guitar neck. Probably not much help to you, but if they can do it, somebody in the US can do it...

 

[Cagey]

I'm in the US, so offshore solutions probably aren't going to work. It's just a bit of engraving, shouldn't cost that much, so I don't want to throw $100+ into round-trip shipping.

I appreciate the effort, though.

 

[bagman67]

Cagey, if you're up to the drive, the Techshop location in Allen Park just southwest of Dearborn has three laser engravers.  You could take the class and learn to do it yourself.


http://techshop.ws/ts_detroit.html



Techshop had a deal for vets if you are one - free one year memebership and $350 worth of classes.  Not sure if it's still in effect, but worthwhile to investigate.

 

[Cagey]

That's quite a trek from here. Plus, I'd sorta hafta go through Detroit and I don't have my concealed carry permit yet, nor is my hand grenade supply as large as I'd like it to be.

But, you bring up an interesting idea. The local community college here offers a lot of vocational-type courses, and their shops are incredibly well-equipped. I could probably sign up for a course and have free run of some pretty sophisticated tools. Buddy of mine took a metallurgy class there a few years ago, and it was amazing what kind of capabilities they had.

Not a long-term solution, though.

Still, it might be fun, I'd get what I want done, and perhaps with a bit of networking find out where that sort of thing is done commercially.

 

[stubhead]

Cagey, if you're up to the drive, the Techshop location in Allen Park just southwest of Dearborn has three laser engravers.  You could take the class and learn to do it yourself.
http://techshop.ws/ts_detroit.html
Techshop had a deal for vets if you are one - free one year memebership and $350 worth of classes.  Not sure if it's still in effect, but worthwhile to investigate.

Get somebody to pay the tuition for you under the auspices of job re-training. It matters not a whit what desolate moonscape Detroit ends up as*, there's always some do-gooder looking to throw money around. Guitar headstocks? Of course they're good.

*(but Detroit's fauna may be quite a stretch mo' evil than the moon's. )

 

[bagman67]

Try your local trophy shops.


http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=trophy+store&find_loc=clinton+township%2C+mi&ns=1&ls=ebc505954dd3d77c#find_desc=trophy+engraving

 

[bagman67]

Maybe these guys, near you as far as I can tell:


http://www.signsmh.com/


They are signmakers, but the advertise laser engraving capabilities.  I'm sure their bed is good-sized.

 

[Cagey]

*(but Detroit's fauna may be quite a stretch mo' evil than the moon's. )

Substantially so. Detroit makes Kabul, Baghdad, and Gary, IN look like vacation destinations. At least you have less chance of being accosted or killed in those places.

What's really scary about going through Detroit is even if you stay on the freeways, if something goes wrong with your car, yer scrood. There are no gas stations until you get to the outskirts, which can be quite a ways out. So, you're stuck, with no help. They've got 11 ambulances to cover 140 square miles, and almost no police force. No service stations means no tow trucks. There are no public phones, so you better have a charged up cell. Even if you get ahold of somebody willing to help you, you could be sitting on side of the road for hours waiting for them, during which time you're low-hanging fruit.

 

[Cagey]

Try your local trophy shops.

Been there, done that. All small scale. Lotta interest - almost excitement - in the job, but the equipment wasn't up to the task. Biggest bed I found was 12", which isn't enough.

 

[Cagey]

Maybe these guys, near you as far as I can tell:
http://www.signsmh.com/
They are signmakers, but the advertise laser engraving capabilities.  I'm sure their bed is good-sized.

Interesting. I'll give them a call. Thanks!

 

[drewfx]

Interestingly, the maker of the Laser engravers in the UK link Pete gave is located in Canton, MI:

http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US-US/Laser-Machines/Pages/Product-Overview.aspx

 

[Cagey]

That is interesting. Hadn't thought of going at it from that angle. They probably don't do what I want done, but they'd certainly know who has those machines. Or, maybe if I talk to the right guy, they'll want to play around with the idea for testing purposes. Thanks!

 

[stratamania]

Just checked in one the thread, the link Fat Pete, posted is the same one I had on the PC. Good idea on going via the manufacturer of the machine.

 

[Wolfie351]

I'm sure these guys could do it, but the price might be high for a one-off

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271267596965

 

[anorakDan]

I've had some experience preparing art for and some actual hands-on laser engraving in wood. From my experience, you need good quality, black-and-white artwork that is read by a scanner head for each pass of the laser. In other words, where the art is black, the laser fires. Where it's white, no laser.

Now this causes a couple of things to consider. Since it's a straight pass, curved lines can look a little ragged, and you want the bed to travel in parallel with the neck, not perpendicular to it. The final engraving will show the direction of the passes, burned into the wood. The final product would look so much better with parallel passes rather than perpendicular.

Also, the depth of the burn is controlled by the speed of the pass. A slower pass provides a deeper burn. From my experience the beam diameter is not variable, nor is the temperature of the beam. So, more depth means slower pass. This means a less sharp image. And more chance that your engraving is burned darker, especially if it;s a light hardwood like maple.

Doubtless someone somewhere is willing to tackle a one-off, but you should be prepared for art charges, set up charges and most likely less-than-minimum charges.

I bet if a shop somewhere is willing to give it a try, they might just open up a market for themselves with us. If you get great results with a minimum of excessive cost, more of us will suddenly find a need for laser-engraved headstocks. Probably bodies as well. 

 

[Cagey]

Good points - I'll be sure to keep them in mind and ask the questions.

I thought about how others might desire such work if it were reasonably available and did a little looking around at pricing for these machines. Not trivial, to say the least. Something of the size/power you'd need would run roughly $30K by the time you were all set up. Have to cut a helluva lotta headstocks to get that kind of money back.