Anyone interested in laser etching/cutting plexiglass?

[dreamreality]

*NOTE* Because of hazardous fumes from certain materials, I can only cut ACRYLIC. No polycarbonate (lexan), No PVC, and no Vinyl because they emit toxic fumes when laser cut

Hey guys,

So my bro recently purchased a laser cutting/etching machine a couple of months back to pursue his hobby of customizing arcade sticks. Since then, his side business has really grown and he's been doing a lot of acrylic/plexi work with the machine and has done some awesome stuff. He told me recently that I could use the machine to do whatever I needed and brought up the idea of window etching for computers. I thought this was an awesome idea and thought I would share with you guys in case anyone wanted custom etches done for their side panels.

I only have one example of etching done on my side panel but you can see a bunch of designs he's done here for xbox360 arcade sticks on his website www.tek-innovations.com.

Some etching examples:
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/cache/thmc1.jpg
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/cache/thmrb1.jpg
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/cache/thmd1.jpg

I can do full sized etchings up to 16"x12" but the machine can fit pieces up to 16"x14", but only 16"x12" of it can be etched on. Virtually any image can be etched, but of course the quality depends on the DPI/resolution of the image. I can work with you guys to get the artwork perfect for print. Here's an example of how images are etched on:


All images need to be in Greyscale for the laser. The darker the Black, the deeper the etch (it'll end up whiter) and the lighter the white, the lighter the etch. What this pretty means is that your image will print out as a negative, like from a roll of film.

To accurately etch your image, you'll need to turn it into a negative image. Here are some images to illustrate this:

If you were to just greyscale the image this is how the etch will turn out
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/chun_sample1b.jpg
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/chun_sample1a.jpg

But, if you turn the image into a negative, here's how the etch turns out
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/chun_sample1c.jpg
http://www.tek-innovations.com/arthobbies/images/chun_sample1.jpg

So that's good to know when you play around with the images you want to etch.

If you guys are interested, let me know. Prices start at $20 + shipping for any sized etching. For smaller designs, we can work out a cheaper price. If you have a custom side window already and would like me to etch onto it, you can send it over and I can work off of it or I can purchase the plexiglass for you.

For the first few customers, I will give a discount, or maybe even do some etchings for free, so i can have some designs to show people. So don't be afraid to contact me!

I know I'm pretty new to the TBCS forums, but I've been in the modding scene for a while now (almost 7 years). I use to be pretty active on other forums such as xoxideforums.com (Moderator) and [H]ardforums but due to school I had to stop modding. If you guys have any questions, feel free to email me at benson.h(AT)gmail.com. My heatware is under dreamreality.

Thanks!

*NOTE* Because of hazardous fumes from certain materials, I can only cut ACRYLIC. No polycarbonate (lexan), No PVC, and no Vinyl because they emit toxic fumes when laser cut

[Oneslowz28]

If you want to do something for free send me a PM and we will get something etched to give away as a prize in a contest.

[Kayin]

What about cutting a case? Like making one?

[dreamreality]

Sounds good. I will shoot you a PM. Thanks!

[dreamreality]

What about cutting a case? Like making one?

The laser cutter we have is low wattage so it isn't powerful enough to cut through aluminum or metal, unfortunately =/ It can only cut through acrylic/plexiglass.

[OvRiDe]

A couple of quick questions..

1)Are the button cut outs on the arcade stick panels cut by your machine or are they pre-ordered that way. Also if they are cut by your machine, what is the maximum thickness of the material that can be cut.

2)What file types are excepted for cut or etch jobs. Would it be more helpful if they are in a vector format, such as a for a cutting job?

[dreamreality]

A couple of quick questions..

1)Are the button cut outs on the arcade stick panels cut by your machine or are they pre-ordered that way. Also if they are cut by your machine, what is the maximum thickness of the material that can be cut.

2)What file types are excepted for cut or etch jobs. Would it be more helpful if they are in a vector format, such as a for a cutting job?

Good questions.

1. Those are cut by the machine. The thickest i've tried cutting is 1/6", the same thickness of the arcade stick panels. I'm sure it can cut a bit thicker at 1/4" and maybe even 1/2". I'll get a more definite answer from my bro soon.

2. I use coreldraw to finalize the images, but i can accept any format and work off of that before i bring it into coreldraw. Vector format images will come out much clearer and crisp for etches. Cutting jobs are best in vector format. How it works is that any part that is black will be cut. So a black outline would work.

Hope that answers your questions. Let me know if you have anymore.

[OvRiDe]

Another quick question.. :D

Does the cost include the material, or does it need to be provided?

Also is there a price difference if the customer provides the materials?

BTW, I think this is a fantastic service, and I would like to thank you for providing our community with the opportunity.

[dreamreality]

Another quick question.. :D

Does the cost include the material, or does it need to be provided?

Also is there a price difference if the customer provides the materials?

BTW, I think this is a fantastic service, and I would like to thank you for providing our community with the opportunity.

The cost does not include materials. The cost is the service charge, so there is no price difference if the customer provides the materials. They would need to pay the shipping.

However, material cost is rather cheap. Tap Plastic plexi for about a 8"x11" piece is around $3. If you want to know a more definite price, you can check out tap plastics website http://www.tapplastics.com/index.php?

I'm glad i can offer this service for you guys! I hope it will make case modding that much more enjoyable ;)

[OvRiDe]

Excellent answers!

Ok.. just trying to cover all the bases here.

I understand the machine is unable to cut aluminum/metal. Would it be able to etch aluminum or anodized surfaces?

Also I am assuming that all surfaces need to be flat, and not curved, but its there a depth limit? for instance say the piece someone would like etched is 3 or 4 inches thick?

[dreamreality]

As we've never tried etching on anodized surfaces yet, in theory it should be able to. I will bring some scrap pieces down there next week to try out and see how it turns out.

As for depth, it makes no difference how thick the material is, it's the matter of how deep you want to cut/etch into it. But in terms of what can fit inside, height wise, for etching I think something up to 6" is safe to fit. As for how deep an etch can go, it all depends. Depth is based on the power of the machine and how we set the settings. Usually, we leave the speed % at 100% and power at 15% which is how the etches turn out in the pictures. For a deeper etch, we can switch the power to 50% if we'd like but we'd have to cut down the speed time and would take a while for the etch and would cost extra since it'll take longer.

And also, it varies sometimes for how thick of plexi the machine can cut. 1/4" is the best cut and 1/2" will sometimes cut. So we'll say 1/4" as a safe bet ;)

[Kayin]

I was asking about a plexi case, anywho.

LMK if you guys have an interest, this would be a very strange case (few major cuts though) since it would be for submersion.

[dreamreality]

I was asking about a plexi case, anywho.

LMK if you guys have an interest, this would be a very strange case (few major cuts though) since it would be for submersion.

Shoot me an email or PM and we can discuss further about this project. I can definitely help you out with cutting, but we just need to make sure our measurements and everything are correct. Let me know!

[dreamreality]

I have a few customers interested in getting some work done. Thanks for all the support so far. I will be going down to my bro's place next weekend, the 25th, to work on whatever orders I get from now until next Thursday.

[chaksq]

Well if you can cut/etch custom pieces I might be interested in having a few pieces cut to go in my custom side panel for my project XPS, with maybe a small etching. I'll send you a PM about what exactly I want done.

[dreamreality]

Well if you can cut/etch custom pieces I might be interested in having a few pieces cut to go in my custom side panel for my project XPS, with maybe a small etching. I'll send you a PM about what exactly I want done.

Replied ;)