I love that you have incorporated this little laser engraving unit. I have the same one and was worried it wouldn't come out right if I didn't use a rotary option of some kind.
Hi Kevin, appreciate you watching and commenting. I've thought about buying one of the rotary attachments to do engravings of greater circumference around the barrel, which is where they are really needed, but mostly still do names, so haven't yet. Have fun with yours. Cheers!
Thank you for watching and commenting. I wished I thought of it before the first couple pens I made like this, it would have made the grain alignment much easier! Cheers!
Thanks Don. One thing I have learned from others with this laser is that it is important to keep good airflow over the last diode to keep it cool to prolong its life. I use my dust collector, but any fan should do. Cheers!
Good video, but have a question on the laser engraving. A pen is round and the laser does flat. I see they now have a kit to use with this engraver to enable one to do round objects, but you didn't seem to have a problem with round and I'm wondering why.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting. The small surface area for Engraving a name or other text on a pen turns out to be inconsequential curvature for the laser. However, if trying to engrave something that takes up more Barrel space, you would definitely want to use one of the add-ons available to rotate the pain during the engraving. Hope that helps. Cheers!
Hi Bill, Enjoy watching your videos. I recently watched a video where the turner compared Alumilite vs Easy Cast clear epoxy, giving favorable review to Alumilite. Have you tried Alumilite? Have you had any issues using Easy Cast? Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Tony, thanks for watching the videos, glad you enjoy them. I have not used alumilite yet, most of the casting I've been doing his color casting for which the castin craft has worked pretty well. I have a pressure pot I recently set up so I could try the alumilite clear at some point in the future. Cheers!
Hi Troy, thanks for watching. Over on the pen turners forum I've heard of some who use it on finished pens, but due to the little smoke residue I prefer use on unfinished so I can lightly sand off the residue. I don't believe this 1 watt laser is strong enough to engrave acrylics properly. Cheers!
Jeffrey Garvin Hi Jeffrey, thanks for watching and commenting. This works great for me, as I use it. It gets generally favorable reviews from many of the others over on penturners.org who also bought and use one. From my perspective, I was paying someone else $10 a pen to do the engraving, so for me after 10 pens it has paid for itself. It is not production machinery, more hobbiest use, and size limited. If you intend to ever do more than pen-sized engraving I would strongly recommend looking at the next size up. Cheers!
Hi John, thanks for watching and commenting. By "process" do you mean the laser engraving? This little laser doesn't have the strength to engrave acrylic well. I can do a video to show the poor results if desired. Cheers!
How did you get the name in that program, I have been trying for almost year now, I have the same machine as you do. I also make pens, for 12 years now. Thank You Dennis
Hi Dennis, thanks for watching and commenting. I use Microsft Paint (the app that comes with Windows); I set it up for 500x500 pixels, create the name in a text box, crop it down to just the size of the name, and save it as a JPG file. You can then drag and drop the name file into the laser app for engraving. If this is not clear, let me know and I can do a quick video on it. Cheers!
Do you need to make any adjustments when laser engraving to account for the curvature of the pen? Have you tried the engraver with acrylic and/or solid surface countertop?
Hi John, thanks for watching and commenting. When I use the laser for one line of text, the curvature doesn't have much of an impact. I have not tried it on acrylic or countertop, but have heard that this 1 Watt version is not strong enough to adequately etch the surface. I hear that there's a vendor on the IAP website (penturners.org) that sells a device you can attach to this engraver that will rotate the pen barrel if you have larger graphics to wrap around the barrel. Cheers!
One of the best pen turning videos I've seen to date. Thanks.
Thank you Jim, I appreciate your kind words. Cheers!
I love that you have incorporated this little laser engraving unit. I have the same one and was worried it wouldn't come out right if I didn't use a rotary option of some kind.
Hi Kevin, appreciate you watching and commenting. I've thought about buying one of the rotary attachments to do engravings of greater circumference around the barrel, which is where they are really needed, but mostly still do names, so haven't yet. Have fun with yours. Cheers!
Makers mark is a great idea, you are the first to address it for after you're done turning!
Thank you for watching and commenting. I wished I thought of it before the first couple pens I made like this, it would have made the grain alignment much easier! Cheers!
Some good tips thank you, especially marking for grain alignment.👍
Hi John, thanks for watching and commenting. Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for sharing. I am new to wood turning and this video helped me out a bunch.
Hi Darrell, thanks for watching and commenting. Glad you found the content useful. Cheers!
I like your finishing technique ,I need to try that. I have used my laser so far I really like it. Great video.
Thanks Don. One thing I have learned from others with this laser is that it is important to keep good airflow over the last diode to keep it cool to prolong its life. I use my dust collector, but any fan should do. Cheers!
EXCELLENT VIDEO AND TUTORIAL!!! BEAUTIFUL JOB ON THE PEN ALSO!!! THANK YOU MUCH FOR SHARING!!!
Thank you, I appreciate you watching and commenting. Cheers!
Amazing video 👍
Thank you very much, I appreciate you watching and commenting. Cheers!
Good video, but have a question on the laser engraving. A pen is round and the laser does flat. I see they now have a kit to use with this engraver to enable one to do round objects, but you didn't seem to have a problem with round and I'm wondering why.
Hi, thanks for watching and commenting. The small surface area for Engraving a name or other text on a pen turns out to be inconsequential curvature for the laser. However, if trying to engrave something that takes up more Barrel space, you would definitely want to use one of the add-ons available to rotate the pain during the engraving. Hope that helps. Cheers!
Hi Bill, Enjoy watching your videos. I recently watched a video where the turner compared Alumilite vs Easy Cast clear epoxy, giving favorable review to Alumilite. Have you tried Alumilite? Have you had any issues using Easy Cast? Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Tony, thanks for watching the videos, glad you enjoy them. I have not used alumilite yet, most of the casting I've been doing his color casting for which the castin craft has worked pretty well. I have a pressure pot I recently set up so I could try the alumilite clear at some point in the future. Cheers!
Great video can you use the engraver after the pen is finished? And how does it do with Acrylic blanks?
Hi Troy, thanks for watching. Over on the pen turners forum I've heard of some who use it on finished pens, but due to the little smoke residue I prefer use on unfinished so I can lightly sand off the residue. I don't believe this 1 watt laser is strong enough to engrave acrylics properly. Cheers!
there's a 1.5 W version of this system, I wonder if that would do acrylic?
thinking about getting one of those engravers, what's your opinion of it so far?
Jeffrey Garvin Hi Jeffrey, thanks for watching and commenting. This works great for me, as I use it. It gets generally favorable reviews from many of the others over on penturners.org who also bought and use one. From my perspective, I was paying someone else $10 a pen to do the engraving, so for me after 10 pens it has paid for itself. It is not production machinery, more hobbiest use, and size limited. If you intend to ever do more than pen-sized engraving I would strongly recommend looking at the next size up. Cheers!
Thanks Bill
Will this unit work on the ca or acrylic pens that one would make? If so can you please demo this process
Hi John, thanks for watching and commenting. By "process" do you mean the laser engraving? This little laser doesn't have the strength to engrave acrylic well. I can do a video to show the poor results if desired. Cheers!
How did you get the name in that program, I have been trying for almost year now, I have the same machine as you do. I also make pens, for 12 years now. Thank You
Dennis
Hi Dennis, thanks for watching and commenting. I use Microsft Paint (the app that comes with Windows); I set it up for 500x500 pixels, create the name in a text box, crop it down to just the size of the name, and save it as a JPG file. You can then drag and drop the name file into the laser app for engraving. If this is not clear, let me know and I can do a quick video on it. Cheers!
Do you need to make any adjustments when laser engraving to account for the curvature of the pen?
Have you tried the engraver with acrylic and/or solid surface countertop?
Hi John, thanks for watching and commenting. When I use the laser for one line of text, the curvature doesn't have much of an impact. I have not tried it on acrylic or countertop, but have heard that this 1 Watt version is not strong enough to adequately etch the surface. I hear that there's a vendor on the IAP website (penturners.org) that sells a device you can attach to this engraver that will rotate the pen barrel if you have larger graphics to wrap around the barrel. Cheers!