Wood engraving business. Business idea: laser engraving. Laser cutting of plywood: the principle of operation

What do you need to open your ownengravingbusiness?

The peculiarity of laser engraving is that laser radiation either removes surface layers or contributes to a change in their color or structure.

The laser beam contributes to the evaporation of a very thin layer of material from the surface of the product, which in turn forms a special relief on its surface. Laser cutting and engraving typically have high resolution, quality, and exceptionally durable images that other printing methods cannot provide. Due to such high precision of laser engraving, quite complex images are obtained.

Depending on the type of application, laser engraving is divided into vector and raster.

When vector engraving with a laser, the contours of the image are applied in thin lines.

With raster engraving - halftone photographic images.

Volumetric laser engraving becomes due to the adjustment of the depth, which is affected by the laser beam.

Laser engraving services are usually provided on materials such as plastic, plexiglass, wood, plywood, metal, leather, leatherette, fabric, paper, cardboard, etc. materials. We also work with dyed and multi-layered materials.

Laser engraving has the following advantages:
- non-contact
- maximum high speed and high resolution
- maximum repeatability of complex products
- longevity and durability of images
- no additional types of processing
- attractive appearance

Practical Tips by laser engraving.

When operating laser equipment, the following facts become apparent:

1) The use of laser engraving technology is possible without the preparation of special clichés, matrices, printed forms and, accordingly, does not require additional special equipment, as well as personnel serving it.

Thanks to this, laser engraving allows you to save time on prepress and consequently contributes to the acceleration production process, increased productivity and, of course, equipment payback.

2) The use of laser technology does not require the use of consumables.
Engraving is carried out only by the laser itself, which is powered by electricity. As a rule, one laser is sufficient for 20,000 hours of continuous operation. When translating this number into 8-hour shifts, it becomes clear that its intensive operation can last for 7 years.

3) To service all the equipment, it is enough to work with just one operator who knows how to work with graphic programs. While various printing technologies require a significant staff of staff with different qualifications.

4) Allows the production of small and single batches of products. The job is received directly from the file, similar to a conventional printer. Accordingly, it ensures cost-effective operation even when working with the smallest and even single batches of products.

5) The image is durable, reliable and resistant to any external factors.

Laser engraving can be called almost the only decoration technology that allows you to get an absolutely stable image. Applied, which were applied with a laser, are resistant to abrasion and washing off. Moreover, they even withstand exposure to various solvents. High image permanence is very important for customers.

The engraving business has been a source of income since Soviet Union and was a true piece of art. Today it is no less relevant. In addition, it also does not require large financial investments, and can be organized even at home ...

A quick and easy organization of this type of business is possible. This will require a quick compilation, analysis of competition in this market, the choice of a small room for work and the purchase of special equipment.

The first stage allows you to locate the engraving workshop even at home. To do this, you will need an engraving machine powered by electricity, the cost of which does not exceed 5 thousand rubles.

If you have found a special room for an engraving workshop, then special pneumatic grinding machines must also be placed in it.

Despite the fact that engraving is really some kind of visual arts, in fact, it does not require special special skills, knowledge. Almost anyone can learn this.

As a rule, one square centimeter of finished work costs about 15 rubles. Today, congratulatory inscriptions and pictures are very popular, which are applied to medals, pendants, cigarette cases, lighters, flasks, key chains, on which you can do good business.

Engraving services are needed both by private potential clients and diverse companies, for example, furniture manufacturers ...

Laser engraving technology consists in removing material from the surface of the workpiece using the sublimation method, which is achieved due to the fact that a focused laser beam acts on the material. maximum power. Such an impact significantly changes the surface of the material and is the cause of the applied image.

Proper control of the laser radiation parameters makes possible management impact on the surface. Accordingly, thanks to this, the desired image is obtained. On the final result also have a significant effect on the properties of the substance itself, which is affected by the laser beam.

For raster laser engraving, a sequence of dots is used high definition. When making highly detailed images, the laser carriage moves down the lines, and accordingly engraves a series of dots on each line. This is how the image is formed. The principle of operation of laser engraving is very similar to that of a conventional printer. Therefore, laser engraving, which is carried out on modern equipment can be safely compared with printing on a conventional printer.

Laser engraving is a fairly automated process in which there are no intermediate technological stages. There are no manual processes involved in the entire laser engraving process, thereby minimizing the number of errors in the process and minimizing the duration of the production of the finished product. As a rule, the whole process takes about 30-40 minutes.

The finished product withstands various mechanical and chemical types of influences due to the fact that the raw material has special physical and chemical characteristics. This is guaranteed by the manufacturer.

Almost everything can be printed with a laser, including scanned pictures, photos, cliparts, CAD drawings. It is used for engraving wood, plexiglass, plastic, leather and other non-metal materials. It should be noted that engraving of pictures can be carried out only after preliminary processing. It's about converting a drawing into a vector form. This takes a lot of time, so this work is separate from laser engraving and, accordingly, needs a separate payment.

The laser is the most common instrument, which is a special beam of light focused into a small point. Its work is similar to that of a magnifying glass under the sun to kindle a fire. Engraving lasers are relatively low power, safe and easy to use.

The use of a laser has certain advantages over conventional instruments. So, during its operation, the laser uses a non-contact method that prevents wear and damage to the tool. Moreover, this method also significantly reduces damage and deformation of the product being processed.

The clear advantages of using a laser are the acquisition of images that have a high resolution. Moreover, the laser can be used while working with a variety of materials and textures.

The cost of laser engraving equipment depends on which machines you prefer. So, domestic machine tools cost about 195-200 thousand rubles, and imported - 580-600 thousand rubles. Consumables on such equipment are diamond needles, which actually carry out the engraving. One such needle costs about 500 rubles. It is enough to apply at least 30 images. Full-fledged work is also impossible without additional technical equipment: a scanner, a computer, a good monitor and a licensed software Photoshop and CorelDraw.

Most engraving machines look very much like a regular one, but only big printer with the so-called diamond needle cutter, which perform the function of an image-applying head. For applying the image, materials such as basalt and are used.

Laser engraving makes it possible to produce:

Wardrobe checks, door checks, table checks, tokens, tags, etc.
- nameplates
- Badges with a magnet, badges with a plastic pin
- Door signs, desk signs, house signs, house numbers, toilet signs, hours of operation signs, inlaid signs, etc.
- Key rings, wooden, plastic and acrylic badges
- Volumetric letters, signs
- Acrylics
- Elements of interior design, reception area (logos, emblems)
- Pos-materials: pockets and stands for printed materials, stands for business cards, stands for goods, stands for menus, stands for price tags, etc.
- Coasters (berdekels) - coasters for beer, coasters for hot, bonfires, coasters for mugs, glasses. Cork coasters with laser engraving. Wooden and plywood coasters for hot. Acrylic coasters for mugs.
- Award medals, souvenir medals, medals for graduates, anniversary medals, sports medals
- Diplomas, diplomas, certificates, award boards, plaques, etc.
- Plexiglas calendars with backlight. Leather and leatherette calendars. Wooden, plywood calendars
- Plastic business cards. Wooden business cards.
- Sports, premium, nominal cups. Statuettes.
- Exclusive premium products
- Image products
- Souvenir products
-

How to engrave

1. First of all, you need to transfer the inscription or drawing to the surface. To do this, you can use a pencil or marker, or draw a pattern yourself. When using ready-made drawings, carbon paper can help.

2. Next, an inscription or drawing is applied to the surface with an engraver or other tool. Volumetric engraving should be done with a tool that moves in the same direction. This will make your work more accurate. You also need to take care of good lighting to prevent eye fatigue.

3. And at the end, the finished image is covered with a colorless varnish or a thin layer of melted wax.

Engraving.

Metal engraving is used to obtain beautiful products - paintings, panels, jewelry. The image is applied to the metal using mechanical methods, using various tools - a cutter, a laser, a chisel, etc. Let us dwell in more detail on the features of engraving on a metal surface using a manual method.

Our example assumes a reverse drawing style - light lines and strokes on a dark background. For work you will need to stock up:
- sheet of brass 0.6-1 mm thick
- engraver with bur for metal
- degreaser
- crystals of sodium sulfate
- tracing paper
- colorless varnish

1. The face of the brass plate is subjected to a grinding and polishing process.

2. Next, the base is degreased using swabs soaked in gasoline or acetone. For this purpose, you can also use a brush, which is pre-moistened in a solution of soda or washing powder. Degreased metal sheet must not be taken with fingers, as prints may remain. To do this, you can use tweezers, which must also be pre-degreased.

3. Toning of the base is carried out using a solution prepared in advance. To do this, crystals of sodium sulfate are dissolved in water. The density of the tinting itself depends on its saturation. The front side of the brass sheet is wiped with a swab, which is also moistened in a solution prepared in advance. After some time, the brass sheet will gradually darken and acquire a brown tint. Heat can be used to speed up the process. It is imperative to monitor the uniform heating of the entire sheet, since the surface can become covered with many spots.

4. After the surface of the brass sheet has acquired a uniform dark brown color, it must be rinsed with warm water, which will help remove all reagent residues. After that, the sheet lends itself to thorough drying and can be used to apply a pattern to it.

5. The drawing chosen for the engraving is applied using a special tracing paper. As a rule, it is enough to apply only the main contours of the drawing. Small details may be applied during the engraving process. Tracing paper, on which the drawing is located, is placed on the front surface of a brass sheet, its edges are bent behind a metal sheet and glued with rubber glue. Preference should be given to rubber glue, since upon completion of work it can be removed without problems. Further, a sharp needle helps to trace the contours of the pattern, leaving a thin mark on the polished surface.

6. Then the tracing paper is removed and the drawing process begins with a special engraving device. The metal bur must be in the flexible hose handpiece. It is used to trace the contours of the image. Before you get started, you can practice a little. For example, on a small metal plate, draw thin lines, curls, ellipses and circles with an engraver. Having trained the hand, you can apply a drawing.

7. First, the main contours of the drawing are applied, and then smaller details. To apply the shadow, line hatching, circles and cells are used, shadow lines are obtained by conducting the drill in the same place.

8. After engraving the entire pattern, a special colorless varnish is applied to the surface of the brass sheet, or it is treated with a swab, which is pre-moistened in liquid wax, and then wiped with a dry cloth. If the metal is very thin, then it is better to stick it on a wooden base. This will make the picture more solid.

Laser engraving is a very interesting activity with the potential for those who want to make high profits.

It is important that laser engraving is a relatively new business, which is associated with applying images to various materials: glass, steel, metal, leather, wood, stone, plastic. This direction contains a wide scope for activity.

What do you need to start your own engraving business?

What you need to start your own engraving business:

1. Learn. Despite the fact that the operating system for laser engraving is very easy to operate, it is still necessary to learn the basic principles and rules of its operation. Ideally, training should be done by the producers. Some companies have short training services. Lesson DVDs are also available. You can also learn this skill in online mode.

2. Carry out business planning. Having received certain work skills, be sure to take care of preparing a business plan. In it, you will need to decide on the services you provide, the cost of resources, the prices for services, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bwork and staff. You also need to determine the estimated amount of investment for.

3. Decide on finances and resources. This business is impossible without three basic things: a laser engraving system, a powerful computer and a set of necessary graphic programs. Please note that the cost of laser engraving machines is quite high.

The simplest setup costs around $2,000, while the most high-end system starts at $30,000. Therefore, it is better to rent a system in the beginning, for which you will have to pay about $250 per month. You can contact the manufacturer or its dealers, who will provide the device for rent even over the Internet.

4. Draw up documents and register the company. Make sure you complete all the necessary formalities to prevent any trouble with the law. Decide on the form of your work: you can be both an individual entrepreneur and a certain company.

Every house probably still has a family clock or spoons with beautiful inscriptions. Having become popular about a hundred years ago, this business is reviving again today. But now it is more functional and beautiful. Today, engraving is applied not only to metal objects, but also to any coating, including paper, glass, wood, and metal. Accordingly, the activity market is really huge.

Can be streamed. After all, as a rule, every city in our country is visited annually by thousands of tourists who are not against the acquisition of a souvenir that reminds them of their stay in one place or another. Accordingly, the business that is related to souvenir and gift products will never die out.

Every day people buy gifts for their relatives and friends. Agree, it is more pleasant to receive a personalized souvenir that will be your symbol of love or respect.
You can also engrave street signs. It is of particular interest and popularity for advertising business. Therefore, you can start cooperation with advertising agencies. Particular attention should also be paid to such an area as industry, because for many industrial enterprises today it is very important to leave some kind of quality mark on their products.

This business can take many directions. Therefore, you can be sure that in the future it will only develop and improve.

According to this project you can create an engraving salon that provides engraving services a wide range actions that no other similar workshop can handle.

The level of success and profitability of each individual business is affected by the demand for a particular list of services or goods. If you are thinking about opening a laser engraving company, you may not even worry about how relevant this direction will be. The finished products can be used in a variety of applications, from modest souvenirs to works that prevent car theft. Thanks to laser surface treatment, images with a wide variety of bases are formed by removing the top layer of material. The finished texture, in fact, as well as the picture itself, can be improved and, accordingly, the effect of its perception can be changed.

Thanks to the use of laser engraving, the finished work becomes more durable, detailed and accurate. The fact that during laser engraving there is no direct contact with the coating, it does not change its shape and does not deform. A pattern or picture can be applied to the most difficult to reach areas of products. The basis can be various materials, metal, glass or plastic, ceramics or marble.

This type of direction is very popular in the industry. A specialized device marks industrial goods, equips with barcodes finished products, fill in the series numbers, carry out the formation of measuring scales. The model of technical equipment is established by the engraving method.

Engraving can occupy a special niche in the advertising industry. This can be the manufacture of various plates and signs, facade signs and other things. This also includes the engraving of small items, such as lighters, key chains, cigarette cases, pens, and other things that are transferred regular customers as a token of gratitude for your cooperation. Respectively large companies I use laser engraving all the time. To strengthen the image and increase the convenience of customers, you can order signs for offices, signs on the door, signs for tables. This can also be done thanks to various signaling and warning signs.

Recently, another circle of customers has appeared - motorists, side mirrors are equipped with a car number. This significantly reduces the likelihood of theft and increases the likelihood of finding and returning an already stolen car. You can use engraving on diplomas and personal letters that companies use to stimulate their work. Summing up, we can say with confidence that this line of business will always be in demand and popularity.

Recently, laser engraving as a business has gained popularity. And all thanks to the fact that the technology allows you to make persistent, accurate and detailed high-resolution drawings. It is difficult to achieve such a result in other ways of applying images.

Types of engraving

Before building a business on such a service, you need to understand what laser engraving is. Depending on what type of work you decide to stop at, a certain type of laser machine is selected.

Engraving is raster and vector. In the latter case, the drawing is applied in thin lines, and in the former, a photographic halftone image is obtained. By adjusting the immersion depth of the laser beam, you can add volume to the pattern. The material you can work with is virtually unlimited. It can be plexiglass, metal, plastic, wood, leather, paper, fabric and much more.

Small business use cases

There are a lot of options for applying this type of drawing. Depending on the type of machine and the surface being processed, this service can be offered in the following business areas:

1. Application of drawings, monograms, emblems, logos on various objects. Mobile phone cases are the most popular.
2. Engraving of fabrics and clothes. The most popular direction is drawing a pattern on jeans.
3. Production of sealers and seals with a complex pattern.
4. Keyboard engraving. This is especially true in cases where the equipment was purchased abroad and it is necessary to apply the Russian layout to the keyboard.

These are not all options for using the technology, but only the most popular ones. If you wish, you can find your niche, where there will be no competition or it will be negligible.

Drawing technology

The principle of the action of the laser beam is to change the structure or color of the material being processed, or to remove its thin upper layer.

Laser beam shaping occurs when light passes through a system of mirrors or a focusing lens and optical fiber, depending on the configuration of the machine. The engraving depth depends on how close the laser is to the material being processed. The closer it is, the stronger the beam, the deeper it penetrates the surface. By the way, a laser pattern can be applied inside the glass due to the fact that the laser beam is refracted inside.

The advantage of the technology is that it is fully automated, so when drawing a picture, errors due to the human factor are excluded. Hence the high precision and subtlety of the pattern. In addition, the use of the machine allows you to shorten the production process as much as possible. To apply one image, as a rule, it will take no more than 40 minutes. At the same time, it withstands most chemical and physical influences, while maintaining its integrity.

Another plus that laser engraving has is a gentle effect on the material being processed. There is minimal deformation and only at the place of drawing. The non-contact method of its application reduces wear on the machine.

Business equipment

To apply laser drawings, you will need a special machine. The type and cost of the machine depends on how large your project is. For example, if you are planning to open a business at home, you can buy a small engraving machine for 5 thousand rubles. The payback of such a machine is extremely high due to the low cost. The work is paid for by centimeters of the applied drawing. One centimeter of the sketched area is estimated from 15 rubles. and higher.

For a serious amount of work, it is necessary to purchase full-fledged machines. They are domestic and foreign production. If domestic ones are offered for about $2,000, then imported ones are sold from $4,000 to $30,000. It is often recommended to contact the manufacturer directly and agree with him to rent a unit for $250 per month. If the business is successful, then it can be bought out.

In addition to the machine itself, you need to stock up consumable– laser needles that directly perform engraving. One such consumable, which is enough to complete about 30 drawings, will cost 600 rubles.

In addition to the machine itself, you will need the following equipment:

• scanner;
• a computer;
• high resolution monitor;
• licensed software CorelDraw and Photoshop.

The nuances of starting a business

As already mentioned, at first it is desirable to decide on the type of services provided: on what exactly and for what engraving will be performed. Based on this, the machine is selected. Next, it is worth deciding which type of service will be the main one, and which additional. For example, they usually stop at services such as engraving on rings and wood. Then as additional work you can plan the application of images on T-shirts.

Then it is worth deciding on the location of the production. This also largely dictates the selected list of services. So, if you paint on wood or plastic, taking orders on the Internet, the equipment can be placed at home. A complete machine takes up little space. This means that even if you decide to rent a room to open an office for receiving and fulfilling orders, you will not need a lot of money - its area will be minimal. But in this case, you need to look for a passable place. For example, at the subway or in a shopping center.

Please note that in this case it is dangerous to take orders for laser engraving on jewelry or glass. In the first case, it is necessary to equip a safe for storing orders. In the second, one must be extremely careful in handling and storing glass objects.

Please note that in order to complete the drawings, you must have at least minimal experience in this matter. Yes, the installation is fully automated, but you need to understand the principle of its operation, be able to prevent breakdowns, and eliminate possible minor malfunctions. To do this, it is advisable to get instructions from the equipment supplier, or find training video tutorials on the Internet.

Legal registration

To conduct a business legally, it must be registered. If you are planning a small extra income at home, then you can not rush with this step. At first, it is worth building up a customer base, and only when it reaches a certain financial level, it can be legalized.

If you are planning on own business, it is worth registering with the tax authorities. For this type of activity, such an organizational and legal form as individual entrepreneur. In this case, registration will take about five working days, and the costs will only cover the payment of the state fee. In addition, in future activities, you yourself will be able to maintain accounting records and submit all necessary reports.

For registration, you must specify the OKVED code. You can stop at:

• 21.25 Manufacture of other articles of paper and paperboard
• 25.22 Manufacture of plastic products for packaging goods
• 28.51 Treatment and coating of metals

No licenses are required to conduct such activities, except for licenses for the use of special software.

Business advertising

It is quite difficult to start and run such a business without advertising, especially if you decide to go online. The complexity of choosing an advertising strategy is that the business does not have a specific target audience especially if you offer souvenir engraving. But it should not be neglected.

You can use traditional types of advertising: media, leaflets, etc. But today the Internet gives a much greater return for this kind of service. You can get by with a budget option and post ads on free electronic board sites. But the return from there will be appropriate. Much more efficient to give contextual advertising, create a page in a social network. It is also possible, if funds allow, to create a website and promote it on requests for a gift theme. Accordingly, it is worth starting an advertising campaign before the holidays.

Stages of starting a business

Summing up, it is worth saying once again about the main stages of opening a business.

1. Market analysis to explore competitive environment, types of services in demand, prices for them, target audience profile. This will help determine the next step.

1. The set of services provided. The decision of the next stage of starting a business will depend on what kind of engraving you will offer, what materials to work with.

1. Purchase of equipment. If you open a business at home, then you don’t have to rack your brains over it. You can limit yourself to an engraving machine. For a serious business, you will need to purchase a special installation, as well as related equipment, consumables.

1. Register your business if you are aiming for serious work with large customers in large volumes. You can save money by registering an individual entrepreneur.

1. Learn how to use a laser machine or find a craftsman who already has similar experience. This will allow you to work without failures and downtime, and, therefore, save time and money.

1. Launch an advertising campaign by placing a bet on the Internet. It should be started on the eve of major holidays, when there is a great demand for souvenirs.

Business payback

It is difficult to say when the invested funds will return. Payback depends on many factors. Obviously, an engraving machine worth 5 thousand rubles. will pay off incomparably faster than a $30,000 laser machine. But not only investments affect payback. Much depends on the popularity of the selected services, their cost. It has a huge impact on the formation of the flow of customers advertising campaign. Without it, the business basically has no chance.

But, as a rule, it is believed that laser engraving has a very high payback, due to its wide range of applications. The high cost of the equipment is compensated by the low requirements for the premises. In fact, they do not extend to it at all, and the area for the machine is minimal, which simplifies the start of the business.

In general, the profit for a month of operation of one laser installation can be 20, or even 60 thousand rubles. Its size is affected by the quality of the equipment - the better and more expensive it is, the more productive the work will be. When using imported equipment, the profit can reach 60 thousand rubles, but given its high cost, the payback will be approximately 8 months. Domestic equipment allows you to earn up to 40 thousand per month and at the same time return the invested funds in 5 months. As an option for an inexpensive start, you can buy used equipment. But you can earn no more than 20 thousand rubles on it. per month. Accordingly, its payback will be about six months.

In contact with

Classmates

Holidays, special dates, children's events, countless anniversaries - all this is not complete without gifts. To make a present stand out from the rest, and a loved one be delighted, you need to give a special thing with handmade elements.

Laser engraving will help to sign the souvenir in an original way. The specificity of the technique is to change the upper layer of the material (its structure or color) or to remove sections (the formation of grooves and grooves) using a laser beam.

Admiring the work of a professional, do not forget that you can do it yourself at home. First for a gift, then for yourself, and then such an activity can be safely turned into a profitable business.

The relevance of the idea: where skills can be applied

Laser engraving can make any present interesting and original.

The scope of this tool is very wide - plastic, mirrors, glass, wood, metal.

Professionals turn to engraving the following devices:

• computer or laptop keyboards;
• lids mobile phone, tablet, player;
• mirrors in the hallway or bathroom, ladies';
• paintings, plaques-souvenirs (wood engraving);
• on the skin (products and souvenirs);
• on glass (coffee table surface);
• wedding rings and jewelry.

In our country, foreign experience has not yet been borrowed from applying various inscriptions and logos to car glass.

This is not a tribute to fashion, but a great way to protect your property from theft - few people want to buy a stolen item with a "mark" of the owner.

Business organization specifics

It all depends on the imagination and creativity of the master, who decided to put the production of engraved products on stream or work with a laser on client goods.

Single customers will not bring proper income, it is better to focus on corporate ones.

On the eve of the New Year or International women's day such gifts will be needed in large quantities, that is, in bulk. The higher their volume, the greater the profit, even taking into account the discount from the master.

It is advisable to organize advertising for yourself: start a website with photos of the work performed in the portfolio, in the room where clients are received, it is better to put up a stand with a demonstration of samples.

This will help visitors to see how professionally the master masters this craft.

When setting prices, you do not need to deliberately lower them in order to gain as many customers as possible.

This will turn off potential customers.

Engraving on metal and plastic - technologically difficult process, which requires time and accuracy, and such an approach to business a priori cannot be cheap.

Choosing equipment: what to look for

Improvised materials are indispensable here, it is necessary to purchase special equipment to ensure an accurate technological process. This should also be included in the expense item.

A mandatory element is a special engraver that connects to a computer.

If a computer technology missing, its acquisition must also be included in the cost of start-up capital.

You can choose an engraver from a variety of offers on the websites of online stores.

Ordering it at a low price, you can get disappointed in return - at the most inopportune moment, when there are a lot of customers and all orders are on fire, it will simply fail.

Pay special attention to business reputation manufacturer: branded equipment from Europe has a long service life, can perform many operations (laser engraving on glass, used for sawing and cutting), breaks much less often.

Laser engraving machine (if applicable) High Quality, with a guarantee) must be included with the disc.

It contains a program that must be installed on a personal computer. Without it, the engraver is simply impossible to use in work.

Many manufacturers strive to simplify the life and work of a novice master as much as possible, therefore they attach video tutorials on working with the machine, examples of cutting on various materials.

Use ready-made ideas or connect your imagination and do everything yourself - everyone's personal choice.

Approximate calculations

Engraving as a business can be very costly and not always profitable.

If you buy an engraver for 4-5 thousand dollars, it is difficult to notice the first profit even after a year with a large number of orders.

High-quality equipment will cost about $ 2,000. A personal computer is another plus of 500-600 dollars.

It should have enough RAM that will allow it to run fast without dragging technological process. And the higher the performance of personal equipment, the more expensive it is.

Another point is the lease of the premises where the work will be carried out. It is not recommended to do everything on 50 m² of living space.

If there private house- excellent, you can organize a workshop in a garage or any outbuilding adjacent to it.

The room should be ventilated, well lit natural light, as work with fine details is provided.

Renting a small office will cost about 50-100 dollars a month - it all depends on its distance from the center of the settlement.

The closer the location of the workshop from the market, shopping center(that is, crowded places), the more potential clients pay attention to advertising.

Before the big holidays, it is advisable to order a poster or a big board with information about services, phone numbers and office address - such costs will pay off in 7-10 days.

In contact with

The technology of cutting plywood with a laser allows you to get products of very high quality, modern CNC laser machines are able to work with materials such as chipboard, plywood, wood, glass, stone, leather, etc. Laser cutting machines allow you to organize the production of a wide variety of products with an artistic sharp, in fact it is a promising business in laser cutting.

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At the moment, the market for carved art products from wood, including plywood, is practically empty, because laser cutting machines have been used in production quite recently, and even then only a few, in most cases, carpentry shops work on outdated equipment.

An example of a product cut by a laser from plywood.

Laser cutting of plywood: the principle of operation.

If you do not delve into the terminology and say in simple words, in laser machines, the function of a cutting tool is performed by a laser, which consists of a glass tube filled with gases (nitrogen, helium, carbon monoxide), under the influence of an electric charge, radiation is created in the tube, which, passing through a system of mirrors, creates a powerful beam of light capable of intensively heating the treated area (in this case, plywood), as a result of which the wood fibers instantly burn out.

In this way, laser carving of various materials occurs, while the cutting thickness is not more than 0.02 mm, which allows you to cut products with high accuracy.

But, the laser cutting method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Precise processing of small parts.
• Smooth edge when processed.
• Relatively high cutting speed.

Disadvantages:

• After laser processing, the edges of the product remain burnt dark brown.

Laser cutting machine for plywood.

The laser cutting machine consists of a working surface over which the laser cutter moves. Machine tools use numerical program control, the carriage with the laser moves with the help of stepper motors along two perpendicular guides, the X and Y axes. Using the software, coordinates are set for moving the carriage with the laser.

Laser cutting machines differ in power, performance and a set of operations performed, depending on the configuration, they can perform such functions as engraving, milling, cutting.

How a laser cutting machine works.

CNC machines already support programs: CorelDraw, AutoCad, Adobe Illustrator, to work it is enough to connect the machine to a computer and install drivers. Need in graphics editor create a pattern or process an already scanned image.

A workpiece for processing, for example, a sheet of plywood, is placed and fixed on the working surface of the machine, the machine is set up, parameters such as the intensity and speed of the laser passage are indicated.

The video shows the machine in operation.

Laser cutting: what can be done?

On laser machines, you can set up the production of various products, cut and engrave souvenirs from plywood, boards, MDF.

An example of a carved plywood art composition.

These can be decor items, artistic cutting, patterns, stained-glass windows, picture and photo frames, elements of furniture and household items, souvenir products, fridge magnets, collapsible constructions of ship and aircraft models, construction toys for children, plates, photo on wood, lampshades for nightlights and table lamps, napkin holders, cutting boards for kitchen, menu, etc.

Shown in the video? how a box is engraved and cut out on a machine.

Laser cutting plywood as a business.

How much does laser cutting cost? The cost depends on the length of the cut and the thickness of the material, the average cost is $ 0.50 per linear meter of the cut. The length of the cut can be calculated directly in the figure using the program.

The business is quite promising, in fact, with a laser machine you get almost unlimited possibilities for cutting and engraving wood products. If you establish markets for products and find regular customers for artistic cutting, you can count on a significant profit from laser cutting.