Laser engraver ideas

[cordex]

Somehow - and we don't need to talk about how - I have an AtomStack laser engraver in my barn.  I tried it out last night including etching Mjölnir on a Magpul Glock magazine.  Obviously I'll have to think of some patterns for some AR magazines tonight.

So what should I do with my newfound power? 

I can engrave raster images, or if the material accommodates and is thin enough I can cut it.  Thin wood, paper, some plastics, and cardboard can be cut or engraved depending on power and speed settings.  Wood and plastic engrave nicely.

I don't have the rotary module so at this point flat items only.

[French G.]

Burn FJB on every magpul ar mag you can get. Become wealthy, retire.

[dogmush]

Can you do grip stippling?

[Fly320s]

Custom names on mags.  Normally, I just use a Sharpie, but all of the kool kids have their initials engraved on the mags.  Something like Fly 1, Fly 2, etc.

Good for classes.

[230RN]

Engrave twenty or thirty made-up serial numbers all over people's guns, without defacing the real serial number.
 

Don't know if that's illegal or not, maybe there's some clause about it somewhere.  If so, Mods delete this one.

But it's fun to think about.

[BobR]

Maybe it is time to make some

Ultra MAGA-Zines.




bob

[cordex]

Can you do grip stippling?

On flat surfaces maybe. Not really sure yet. I could burn a pattern into plastic, although to get the depth you’d want I’d have to either run it slow or go over the pattern multiple times. 

Custom names on mags.  Normally, I just use a Sharpie, but all of the kool kids have their initials engraved on the mags.  Something like Fly 1, Fly 2, etc.

Good for classes.

I’ve got my initials on most of my pistol mags in silver sharpie already for just that reason, but I did still consider that. Wouldn’t be hard at all.

Have to come up with a good design for the AR magazines. Not really interested in political messaging on magazines but I could do it on someone else’s mags if they wanted.

[French G.]

Engrave my surefire 60 rd mags with the ultra maga. I forgot I owned those, kinda instant march to the camps for those. 

[cordex]

I overcooked this one.  Very simplistic design


This design had more detail and the power was a little better tuned but could probably have been a little hotter or slower.

I sent this picture to a friend who had just given me a hatchet that he had hand carved/burned a Vegvisir into and he wanted to know how I had done it.  I told him he had his talents and I had mine.

Could have done better on positioning for both of them.

I can cut corrugated cardboard down through the front face and corrugation but it has trouble reaching through to the back face because the laser loses focus over that distance.
I tried etching steel last night and it did a really good job of marking it.

[cordex]

Supposedly a rotary unit is going to show up in a few days.

[dogmush]

Atomstack is a diode laser, right?  What are you using to adjust for focal distance?  THe Glock mag seems more out of focus than anything else.

I have been playing on and off with my cheap chinese K40 laser engraver, and they are pretty cool, but I did enough that I know I need to make some mods for it to really shine.  That CO2 laser is pretty cool though.

[cordex]

Atomstack is a diode laser, right?  What are you using to adjust for focal distance?  THe Glock mag seems more out of focus than anything else.

Yes, diode laser.  Focus is manual.  I think the "blur" is detail in the original image.

[Jim147]

Have you tried giving any tattoos with it?