A primer on laser engraving Options

[swcblues]

Since I started doing laser engraving, I've had a lot of questions and stated misconceptions that I figured I'd take a couple minutes to clear up here.

The first is that it's spelled LASER (which stands for Light Amplification by the Simulated Emission of Radiation), not lazer ;).

Here's the rest.

How LASER engraving works
The artwork for laser engraving is 1 bit black and white. A laser engraver is basically a plotter with a mirror and a focusing lens on it, with a couple other mirrors to reflect a beam generated at the back of the machine onto a surface. As the head travels, at any point that there is black in the artwork the beam fires, any point where there is white, it doesn't. On paper and wood, that leaves a dark mark; on anodized aluminum it's the opposite.

When anodizing is heated, the dye leaches out of it. A lot of you have seen pictures of maker parts that have been "baked" in the oven over a long period of time to change their colour. This slowly lowers the intensity of whatever base colours have been used to produce the final result. When a focused laser beam hits the surface, it does that really fast on a very small spot. If the laser beam is too weak or out of focus, there's not much change. If the beam is too powerful, it can break the sealing coat and strip the anodizing right off of the aluminum. It's a very touchy and sensitive process. The "true focus" point of the beam is about 1mm deep, but for the purposes of anodized aluminum you can still get a decent colour change for almost a cm. The issue that comes up there is that many markers have more than that between the highest and lowest points in their milling (usually a ridge on the body and the frame or trigger). This means that those markers can't have a graphic burn flow over the entire marker without losing focus to the point where at the top or bottom there won't be enough focus intensity to make a clean burn. This is the most frequent problem with burns that come out less than perfect.

Because of the way laser engraving works, you only get one colour to work with, and that's usually white or off white. The colour that comes out is largely dependent on the type and thickness of the anodizing, and can't really be predicted before the burn is done. The only way to get a different colour on through laser engraving is to use a special compound over the surface of the gun that, when burned, turns black and adheres to the metal. This compound is very expensive, but should allow for a black engraving or even a bi-colour engraving if two passes are made. If you see a multicolour graphic on the side of a gun, it's not laser engraved, but made through a process called ano masking.

Lion's Pride Laser is basically a hobby business with a hobby quality laser. My prices reflect that, as they include design work and still usually come out to less than half of what professional places charge. Professional laser engravers are worth every penny that you pay for them. Their machines often cost upwards of $30,000 and have lenses with a longer depth of field to help avoid those focus problems, and computer components and mechanically adjustable support tables that allow a job to be paused in the middle, raised or lowered, and then continued if a focus problem becomes apparent. I can't do that. It's what you pay for when you pay the big bucks.

A full burn that encompasses the frame and/or reg can often take upwards of 45 minutes to an hour per side on my machine, not including the time it takes to set up and align the marker.

Different types of designs:
If you decide to get laser engraving done on your marker, there is a broad spectrum of design options to chose from ranging from completely generic to very personal. Generic options tend to be patterns; sometimes they are traditional like argyle or paisley, or in a designer style pattern like LV that hybrid/modefy'd likes to use that can include corporate logos, or even fancy swirly doodles. From there you can move into slightly more individual but still not personal like splatters or skulls, etc. As we move on up the chain there are themed guns. Usually these are based off of movies and involve character or title art, and often quotes from the movies. As we get very individual you can get team logos put on your guns, or names, catchphrases, mottos, or personal pictures.

The different types of engraving can have a profound effect on the value of your marker, and it's usually not the way you'd think. People with custom ano are often surprised at the fact that their $200 cosmetic upgrade only nets them another $30-50 in resale value. Everyone has different preferences, and when you have a cosmetic change made such as fresh ano, it means that you need to find a buyer with the same preferences. With laser engraving it's even worse. While a fairly generic pattern might get you a bit extra on resale, it has to be something that someone else likes. Something in the middle of the spectrum, such as a theme gun, can net you much closer to the cost of the burn but will take longer to find someone that is that much of a fan of the theme. If you want to unload it fast, it will hurt the value of the gun. If you are personalizing the gun with your name or team, you're basically killing it's resale value. Nobody wants to sport someone else's name on their gear. At best you have a minor reduction in value from a stock gun, at worst, you'll never be able to sell it.

Why to get your gun lasered (aka my little rant)
I'll start this with some "why not"s. Don't get your gun lasered because you think it will increase it's resale value. It is very VERY rare for you to make your money back off of it. Don't get your gun lasered because you saw someone cool's gun and want to be like them so you get the same pattern. Laser engraving is an opportunity to have a marker that's completely and uniquely you. I'll duplicate and tweak my designs for other markers, it's your choice; If you really like the design and feel that it's you, then that's cool, just don't do it to be like everyone else. I have the most fun doing art for someone that has an idea for their gun that they came up with themselves, but that's just me. Guns are getting whored around too much these days. If you're going to get me to put the time and effort into designing and engraving a marker, I'd really like it to be because you want to keep it - That you want a showpiece - That when the time comes that you desperately feel the need for a new marker to compensate for your lack of skill and/or focus you put it on a wall and pull it out every so often to reminisce about the good old days of paintball, sonny, not because it's going to be three other people's in the next 4 months.

The process of getting a gun lasered by me (taken from the Lion's Pride website)
1. The customer contacts us with an idea for their design and any graphics they want included. This can include pictures of other guns they've seen or examples from our proof gallery (link available on request, as it is very bandwidth intensive) or completed guns.

2. We let them know if what they are asking for is possible, and if it is a purely verbal description we provide a quick, rough proof to confirm that what they are trying to communicate is what we understand.

3. Once we are on the same page, the customer provides either a 50% non-refundable deposit, or their full payment (including a 50% non-refundable deposit, this is the option that most of our customers choose), and a side on picture of their marker at least 1024x768 pixels. This deposit covers a reasonable amount of FULL proofing of the graphic overlaid on the picture of their marker. Unfortunately, we cannot commit hours to graphic design that may be frivolous or be then handed to another engraving company for free.

4(a). Once the customer is satisfied with the design, they send in their marker and any outstanding balance of their payment, including tax and return shipping, and the graphic is then laser engraved permanently onto their marker.

4(B). Depending on how much of the marker the design covers, it may be necessary to remove electronic and pneumatic components from the marker (board, eyes, wires, solenoid, hoses). We will let the customer know in advance if this is necessary, and the customer can either do this themselves (recommended), or pay a disassembly and reassembly fee.

5. After the marker is engraved, the customer is emailed pictures, then it is packed in the same packaging it arrived in (assuming it's reusable) and returned to the customer.



So that's it. That's what you need to know about laser engraving. I hope it's been educational 'n' stuff.

[tko]

Great info to have! This answered alot of my questions and hopefully those of other people as well. I will be in contact with you in the future to laser my 2 guns.

All the ones that you have done look great, and we are super lucky to have an engraver so close to us all.

T

[Murix]

I just have a question. On your website you are charging people 8% PST. Why? People get tickets for selling water at festivals unless they have a business permit. So just wondering how are you charging PST?

[swcblues]

I just have a question. On your website you are charging people 8% PST. Why?

Because LP is a registered business, I have to collect PST (aka RST, OST, and ORST) for all sales made to customers in Ontario and remit that to the government when I report my income. I am also charging it on anything that comes through a PM or personal contact. It's not just on sales that come through the website.

Because I take in less than $30,000 a year, I don't have to collect federal GST. Here is a link to information on PST. I hope that helps clear it up.

[Murix]

That is all I wanted to know, thank you.

[FRballer]

my bro just got his gun back today for lions pride, great job

will be sending in a gun of mine when i decide which one to keep.... again looks good, also VERY fast

[Maty]

nice job arron. i feel a little smarter now

[Pali.Baller]

Nice job, that should answer just about everyone's questions.

If you're charging for a service, you collect only 5% GST, not 8% PST.

If you're charging anybody for a service, you only need to legally charge GST, not PST, while with products it's both.

And that's for established businesses, why would you inform government of what you're doing though?

[NtensityCaptain]

All registered businesses in Ontario are required to charge PST.

And as per why? Aside from it being the right thing to do and saving him from large fines, it would allow him to write off some of the expenses that he incurs putting out a great product....

[EdEvans]

Nice write up swc. good luck with the venture!

[Jttuck]

All registered businesses in Ontario are required to charge PST.

And as per why? Aside from it being the right thing to do and saving him from large fines, it would allow him to write off some of the expenses that he incurs putting out a great product....

[swcblues]

Nice write up swc. good luck with the venture!

Thanks Ed. Trade you some laser engraving for a pair of cleats? Maybe you'd like an exalt zippo?

[Jttuck]

All registered businesses in Ontario are required to charge PST.

And as per why? Aside from it being the right thing to do and saving him from large fines, it would allow him to write off some of the expenses that he incurs putting out a great product....

I just wanted to address Pali.Baller's question. Both NtensityCaptain and swcblues are correct. A registered company must collect PST, but is only required to collect GST if they have revenues over a certain amount. I believe $30K is the magic number. If swcblues has a registered company the CRA will come knocking if they get wind of under the table case transactions. I know the government sometimes doesn't make sense, and taxes suck, but them's the rules.

Jttuck

[Jason Spatz]

Thanks for the info I might be interested in ur services Ill PM you soon

[belleville_balle...]

very informative im thinking sticky?

[kirlusodeb]

Emailed you through the website but didnt hear back. Please PM me a way to reach you, have a project for you

[thing]

Good info, had you guys do a Lighter that I'm very happy with.