With the maturity of laser engraving technology, leather, metal, and wood laser engraving ideas have gradually entered the public view. More factories and individuals come up with laser engraver business ideas to make money.
The laser engraving machine used to develop laser engraving ideas is a high-tech product with laser technology. It has a high technical content of integration of light, machinery, and electricity. Nowadays, laser engraving ideas are almost everywhere, and laser engraving machines have also become indispensable machines in many industries. For example, advertising, crafts, molding, construction, packaging, decoration, and other industries.
If you are looking for a laser engraver to develop laser engraver business ideas, this article may provide some aspirations. The following ideas are the most popular and profitable ones in various industries.
Why are laser engraving ideas so popular?
One of the reasons why laser engraved gift ideas are popular is because laser engraving has unparalleled advantages.
Laser engraving is a process realized by a laser system. A laser mounted on a CNC machine burns a thin layer on the top surface of the material. This changes the material surface color to create an etched pattern or design. The laser engraving machine uses 2D design files to guide the engraving process. So It can engrave or etch various designs onto leather, wood, metal, and other materials.
- Laser engraving has extensive uses and applications. For instance, a CO2 laser engraver can develop laser engraving ideas on almost any non-metal material. A laser engraver for metal can also mark many metal and plastic materials.
- The laser cutter gift ideas are non-contact processing, which will not cause mechanical extrusion or stress to the materials. This causes no damage to the surface of the workpieces and also no deformation of the materials.
- The laser engraved gift ideas have high precision and delicate quality. There are almost no errors in the same or different batches of the same product. Therefore, laser-engraved products are exquisite.
- With a reasonable software layout, laser engraving can make full use of the materials to reduce wastes and production costs.
- Compared to manual cutting and engraving, laser cutting and engraving is faster, safer, and more accurate.
- The laser engraving machine can rapidly replicate thousands of products based on the laser engraving ideas. It has no limitation on the product quantity.
Materials used to develop laser engraving ideas
The materials used for developing laser engraving ideas are mainly divided into two categories, metal and non-metal. At present, the most commonly used machines to realize laser cutting business ideas on the market also have two types. They are CO2 laser machines and fiber laser machines. Generally speaking, the materials that a CO2 or fiber laser can mark, engrave, or cut are almost unlimited. The CO2 laser engraving machine is mainly used to realize laser engraving ideas of non-metallic materials. While the fiber laser machine mainly realizes the laser engraving metal ideas.
| Materials used in non-metal laser engraving ideas | Materials used in laser engraving metal ideas |
| Wood Bamboo Acrylic Leather Paper Glass Stone Plastics Rubber Fabric Fibergalss Resin Cork | Steel, steel alloys Titanium, titanium alloys Brass Aluminum, aluminum alloys Zinc, zinc alloys Gold Silver Iron |
Best laser engraving ideas to make money
There are countless laser engraver and laser cutter ideas in various industries. Many enthusiasts will choose a CO2 laser engraver with low power and a simple structure. They use it to realize their simple laser engraving ideas. For example, small crafts, photo frames, key chains, gifts, etc. But factories or workshops that have mass production needs shall consider many factors. If they want to develop laser cutter ideas, they neeed to consider, for example, materials, quality, precision, time, cost, etc. These are all factors that will affect the success of laser engraving ideas and the profitability of the factory.
The following introduces multiple laser engraver business ideas that are quite popular in 6 industries.
Laser engraving ideas for decoration
Laser-engraved decorations have always been the favorite products of consumers. For example, laser engraving wood ornaments, laser engraving acrylic holiday pendants, laser engraving crystal balls, etc. Other materials used for decorative laser engraving ideas include organic glass, two-color plates, MDF, plywood, metals, etc.
Laser engraving wood decorations utilize the unrestricted feature of laser engraving and cutting machines for graphics processing. You can draw any creative image on the wood and put it together into interesting ornaments after coloring.
The laser engraving acrylic and crystal decorations are even more dazzling under the illumination of various colors of lights. In addition, laser engraving metal or acrylic jewelry is also very popular among female consumers. Personalized laser engraving decorations can make your home, store, or hotel more attractive.
Laser engraving ideas for crafts
Laser engraving has gradually become the mainstream way of making non-metal crafts. It has features of fast speed, good engraving quality, and excellent precision. Besides, many materials are suitable for laser engraving crafts ideas. For instance, wood, leather, cloth, acrylic, crystal, bamboo, two-color board, paper, etc.
Laser engraving photos can perfectly copy your photos onto the surface of wood, acrylic, marble, and other materials. Such photos can be kept for a long time and become a testimony of the love between you and your family and friends.
Laser engraving crystal or acrylic trophies or medals are quite popular in various award ceremonies. The ceremony organizer laser engraves their name or logo on the trophies. So the trophies are not only a reward but also an advertising medium.
Laser engraving wood pen holders, business cards, etc., can fully display individual characteristics. And laser engraving metal crafts such as keychains, medals, and jewelry are also popular.
Laser engraving ideas for daily necessities
Wood laser engraving ideas are everywhere in daily life. For example, laser-engraved rolling pins with various graphics and characters on them can make various personalized biscuits. Many bars and restaurants choose laser engraving glass cups, bottles, or spice jars. And also laser engraving wood coasters, napkin boxes, and laser engraving stainless steel ice cubes and tableware. These personalized laser cutter ideas indeed add vitality to ordinary life.
In addition, the patterns and characters on many daily necessities can all be engraved with a laser. For example, mobile phone cases, tableware, paddles, bookmarks, pet tags, bottle openers, coat hangers, etc. These are also great laser engraved gift ideas. It is also a good choice to use them as gifts.
Laser engraving ideas for advertising
Laser-engraved and laser-cut billboards or signs are also very popular ideas with shop owners. Common laser cutting business ideas for advertising include wooden signs, acrylic signs, acrylic characters, holiday pendants, etc. Laser engraving stainless steel water cups, nameplates, pet tags can also play a role in propaganda. Laser-cut acrylic and crystal letters will show different display effects at night with different colors of lights. Some bars or restaurants engrave their names or logos on the glasses, coasters, napkin holders, tableware. All these can leave a profound impression on customers.
Laser engraving ideas for printing and packaging
For most products, the packaging is not only a necessity but can also become a distinctive selling point. It can thereby promote product sales. It is very important to print the product’s trademark, logo, bar code, or other marks on the product packaging. Laser technology can carry out a contact-free printing and marking process, minimizing the abrasion of product packaging. Moreover, the printing process is quite fast and accurate, and the printed graphics or fonts are permanent and wear-resistant.
The CO2 laser engraving machine for wood can engrave various letters and patterns on wood, paper, bamboo, and leather packages. A fiber laser marking machine can mark product models, brands, or other codes on electronic components, hardware, and other metals.
Laser engraving ideas for clothing and leather
The laser leather engraver can conduct the engraving, cutting, carving, hollowing, and other processes on the leather, cloth, and other fabrics. Clothing manufacturers can design personalized laser engraving leather or cloth patterns. These patterns can be stored permanently, and will not disappear or damage due to washing and other reasons.
Laser engraving machines used to realize laser engraving ideas
Various laser engraving ideas may require different types of laser engraving machines to achieve. At present, the common laser sources of laser engraving machines on the market mainly include 4 types. They are the CO2 laser, fiber laser, UV laser, and green light laser. Their laser wavelengths are different. And the engraving efficiency is also very different.
The CO2 laser engraving machine is suitable for engraving materials such as wood, leather, plastic, and other non-metallic materials. A fiber laser engraving machine is mainly used for stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, and other metal materials. Materials that a UV laser machine can process are very wide, including plastic, stone, leather, ceramics, and so on. And the green light laser marking machine is suitable for surface and internal engraving of glass, crystal, and other materials. It can also mark certain plastics, silicon, and reflective metals. Among them, the first two types of laser engraving machines are the most commonly used.
Below I’ll introduce three laser engraving machines from Blue Elephant. All the above laser engraving ideas can be realized by these machines.
1. Laser engraving machine for wood and other non-metals
This laser engraver also has a rotary device, which is used to fix and rotate the workpieces. So it can engrave letters on cylindrical items, like laser engraving glass cups, brush pots, rolling pins, spice jars, etc. Except for wood laser cutter projects, it can also develop laser engraving leather, acrylic, fabric, and glass ideas. The price of this CO2 laser engraving for wood varies from $3,000 to $9,000 according to specific configurations and specifications.
Laser engraving wood crafts are the most common applications of the laser engraving machine for wood. Different wood materials can have different engraving results. For example, natural wood is more suitable for engraving. While some plywood, which has a nonuniform structure or too much glue, may be more suitable for cutting. The video below shows a 1390 CO2 laser engraving machine engraving letters on a glass.
2. Laser engraving machine for leather, cloth, and fabric
Its working area is 1300x2600mm, which is enough to engrave clothes or small items in a massive way. The laser head adopts an automatic focusing function. So it can automatically adjust the distance between the head and the fabric. This ensures that the laser engraver can process with the best focal length when engraving and cutting materials of different thicknesses. The price of this machine ranges from $5,000 to $15,000 approximately.
Textiles such as wool, denim, and leather are very popular laser-customized materials, whether in the field of tailoring or clothing. Due to its incredible precision, the laser leather engraver machine cuts even very small details. Although it looks delicate, in fact, many fabrics can directly engrave different shapes without reducing their durability.
The 1:20s-2:20s of the video below shows the process of laser leather engraver cutting leather materials. The entire cutting process is fast, precise, and clean. And the cut surface is smooth without any burrs.
3. Fiber laser marking machine for marking metals
The fiber laser marking machine has a very soft beam quality and is small in size. It is suitable for developing a variety of laser engraving metal ideas. Blue Elephant fiber laser marking machine can customize the marking patterns due to the optimized design software. Besides, it can leave permanent marks on multiple metal materials and some plastics. So it has extensive use in electronic components, daily necessities, tools, automotive parts, gifts, cables, and other industries.
The following video shows the process of marking letters on different metal materials with a fiber laser marker.
Words in the end
Laser engraving ideas can be seen everywhere in our daily lives. There are also many materials suitable for carrying out laser engraving business ideas. For example, wood, plastics, crystal, acrylic, rubber, bamboo, fabric, leather, etc. Different laser engraving projects may use different laser engraving machines. But the most commonly used is the CO2 laser and fiber laser. The former mainly cuts and engraves non-metallic materials and has a wide range of uses. While the latter is mainly used to engrave metal materials, such as aluminum, stainless steel, gold, and silver.
Personalized laser engraving ideas can invigorate your life and business, make family life better, and make business more attractive. Good laser engraving projects can also bring revenues to your business and increase your competitiveness.
If you want to choose a laser engraving machine, before choosing a manufacturer, please take a look at the machines of Blue Elephant. Blue Elephant provides multiple models of CO2 and fiber laser machines to meet all your needs of laser engraving ideas.
