Budget Laser Engravers

[AGS]

Does anyone have any experience with entry level / hobbyist laser engravers?

I'm liking the look of the engraved tumblers so I'm presuming I would need a rotary attachment

I'd just like to hear any comments good or bad....

Ideal budget £500 ‐ £800

[pcwizme]

Budget ones are not great for use, A budget normally means open framed diode which is really unsafe. What are you looking at doing with the tumblers, what style. Laser engraving and cutting is my main thing so its something I have a bit of knowledge of.

[AGS]

Thanks for the reply....

It was an advert for the Xtool M1 which got me interested as it also had a blade attachment for cutting small scale vinyl/HTV

The more I looked at it the more I thought it was probably just the 'Cricut' version of a laser engraver so I started looking for cheaper options. Then felt a bit lost hence my post here

The M1 with the rotary attachment is £1300 which is a bit rich for me at the moment

I saw a video of an open framed one which was engraving black matte tumblers down to steel which looked really nice and something I think I could do things with

Other than the tumblers I would just be looking to do the usual engrave and cut on wood etc - very much hobbyist at the moment rather than full on business

[Mrteajunkie]

I have seen a lot of bad comments when it comes to the xtool and others that are advertising EVERYWHERE you can’t go on social media without seeing an ad these days.

have a google at the reviews.
It’s not good.

[webtrekker]

Ok, perhaps not for everyone, but have you considered sandblasting (or, sandcarving as it's often called) an image onto ceramics, glass, metal, slate, etc using either photoresist film, or vinyl as a stencil?

Example:

sancarved-mug-for-firefighters.jpg

A more advanced design entailing more work, but the final result looks good ...

[pcwizme]

I have an Xtool f1 and its great, support has been great so far and no issues for me.

If you want to have a decent chat about lasers feel free to PM me, but, I would advise working out exactly what you want to do with the laser first and dont be fooled by some of the lower powered diodes saying that they are 40w when actually they are 5w output but 40w in. Theres a great bloke on youtube called brandon (make or break shop) who does some great reviews