Do you use corel for your engraving?
If you were a shop that was just starting out in engraving, what machine would you get?
It really depends on what you want to do and how much you have to spend. I’ve been reading and looking for well over a year getting ready for an upgrade from a very old laser. Gravograph is really neat because their propriety software works both with their laser and the rotary engravers. The software is really awesome and if you don’t already have experience when CorelDRAW it seems like a good way to go. They have a great reputation for support. Actually, most of the American engraver manufacturers have great support reputations. CorelDRAW is an awesome program and can be used with any of the engravers. Because I am becoming more and more familiar with CorelDRAW I will probably go with Epilog, Universal, or Trotac. Each have abilities that are unique to them. It’s a really tough choice.
I have learned a great deal on this and several other forums. In all my reading it has been made very, very plain that you get what you pay for. People that buy cheap deal with a lot of problems. Read a lot. If you get a chance, try not to make a decision until you can go to a Trade Show and see the different ones in action and can talk to other users. That is my next step. Good luck in your search.
By the way, there are sometimes refurbished used lasers of the named brands that can be a good deal.
I am not necessarily talking about a laser. Our businessis ony 2 yrs old. We already have the embroidery, DTG, heat press and Roland cutter. We would like to be able to do small jewelry and awards.
I have looked at gravograph. It is very nice stuff indeed. What I am seeing though, is even the smaller engravers run $4K plus. Would I be better off to just hold off and save more and get the laser?
To start off into engraving, I am just looking to get the most bank for the buck, and a quick return on investment.
If I were to do it again, I would buy a used laser. They build them pretty darn good now. Most times, the worst case is a laser tube recharge. Granted, you won't likely get a speed demon used, but like you said, you are just starting out. With the money you save you can get a second type of machine.
As far as software goes, I use Corel with the laser simply because thats pretty much what everybody else uses. No sense trying to reinvent the wheel. When it comes time to get help, if you're using an abstract program, you'll be on your own.
Other equipment may require you to use proprietary software. Such is the case on my Xenetech rotary engraver. I wish now that I could just use Corel on it too.