Hi, saw a demo of the epolog yesterday– the guy was very patient — he had scheduled an hour for his demo and information, but three hours later we were still talking and he didn’t seem the least bit concerned. Then again, when you’re selling an item that costs more than my last car…..
Anyhow, I am now thinking about where to locally obtain materials. I know I can get wood and such around as I am a woodturner as well, but the blanks and some of the less common items (to me anyway) like acrylic sheets or corian - I went to the home despot (sic) and they had blank looks when I asked about smaller pieces of corian - and bluntly informed that as a solid surface there are no “small bits” to be had. Is there a list of odd or unique surfaces/materials and the suppliers for them?
I am in the Los Angeles area, so there’s got to be more available locally that wood… right?
For Corian talk to your local kitchen remodelers/installers. The sink cutouts are usually pretty decent sizes to work with. You can cut the material on a tablesaw and also work it with a router. Just use carbide blades and bits.
At home despot, don’t be afraid to pick up a couple pieces of granite, marble or ceramic tile to play with.
For generic plastics/acrylics (used for experimentation or play) I’ve used TAP Plastics. Where there’s a store you can frequently find an “odds and ends” bin with very inexpensive pieces (a couple bucks each, sometimes more). They also have a website, www.tapplastics.com. We’ve had fun with some colored acrylic sheets we bought from them. Good luck!
For acrylic I recommend Interstate Plastics http://www.interstateplastics.com/ They are cheaper than TAP. You can buy as little as 1 square foot. Their website is new, and doesn’t begin to list all that they carry. They have both cast and extruded, in clear and a whole range of colors. And they’ll ship your order to you.
What are you cutting out of the acrylic you buy?
Ornament-type shapes or other novelty shapes (lucky clovers, etc). Zipper pulls, key fobs, little stuff like that. I have an Epilog Legend 24 which puts almost 35w at the table. Mostly 1/8″ material.
I haven’t done much since I’ve had my laser engraver only one month, but I’m making clear cast acrylic personalized plates to go with trophies, and I use black extruded acrylic for building models of trophy bases. My business is resin casting, so after I have laser cut and engraved the acrylic pieces I glue them together to create the model, mold them in silicone rubber and cast multiple bases in resin.