I have a 35W M-300 Universal platform. I really enjoy the machine. I normally do 1/4 inch inlays and now I’m trying to figure out a new product: Emu Eggs.
I have a rotary attachment that fits the eggs, but I don’t have any idea what power/spd/ppi setting should be to do a job. I am using a 2″ focal length on the machine. I know a longer focal length would enable me to engrave more surface area, but I’m not up for upgrading yet.
I asked Universal tech support, but they didn’t have a clue about the specs. Does anyone have any experience on the subject? Looking forward to any ideas.
I was just talking about doing large eggs like that down at the shop. We thought it would be a cool product for the easter season, but coudn’t know where to get the eggs.
My thought on the subject was to coat the eggs with wax, then run the laser as close to 100% power, 100% speed at around 300 DPI to selectively remove portions of the wax, then dip the egg in an ink which would stain the egg, but not where the wax remains. Then after it dries, wax the entire egg. The expected results would be similar to a pen and ink drawing on the egg. With the right jig, multiple colors might be possible.
As you said, one of the biggest problems would be the shape of the egg.
Well, now I feel stupid. I ran some tests on an egg. I ran about 10 different settings. About the 5th one came out pretty well, but I didn’t remember to write down the specs as I was talking with company. Arg! I’m guessing somewhere around 30% power, 50% speed and 500 dpi came out best.
Some things I know for sure:
1.) Resolution isn’t so hot on an irregular surface like an emu egg.
2.) I can’t seem to get multiple shades of green. Darn!
3.) Focal length counts for a lot. Since I have a 2″ lense, I’m stuck to +/- 0.1 inches, which gives me at most 1/2 of the egg surface.
Now, you asked for advice on where to buy the eggs. Go eBay! They’re easy to find on there. You can also jump into other types of eggs.
As for selling price, I’m guessing a decent image should retail for about $100 to $200 depending on the market. I doubt you can ask for $300 since you can’t do multiple layers of green.
On another note, Ostrich eggs should be able to sell for a good price too since no color is in the equation.
Here’s a question, what kind of wax were you thinking of?
Well I am using universal and epilog both! I have tried the concept on eggs on my 25 watt epilog mini with rotary attachment it works on 30 power 40 speed dpi 300 the better idea I have developed instead of dipping into ink is SPRAY First I used copper color fill by spray then I use black color and sprayed only on edges thus giving it a antique effect TRY! It works.
I was thinking of a carnauba car wax.
I use wax only.