I have a membership based "hackerspace" near me that has several laser engravers. Hackerspace is in quotes because it's less of an informal thing and more of a business. The machines they have can engrave or cut acrylic, wood, and glass, but unfortunately not metal yet. In conjunction with the
case I might be doing if the interest is high enough, I was thinking it might be nice to offer laser engraving or cutting at a pretty cheap rate. If more people were interested, the cost would be much lower.
Their basic one month membership cost is $140. So the cost of membership would be split between however many people were interested in getting something engraved. If 20 people are interested, the basic cost of engraving would be $7 each. You'd have to either send me what you'd want engraved or cut or provide the money for me to purchase it locally. A sample piece would also be nice so that I can test it and make sure the settings are dialed in before engraving or cutting the final piece. In addition, I would have a small piece fee just as some basic compensation for my time, gas to get there, etc. The simpler the job, the lower the fee, the more complex the job, the higher it would be. I can't see it being more than a couple of dollars a piece.
If this sounds like something you might be interested in, go ahead and drop a comment in here and let me know what kinds of things you might be interested in getting cut or engraved. If you want to prototype some acrylic cases, this is a perfect opportunity to try them out.
