Copyright © 2013 by Davis Multimedia, Int'l. All Rights Reserved.

As Printed in January 2013, Volume 38, No. 7 of The Engravers Journal

You can use your laser to create unique

Architects can use laser engraved models to help
invitations and greeting cards out of
clients visualize a building. Photo courtesy of
paper, such as these examples from
Xenetech Global, Baton Rouge, LA.
LaserBits, Phoenix, AZ.

If you are like me, you are always looking for that super special idea that will make you a lot of money
with your laser. This article is about ideas—ideas about products that you can create with your laser
engraving system and add to your bottom line. Nothing complicated, nothing too detailed, just lots of
good ideas for making money.
Okay, I admit it. I’m a thief. That’s right, I’m a thief. Milton Berle, known as “Mr. Television” in the
1950s, was reported to have said that he would steal a joke from anyone and he lived by that motto. Well,
I’ll steal (borrow is a kinder word) a good idea from anyone if it might make me some extra money with
my engraving equipment.
Most of us probably do the majority of our work in traditional markets that involve engraving products
like awards, signs, badges, nameplates, desk accessories, gifts, etc. But the beauty of laser engraving is its
versatility and the nearly endless possibilities of items you can customize and/or make. I’ve heard of
lasers being used for everything from creating architectural models to engraving logos on soap to cutting
out gingerbread cookies. By delving into some of these unique projects, you could add a customer here
and there or, even better, tap into an entirely new niche market! And wouldn’t that be nice for your
bottom line?
This article is a compilation of projects I have created, found, borrowed or stolen that might spur some
ideas and help make all of us a few extra bucks using our laser engraving equipment. I make no apologies
for “borrowing” the ideas and fall back on the old adage about using someone else’s idea as the “highest
form of a compliment.”
Although I have attempted to organize these projects into some kind of order, I found it to be
something like herding cats. Some fall into multiple categories and some in no category, so for the most
part, this is just a list of ideas that might work in your business. As for sources, I don’t know where many
of these came from. Some came from laser manufacturer websites. Some I found myself and some I
really don’t know where they came from so if I have borrowed something you think is your idea, I give
you all the credit and thank you for sharing it with the industry.
WOOD PROJECTS
Cabinet Doors: Many people would love to have the center or edge panels of their cabinet doors
(bedroom furniture, entertainment center, kitchen cabinets, china cabinets, etc.) lasered with interesting
artwork, a family initial, a family crest or some other design. This works best on solid wood items such
as oak, cherry, maple, etc., but you can also laser engrave laminate doors covered with most Formica-like
materials. The big limitation here might be the size of the door vs. the size of your laser, although many
of today’s lasers have a “pass-through” feature that allows you to open the doors on the machine to
accommodate oversized items.
Also consider doing inlay work on wood which adds a ton of value to the item and isn’t as difficult as
you might think. You can use it on cabinet doors as well as a variety of other products. A good step-by-
step tutorial is available at www.laserbits.com. Use shell, mother-of-pearl or plastic to create a family
heirloom.

Cork coffee cuffs are a highly salable

Engraving paper with your laser opens up all
item that you can create with your laser.
kinds of creative possibilities. Photo courtesy
Photo courtesy of Epilog Laser, Golden,
of Trotec Laser, Ypsilanti, MI.
CO.

Wooden Boxes: The world is full of wooden boxes and chests that provide the perfect surface for laser
embellishments. A few popular items include jewelry chests, humidors (tobacco boxes) and many types
of keepsake boxes. Especially attractive to young girls, this option can also be very attractive to adults for
a wide variety of applications. Women (and girls) love keepsake boxes for storing jewelry, love letters,
mementos from special occasions and the like. They can also be used to keep baby keepsakes, military
insignia, scouting patches or a host of other special items. Engraving a person’s name or initials along
with a heart, praying hands, etc., make these a hot item. The boxes are available from a variety of
sources. Some are designed to have a ceramic tile placed in the top. The tile can be laser engraved or
replaced with a piece of wood (check Colorado Hardwood or LaserBits for the wood panels).
Wooden Photo Albums: Like the boxes, these are great for graduation, weddings, new babies—any
major event in a person’s life. These can be obtained from a variety of sources, including discount
retailers such as Target or Colorado Heirloom.
Wooden Letters: Epilog Laser’s website has a photo of a door hanging with a large family name initial
and lots of wood leaves. It looks complicated at first but is really very simple since they provide the
CorelDRAW files for everything you need. You could also use your laser to cut wood letters for a variety
of other applications, including signs, wall hangings for kids’ bedrooms that spell out their name, a sport
or some meaningful phrase and decorations for crafts, such as a wreath. Wood letters are also used for
home décor. For example, a popular decorating trend is to display a family initial or monogram on a wall
or cabinet.
Wooden Keepsakes: P. Graham Dunn, an Ohio artist who creates inspirational art and wall hangings,
offers several inexpensive keepsakes such as a cross with the scripture on it or a tablet-like shape with the
Ten Commandments. These can be easily altered to your own customer’s likes and needs or to suit
another faith. A magnet on the back makes them a refrigerator magnet with a very nice profit margin.
Wooden Name Badges: What says “class” more than a name badge made from solid cherry or walnut?
You can use your laser to cut badges in virtually any shape imaginable and add decorative graphics. For
example, how about an apple shape for a teacher or state-shaped badges for a travel group? Wood has a
higher perceived value than plastic, which means you can charge a premium price.

It’s amazing the interesting products you can A variety of fabrics react very well to a
create with acrylic and a laser. This example laser beam. Photo courtesy of Epilog
is from Trotec Laser. Laser.

Drumsticks, Chopsticks and Pool Cues: These are ideal for personalizing with your laser and make
unique gifts and promotional products. Drumsticks are typically made of hickory or maple and may
involve several passes, but they are easy to engrave. Quality chopsticks can be made from a variety of
woods or composites while pool cues are very often coated with a heavy lacquer or composite and will
likely require several passes. They may also need to be filled with paint or Rub-n-Buff to provide
contrast.
Wooden Rulers: Using 1/8" wood veneer, you can engrave and cut wood rulers for use as promotional
products and thank-you gifts for any business. Epilog Laser has CorelDRAW files on its website for
quickly and easily creating these.
Wooden Picture Frames: Most people like picture frames—especially parents and grandparents. They
love to put pictures of their loved ones out for people to see. You can customize frames with any message
or graphics that the customer desires. You could also add cut-out letters and graphics, or inlay another
material to make a high-end gift. The fact that the frame is as special as the photograph only adds to the
excitement.
ACRYLIC PROJECTS
Here is a quick reminder about acrylic: If you want to engrave acrylic, you need to use cast acrylic. If
you are only going to cut a shape out of acrylic, you can use either cast or extruded acrylic. Acrylic can
be engraved on either the front or the back, or for a really interesting effect, on both sides.
Holiday Ornaments: Custom ornaments are very popular during the holiday season, but I make them all
year round. The only difference is I include a suction cup in non-holiday season months and call them
sun-catchers!
Acrylic Letters: Remember the wood letters and door hanger mentioned earlier? You can do exactly the
same thing with colored acrylic. B.F. Plastics has a new line of colored transparent acrylics that
reportedly works well for this application as well as for ornaments.
License Plates: Personalized acrylic license plates are easy to make with your laser. Blanks are
available from Sign Warehouse or LaserBits. Start with a mirror acrylic blank and then overlay it with
cutouts made from other mirror acrylic sheets (or license plate blanks). You can personalize license plates
with names, initials, high school mascots, unlicensed college logos, trade schools and sports art such as
scuba diving, football, etc.
Jewelry: Acrylic can be cut into a wide variety of shapes to make earrings and necklaces. Cast acrylic
can be engraved to add even more meaning. For example: Take the shape of a dolphin and engrave
“Bayside Dolphins” on it to make high school mascot pins. This can also be done with reverse
engravable plastic. Jewelry findings can be purchased at any craft store or from engraving material
suppliers.

Laser-cut stencils will appeal to a variety of What young person wouldn’t want a
customers, from students to those involved in custom laser engraved skateboard? Photo
crafts. Sample courtesy of LaserBits. courtesy of Epilog Laser.

Stencils: In the next category, you will read about making paper stencils which work well for people
who want to use them with spray paint or a stencil brush, but what about people who want to trace letters
onto poster board or other materials and need sharp, crisp letter guides? You can custom make these for
customers out of thin acrylic. Although they are more expensive than paper, stencils cut out of 1/32"
acrylic will last for thousands of applications and are inexpensive to make.
Photo Cut-Outs: Photos can be attached to acrylic (wood and cardboard work too) and then cut out to
form self-standing images either for advertising or personal use. Photo statues are especially popular for
children’s sports pictures such as dance, gymnastics, softball, football, etc. Instead of using a band saw to
cut out a custom shape, simply import the image into CorelDRAW and trace it. Then use your laser to
quickly, easily and accurately vector cut the shape. You can also use this idea to create other photo cut-
out products like key chains, ornaments, wall mounts, cake toppers and magnets. These all make great,
highly personalized gifts.
Rulers: Remember the rulers mentioned in the wood section? They work great with acrylic too!
PAPER PROJECTS
Stencils: Stencils are used for all kinds of applications. I always think of the stencils men use to paint
DOT information on the sides of trucks or owner information on the sides of heavy equipment. Much of
this has been replaced by vinyl but certainly not all. You can use stencil paper and laser any kind of
stencil you want using your “stencil” font and a heavy paper or special stencil paper. You can also cut
stencils for general use, such as crafts, school projects and scrapbooking.
Letters: How many teachers across the country spend hours cutting out letters from construction paper
for bulletin boards? True, some schools have dies that are used to cut them out but many schools don’t,
especially Sunday schools and small schools. Yet these teachers still have lots of bulletin boards to
decorate. And what about all those kids who enter science fairs every year? They cut millions of
construction paper letters for their projects.
 Invitations & Letterhead: Although it takes a bit of time, the market is rich for laser cut invitations and
letterhead. Commercial printing can be very expensive and almost always involves a long delivery time.
You can do the same thing for your customers by using your laser to create personalized wedding
announcements and invitations to various events such as graduations, new births, house warmings and
the like. A great source for wholesale papers and envelopes in small quantities (250 sheets) is at
www.doubleupaper.com.
Special Packaging: You can create some very unique packages and boxes using your laser engraver
and cardboard. It takes some thought and perhaps some experimentation, but you can package your
products in boxes that are as unique as your products or create custom packaging for businesses. You can
also create boxes out of wood. Check out these two videos on YouTube for inspiration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo5nPTJAZy0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?
NR=1&v=0dQ8Ia1CO84&feature=endscreen.
Scrapbooking: Scrapbooking is a big industry and one that continues to grow. You could tap into this
by creating custom scrapbooking kits and pages for your customers. You can use a variety of papers
including construction paper, specialty papers, foils, films, plastics and more to create theme pages for
custom scrapbooks that really stand out. Epilog’s website shows how to make three different scrapbook
pages.

You can use your laser to create beautiful

Personalized license plates are sure to be hot
home décor items, such as this wood inlay
sellers. Photo courtesy of LaserBits.
plaque. Photo courtesy of Trotec Laser.

FABRIC PROJECTS
There are a variety of fabrics that react very well to a laser beam, including denim, cotton and synthetic
materials such as polyester and micro-suede. There are countless projects that you can make using fabric
and your laser which opens up a great opportunity for extra profits. Shirts, jeans, purses, jackets, vests,
etc., are all great candidates for lasering. There are several more suggestions available on the Epilog
website, including felt placemats and coasters, denim beach bags, microfiber pillows, aprons, velvet tote
bags, felt appliques and twill appliques.
GLASS PROJECTS
Stemware & Steins: Wine glasses for weddings, anniversaries or personalized glassware for everyday
gifts represent another great opportunity to make money with your laser. Although some people may
want fancy stemware, most will be happy with basic Libby or similar quality glassware. These engrave
easily, especially if you have a cylindrical engraving fixture, but they can also be engraved without one.
The rule of thumb is, the cheaper the glass, the better it engraves and the glassware sold at Target does
just fine with many of the glasses selling for under $1.00 each. Several sizes of beer steins are sold at
stores like the dollar store type that can also be lasered.
Glass Plates & Cups: Again, Target sells a lot of glass plates and cups. These laser very nicely and can
be used for awards, special events or monogrammed for formal use. Plates should be engraved on the
backside.
Glass Jars: Jars from the Dollar Store are great for storage and can be engraved with text that describes
what’s being stored, such as Sugar, Salt, Flour, Tea, etc. Many have cork lids which can also be laser
engraved.
Wine Bottles: Giving wine is fine but what happens to the bottle after the wine is gone? If it is given as
a commercial gift, you want the bottle to hang around as long as possible. What better way to accomplish
that than to engrave the bottle with the person’s name and message? For those who don’t drink spirits,
non-alcoholic sparkling juice bottles can also be engraved. Remember, in many states, you cannot sell or
resell spirits. The customer must buy it and bring it to you.

Custom laser engraved ornaments, such as

Inlay work on instruments, such as this
these from LaserBits, are popular during the
guitar example from Epilog Laser, can be
holiday season but you can also make money
beautiful and profitable.
with them all year-round.

MISC. PROJECTS
Automotive Gaskets: Making gaskets for automobiles, motorcycles, lawn mowers or most anything is
easy with a laser. People who work on classic cars or tractors, for example, often need gaskets that they
can’t find commercially. These are easy to make with cork or gasket material which is available at any
auto parts store.
Cork Coasters & Table Protectors: Anything made of cork can be laser engraved. Check out discount
stores for inexpensive items or for something different, try www.everen
viro.com for cork coffee cuffs.
Soap: How about personalized soap? Why not? It can make a unique gift, promotional item or
souvenir. Pick up designer soaps on closeouts at discount stores or boutiques, engrave several different
scents and make a small basket or box for them. A few dollars is suddenly an expensive gift item. What
about a local bed-and-breakfast? What a nice touch for their guests or even for your own guest bath.
Candy: One EJ reader uses his laser to engrave Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for wedding favors (read
“Getting Creative With a Laser,” Jun. 12)! I’ve tried lasering chocolate but didn’t have much success.
Apparently, however, someone has figured it out. What do you have to lose? Whatever you mess up, you
get to eat!
Puzzles: Cardboard puzzles are easy to do. Just paste a digital printout to a sheet of poster board and
laser. These can also be made with wood or acrylic for an even more substantial puzzle.
Foam: Foam can be cut or engraved to make all kinds of items. For example, one application is to laser
cut-outs to hold wrenches, sockets and other tools in metal tool cabinets.
Italian Charms: Companies like Johnson Plastics offer stainless steel Italian charms you can laser mark
using a laser-markable chemical coating. These are popular among women, especially personalized
charms that they can’t buy anywhere else. Note, too, that if you have a YAG or fiber laser, you can create
a nice black mark on these and other metal items without using a laser-markable coating.
Property ID Tags: There are several companies that sell pre-cut property ID tags including Horizons,
Johnson Plastics, LaserBits and Identification Plates, Inc. Plus, you can always make your own with
engraving plastic or laserable metal. Schools, hospitals and many other facilities have a policy to label
everything they own with their name, a code or a barcode. This can become a very lucrative market.
Architectural Models: This could be a section all by itself because it is so diverse. These models are
sometimes made from heavy poster board, wood or acrylic. The material has to be thick enough so that
the edges can be glued to other pieces, so 1/8" seems ideal but when building scale models, much thinner
materials are often used. Architects use these models to help potential clients visualize a building and the
models can range from very simple to incredibly complex. In fact, some architectural firms own their
own lasers, (some of the biggest laser beds in the country) and hire CAD engineers to do nothing but
create these masterpieces. The other end of the spectrum includes people like the guy in West Virginia
who designs model railroad buildings and then cuts out the hundreds or thousands of parts on his laser
and sells the kits for several hundred dollars each.
Agate Slices: This idea came from Epilog: Use agate slices as place cards. The agate is available from
www.amazon.com. At about a buck each, these make beautiful place settings with a name lasered on
them.

The precision of a laser allows you to

create extremely intricate designs in
materials such as leather, as this photo
from Trotec Laser illustrates.

“YOU BRING IT, WE ENGRAVE IT”

Don’t forget to play up your services for engraving items that customers bring to you. Not only is it a
great way to make extra money with your laser, but you very well may discover another niche for your
business. Here’s a sampling.
Medical Equipment: Medical equipment is very expensive. Surgical tools, for example, are often made
out of stainless steel or titanium. These can be marked with a fiber or YAG laser, or a CO2 laser using a
laser-markable coating. Some customers will want barcodes or sequential numbering on medical
instruments.
Tools: Tools are usually made of steel and are sometimes chrome plated. These too can be marked with
a CO2 laser and a laser-markable coating. Like medical equipment, some customers will want barcodes
or sequential numbering engraved on the tools.
Guns, Gun Stocks and Knives: Using a laser-markable coating, it is possible to laser engrave gun metal
and knives with a CO2 laser. Wood stocks and hand grips can also be lasered. Be sure you are insured
properly before accepting guns and that you meet any and all local and state laws.
Guitars and Pick Guards: Inlay work on musical instruments such as guitars, banjos and bass guitars
can be both beautiful and very profitable. Many pick guards are made of acrylic which can be engraved
and paint filled.
iPhones, iPads, Laptops, etc.: The backs of most, if not all, of these electronic devices can be laser
engraved. Engrave them with a name, address, artwork, logo or inspirational message.
Jewelry: Some jewelry can be laser engraved using a laser-markable coating. This can be tricky,
however, since it may have a rounded surface or a coating that the chemical won’t work with. Still, the
stainless steel back of most watches, ID bracelets and medical safety alert bracelets or necklaces can be
engraved and can add to your bottom line.
Skateboards: Skateboards are usually made of wood or a composite plastic material. I haven’t tried the
composite material, but the wood boards engrave great. Kids love to pick “really rad” artwork to laser on
the bottoms of their boards.
Conclusion
Wow! What a list and I am sure there are just as many that I have left out! Some of these ideas you
might not be interested in, others you might like but you won’t have the customer base for them. But
some of these could surely be money makers for you and your laser. Maybe you have never thought
about them or maybe you did, but then forgot. Whatever the case may be, this reminder should ignite
some excitement in your mind and put some dollars in your till, and that is the whole purpose of this list.
My thanks to the websites and individuals these ideas came from. May we all use them in the hopes of a
great 2013 and for many years beyond. Happy New Year!

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