Laser engravers are a great way to unleash your creativity and channel it toward something productive and potentially lucrative (if you want to start a business based on it).
Finding a suitable idea is half of the challenge. What can a laser engraver do exactly? You’ll find that there is no shortage of ideas to explore.
As long as you’ve got a creative mindset, you can easily get started working on some of the below suggestions with minimal resources.
Benefits of Using a Laser Engraver
There are many benefits to using a laser engraver compared to other types of engraving and cutting machines. If you’re looking to get started with crafts as quickly as possible, investing in a good laser engraver is one of your best options.
1 – Low Material Costs
There are no (or almost none) consumable costs associated with using a laser engraver. Once you’ve purchased the engraver itself, you just have to buy the items you want to apply the engraving to, and that’s it. You don’t have to resupply the engraver itself with anything, other than occasionally replacing its lenses.
2 – Easy to Learn
Laser engravers are very easy to get started with. As long as you put enough effort into your digital designs, you can easily convert them to actual engravings. Mastering this type of work is a different story though – it can take a lot of dedication to get to a professional level.
3 – Wide Range of Applications
You can use a laser engraver for various types of products. As long as it can be engraved, it’s a potentially valid business model. You just have to figure out how to market and sell the items you’re producing, but you can get assistance with this aspect if you don’t feel confident with it.
Types of Laser Engraver Projects
What types of projects can you do with a laser engraver exactly? Quite a few! The below list is far from exhaustive, but it should serve as a good starting point for exploring the market further.
1 – Trinkets Like Keychains and Bottle Openers
Small trinkets – like keychains and bottle openers – are a perfect introduction to working with a laser engraver. If you can get your hands on a good laser engraver for metal, that’s all you need. You can then purchase blank items and add engravings to them as you see fit. These can sell really well in stores like Etsy.
2 – Glasses and Jars
A good laser engraver that can work on glass can present you with multiple exciting options as well. You can decorate glasses and jars, adding a lot of fine detail to them. You can then either sell them directly – without any content – or expand on this idea even further and sell a specific product using your jars as original packaging.
3 – Wallets
If you’ve got a laser engraver for leather, wallets are one of the simplest things you can produce with it. The market is full of leather wallets that are perfect for engraving, with a simple blank design that leaves a lot of room for experimentation.
A high-grade wallet can sell for quite a lot of money if you set up your marketing appropriately, making this an option you should not ignore.
4 – Phone Covers
Phone covers are another popular use for laser engravers. As long as you pick appropriate materials that can be engraved easily, you can start producing customized designs to match the tastes of many different customers. Keep in mind that you’ll be somewhat limited with regards to your material options, and you may not be able to produce engraved silicone covers, for example.
5 – Animal Collars
Animal collars are another great application for laser engravers for metal. Most collars come with a small trinket that you can customize with the use of an engraver. You just have to be careful to choose a model with enough blank space to fit your engraving. That way, you can produce customized collars that feature the names of people’s pets, as well as additional information like the owner’s contact details.
6 – Stamps
Laser-engraved stamps are a step up above regular stamps and they’re highly valued by other craftspeople and entrepreneurs alike. Many businesses still use stamps for their official paperwork, and an engraved stamp is a great way to help a company stand out from its competition in a stylish way.
7 – Custom Packaging
Custom packaging is another great application for laser engravers. You’ve got a lot of room for experimenting with different materials here. Don’t limit yourself to standard options like plastic and metal. You can also use a fiber laser engraver to achieve some great results, for example.
Explore what popular companies on the market are doing for their packaging and try to think of a way to fit this into your business model. As long as you can avoid spending too much on expensive packaging early on, this can be a good use of a laser engraver.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things you can do with a laser engraver. You just need to leverage your creativity and come up with ideas that will stand out from the rest of the market.
Which is not that difficult if you already have an insight into the success of typical customized products in your local area. Finding that kind of information is quite simple if you use your available resources to their full potential.
