MyBroadband recently invested in a laser engraver that has quickly shown its worth, paying for itself on multiple occasions.
The primary reason for acquiring the laser was to produce personalized gifts.
A distinctive card or object displaying the recipient’s name enhances the gift’s uniqueness, making it truly memorable.
For larger orders, we often turn to third-party engraving services for items such as tags, but it can be tough when we require single items on short notice.
After thorough research and comparison, we settled on the Creality Falcon 2 Pro, which perfectly aligned with our needs.
This engraver features a 22W diode laser, capable of engraving and cutting a variety of materials, though it does not work on metals.
It comes with an engraving area of 400×415mm and is completely enclosed, equipped with an exhaust fan and vent.
This design allows us to use it indoors without being overwhelmed by smoke.
While there are other more powerful and specialized lasers on the market, this model seemed like an excellent starting point for office use.
The setup process was simple, enabling us to get started with engraving and cutting within an hour of unpacking.
The Falcon 2 is compatible with a range of software applications, as it utilizes standard GRBL code; however, we strongly recommend Lightburn.
This software comes with a 30-day free trial, after which it transitions to a paid service. The basic license covers all our needs for the Falcon 2 Pro.
Lightburn makes it easier to set up and edit various projects compared to the free options we tried out.
In the first few days with the engraver, our main focus was experimenting with different speeds and power settings on various materials to build a reference database.
We quickly discovered that cutting wood generates far more smoke than we anticipated.
Even with the exhaust vent extending outside, several neighboring offices complained about the smell.
After moving our setup three times within the building and exploring various exit points for the smoke, we finally found a location that did not trouble other offices.
To ensure safety, we keep the laser exhaust vent pointed out a window. We also run the air conditioning at full while engraving to maintain fresh air quality.
Engraving produces less smoke, allowing us to run the laser continuously without issues.
On the other hand, cutting creates more smoke, so we strategically schedule breaks between cuts to ensure all smoke is cleared before starting a new cut.
Investing in the enclosed engraver was certainly the right call; attempting to use an unenclosed model indoors would have been nearly impossible.
The first significant project we undertook was designing a prize wheel for office giveaways and conference events.
While the wheel itself was CNC-cut by an external vendor, we utilized our machine to engrave and cut various prize segments, enabling quick and easy adjustments for different events.
As the year came to a close, we aimed to distribute gifts, complete with customized boxes for each recipient.
These boxes are purchased in bulk, and thanks to our early trials, we can now quickly engrave both a logo and a name on the front of each box.
Additionally, we ordered some engravable aluminum business cards from Temu, which became a big hit.
The cards, made from a thin sheet of anodized aluminum, allow for fast engraving even at lower power settings.
By constructing a couple of jigs to hold the cards, we can now produce high-quality business cards as needed.
We also found open-source software that allows us to design laser-cut boxes in virtually any shape and size.
This has been especially useful for creating gifts in smaller quantities, as it takes quite a bit of time to cut out a box.
We’ve applied these techniques for various gifts and projects, enabling us to produce new boxes as needed.
This capability was particularly advantageous when we upgraded our mobile data network testing tools.
We explored several concepts for backpack-based test benches suitable for walking tests in malls or for scheduled drive testing.
After attempting to purchase some existing products, we were taken aback by the high costs, which reached hundreds of thousands of rands for a single backpack.
The steep pricing, combined with the fact that none of these options fulfilled all of our feature needs, quickly inspired us to create our own design, which we could easily prototype using our laser.
Our network testing team is currently assessing this design, which has seen several iterations thanks to the laser cutter.
A new design typically takes about an hour to cut and assemble, with roughly half that time spent waiting for glue to dry.
This adaptability enables us to quickly and affordably test new ideas to improve workflows for our testing team.
As we continue to explore new concepts and projects, the laser engraver has become an invaluable resource for the office, far surpassing our initial expectations.
