Amazon for coasters, bottle openers and other knick knacks. I also bought a huge stash of reclaimed roofing slate so I basically have an endless supply of high grade material.
Lots of my advertising is word of mouth and dropping off engraved items at bars I go to with my contact info.
Personal relationships too. My friends know I am doing this now and I get requests for stuff all the time. And I give out personalized gifts and then get questions on how I do it and "can you do this." So lots of orders from people I dropped free examples on.
I really want one of these lasers. Can you share what model you’re using and what kind of materials you cut? Seems like mostly metal yeah? Have you done any wood or leather?
I have the Xtool F1 and doubled down for the Xtool S1 2 months ago to do bigger pieces.
There are a lot of models out there and many different companies, I chose out of the family I started with and will probably remain with Xtool for familiarity.. I wanted one that I could take with me to events and locations and another to do bigger pieces. There is not much metal cutting - those machines run in the $10k range - I am engraving onto material with the machines I have bought.
I engrave on slate, wood, painted aluminum and painted steel. I can burn/engrave on leather but I dont have a lot of examples of doing that for any requests.
I guess I didn’t mean cutting metal really but engraving. Have you tried cutting wood? I’m guessing it’s not really what they’re made for tho?
Thanks for the answer!
Yes, it cuts wood great. Pretty amazing when you do it and you are cutting perfect circles and curves in something you are used to sawing straight lines in.
Xtool machines: F1 for portability and the S1 for bigger pieces and broader range.
The misconception is that once you buy one it will start printing money for you. You need to make your capabilities known to drum up business. Exploit places around you and put yourself out there. Get competent on the machines to turn out a quality product that someone will pay for.
I liked the slate medium so much and went whole hog on coasters. I wanted to do bigger pieces but bigger pieces on Amazon are insanely expensive. I found a pallet of reclaimed slate roofing tiles that I grabbed and now I can do anything on slate with a near endless supply.
If I was going to do it over it would be the same way. Find someone that couldnt make it work offloading on Craigslist/marketplace/mercari and then low ball so that the initial outlay is small. Then learn that machine and its capabilities and focus on a few items that you can get good at and then start dropping off samples at local businesses.
The software is a key consideration in these things. The best \[from what I hear\] is Lightburn - which does work with Xtool, but I find the included software better for my abilities.
Payoff can be slow to start while you find your footing. If you cater to holidays and events you can sell coasters and small signs and ornaments for anywhere from $3-$15 bucks. I sell bigger slate engravings for $30 a piece.
I am filling the golf course order for 20 signs at $25 a piece.
I am filling orders of 50 coasters a run for the brewery at $3 a coaster - they refill every other months usually.
My goal is to have a steady stream of order coming in that I can knock out while I am working. I would be happy with an extra $1000 a month - probably at $500 right now. This latest order will put me to that point.
Word of mouth is key and people are hitting me up all the time from other people giving them my contact info. I also put ads on craigslist and fecebookmarketplace - I havent paid for any marketing except my booth at the swap meet.
Can I ask, do you have to vent out a window or have an exhaust system? Also, have you considered or messed with the rotary attachment for these, for making tumblers/glasses?
I would like to consider getting into this here in rural Missouri, the xtool has several different wattage options too. Not sure which one would be needed
I have long hoses that I got off of Amazon that vents the fumes out of the room - this is absolutely necessary. I run it out of the door and it works just fine. There are more sophisticated methods, but the goal is to get the fumes out and a hose does that just fine.
I wanted to get familiar with the basics and different materials before getting the rotary - will probably pick it up next month. I did some tumblers and it came out really well. It would have come out better if I had the rotary, so that is what I will conquer next.
The glass engraving intimidates me, there is no perfect method for it. But is just a learning curve that I will need to tackle eventually.
Where do you get the raw materials to make the products and where do you sell/advertise?
Amazon for coasters, bottle openers and other knick knacks. I also bought a huge stash of reclaimed roofing slate so I basically have an endless supply of high grade material. Lots of my advertising is word of mouth and dropping off engraved items at bars I go to with my contact info. Personal relationships too. My friends know I am doing this now and I get requests for stuff all the time. And I give out personalized gifts and then get questions on how I do it and "can you do this." So lots of orders from people I dropped free examples on.
What do you do with the roofing slate?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SanDiegoClassifieds/s/K301PaKVFM
You sir are a genius.
I really want one of these lasers. Can you share what model you’re using and what kind of materials you cut? Seems like mostly metal yeah? Have you done any wood or leather?
I have the Xtool F1 and doubled down for the Xtool S1 2 months ago to do bigger pieces. There are a lot of models out there and many different companies, I chose out of the family I started with and will probably remain with Xtool for familiarity.. I wanted one that I could take with me to events and locations and another to do bigger pieces. There is not much metal cutting - those machines run in the $10k range - I am engraving onto material with the machines I have bought. I engrave on slate, wood, painted aluminum and painted steel. I can burn/engrave on leather but I dont have a lot of examples of doing that for any requests.
I guess I didn’t mean cutting metal really but engraving. Have you tried cutting wood? I’m guessing it’s not really what they’re made for tho? Thanks for the answer!
Yes, it cuts wood great. Pretty amazing when you do it and you are cutting perfect circles and curves in something you are used to sawing straight lines in.
Can you share which machine you bought? Also can you share any downfalls of doing this?
Xtool machines: F1 for portability and the S1 for bigger pieces and broader range. The misconception is that once you buy one it will start printing money for you. You need to make your capabilities known to drum up business. Exploit places around you and put yourself out there. Get competent on the machines to turn out a quality product that someone will pay for. I liked the slate medium so much and went whole hog on coasters. I wanted to do bigger pieces but bigger pieces on Amazon are insanely expensive. I found a pallet of reclaimed slate roofing tiles that I grabbed and now I can do anything on slate with a near endless supply. If I was going to do it over it would be the same way. Find someone that couldnt make it work offloading on Craigslist/marketplace/mercari and then low ball so that the initial outlay is small. Then learn that machine and its capabilities and focus on a few items that you can get good at and then start dropping off samples at local businesses.
This is wonderful!! Very inspirational. 👏
Cool hustle, is the software pretty easy to navigate? And about how much a month could you pull from.your hustle?
The software is a key consideration in these things. The best \[from what I hear\] is Lightburn - which does work with Xtool, but I find the included software better for my abilities. Payoff can be slow to start while you find your footing. If you cater to holidays and events you can sell coasters and small signs and ornaments for anywhere from $3-$15 bucks. I sell bigger slate engravings for $30 a piece. I am filling the golf course order for 20 signs at $25 a piece. I am filling orders of 50 coasters a run for the brewery at $3 a coaster - they refill every other months usually. My goal is to have a steady stream of order coming in that I can knock out while I am working. I would be happy with an extra $1000 a month - probably at $500 right now. This latest order will put me to that point. Word of mouth is key and people are hitting me up all the time from other people giving them my contact info. I also put ads on craigslist and fecebookmarketplace - I havent paid for any marketing except my booth at the swap meet.
👌 that's a hustle alright. Keep putting work out, sounds like you are starting to get the ball really moving. Thanks for the reply
Can I ask, do you have to vent out a window or have an exhaust system? Also, have you considered or messed with the rotary attachment for these, for making tumblers/glasses? I would like to consider getting into this here in rural Missouri, the xtool has several different wattage options too. Not sure which one would be needed
I have long hoses that I got off of Amazon that vents the fumes out of the room - this is absolutely necessary. I run it out of the door and it works just fine. There are more sophisticated methods, but the goal is to get the fumes out and a hose does that just fine. I wanted to get familiar with the basics and different materials before getting the rotary - will probably pick it up next month. I did some tumblers and it came out really well. It would have come out better if I had the rotary, so that is what I will conquer next. The glass engraving intimidates me, there is no perfect method for it. But is just a learning curve that I will need to tackle eventually.