Adventures in Laser Cutting: Rotary Tool

I have been at Do Space for close to two years now so I figured it was about time to use the laser cutter rotary tool. The rotary tool is a conical-shaped accessory that goes inside the laser cutter in place of the bed. It allows the user to etch, engrave and mark on a cylindrical surface. Since stemless wine glasses are all the rage I thought it would be fun to try the tool out for holiday gifts.

I used a file I created in under 20 mins in Adobe Illustrator. I used a standard font and changed the color(so the laser cutter knew what to do with it). I then rotated the whole design so the laser cutter etched the right direction on the glass.

The actual engraving process didn’t take too long either. Installing and calibrating the rotary tool takes about 20 minutes. Add to that the time it actually takes to engrave.

The more complex the design the longer the engraving process. Each of my tumblers took 2 minutes and change to engrave.

If you’d like to check out the rotary tool you can register for a mentor here.

You can also register for one of our classes on our calendar here.