FAQs
1. What materials can be laser cut/ engraved?
Thin sheet materials such as wood, paper, card, leather, silk, fabrics, perspex and more.
A more detailed list is being prepared,please check back.
2.What materials cannot be cut/engraved?
Metals, our lasers are CO2.
Some materials such as foiled leather and metallic finished paper are ok.We do cut some thin metals by hand as part of our specialist Marquetry service.
We cannot cut engrave materials containing PVC due to the fumes produced.
3.What formats does the laser work from?
*For cutting, vector line drawings as dwg(2000) or Coreldraw.*
(This is an option that becomes available when exporting a file from Adobe Illustrator and other cad drawing programmes)
*We can also produce cutting patterns from silouette images saved as jpegs, using trace software.Its not quite as precise as manually drawn cad work, and cant be used for high quality Marquetry cutting *
Do not use layers or special effects such as trace programmes as they over complicate images, confusing the laser and take much more time to process than necessary.Files can be emailed to me to check them over, or for an estimate of cost to produce.
*For engraving,good quality black & white images such as jpegs , gif or tif format.*
*** If you are unfamiliar with these formats or this kind of work,don't worry we'll do it for you! ***
4. Laser Bed size?
81cm x 50 cms max.This is the maximum size we can cut in Perspex/acrylic sheet,leather and other thin sheet materials.
**This size is NOT an issue regarding our Marquetry.There is no size restriction for Marquetry layons,we have produced pieces 18 ft (6 mtrs) long. **
Thin materials can also be folded to allow larger materials to be cut or engraved, though its not ideal.
5. Charges,terms and payment.
We are generally working on one off projects and in a number of materials and so the best way to get a costing is to email through your designs, the materials you are working with and we'll give you a quotation as soon as possible.
***Whilst we really dont mind small projects and prototypes, we do have a minimum order requirement of £30.00 + vat and we dont offer credit facilities***
All work must be paid for before it is sent to you, or collected, a deposit will be required before starting in some circumstances.
We accept credit cards via Paypal or Online bank transfer,details upon request
6. How long will the project take and how much will it cost?
Most cutting service projects can be delivered 1-2 weeks from our confirmation of your order, receipt of all materials,files etc, and where necessary a deposit.
Different materials have different speed and power settings, and the complexity of design adds another variable.We can however provide estimates.
7.Appointments
***We do not accept visitors to the workshop without an appointment***
We do however sometimes recommend a visit to the workshop at the beginning of more difficult projects, but generally mail order is preferred and will have a quicker delivery time.
If you would like to book laser time, or have any other questions;
Email; joe@heritageinlay.com
or call 01273 506080 and leave a message or fax.
We are located In Brighton Sussex,
less than an hour from London by train
Visits strictly by appointment...did I mention that before?