Rotary attachments for laser engravers open up a whole new world of products you can engrave on. Tumblers, glassware, and bottles just to name a few. Many companies offer a rotary attachment as an optional add-on to their laser engraving machine. If you have a Chinese (imported) laser that wasn’t sold by a North American based company, you may have to seek a third party rotary to fill your needs. We should note also that there are many options available for third party rotary companies that fit the mainstream laser machines and can be as much as 1/3 of the cost – so it pays to shop.
Lathe Style Chuck Rotary
These rotary attachments can work well depending on your needs. Very well built, they operate similar to a lathe chuck with a set of jaws. This type would work well for things like pens, pencils, ball bats, etc. However keep in mind the other style rotary attachments below can likely handle those items and more.
In our experience it was hard to center things like cups and glassware where it turned evenly. After fussing with this style we put it on the shelf and haven’t used it since.
The roller bed rotary attachments are as they sound. Just a device you set in the bed of your machine with rollers that turn. Many have two sets of rollers for large and small round objects. We have used these for very large items like 64 oz. growlers. It is hard to keep items from walking around on the bed.
Some users will put bean bags, sand or other weighted items inside the object to hold it down on the rollers for better results. NOTE – irregular shaped objects will not stay level on these type of rotary attachments. This can be a problem for things like tumblers and some bottles.
Types of Rotary Attachments
Lathe Style Chuck Rotary
These rotary attachments can work well depending on your needs. Very well built, they operate similar to a lathe chuck with a set of jaws. This type would work well for things like pens, pencils, ball bats, etc. However keep in mind the other style rotary attachments below can likely handle those items and more.
In our experience it was hard to center things like cups and glassware where it turned evenly. After fussing with this style we put it on the shelf and haven’t used it since.
Roller Bed Rotary
The roller bed rotary attachments are as they sound. Just a device you set in the bed of your machine with rollers that turn. Many have two sets of rollers for large and small round objects. We have used these for very large items like 64 oz. growlers. It is hard to keep items from walking around on the bed.
Some users will put bean bags, sand or other weighted items inside the object to hold it down on the rollers for better results. NOTE – irregular shaped objects will not stay level on these type of rotary attachments. This can be a problem for things like tumblers and some bottles.