I have a few general questions regarding what laser engravers/cutters can and cannot do. I'm considering buying the 50w blue & white eBay laser engraver, but need to educate myself quite a bit more before I'd feel comfortable making a decision.
#1 Will upgrading the optics, ie. mirrors and focusing lens, enable a lower cost machine to produce finer detail in etching/engraving. My thought is to "start-out" with a machine such as the 50W blue/white eBay machine I mentioned above, and then as time passes upgrade some components. (I know that many will suggest starting out with better equipment, lower cost in the long-run, etc.; but budget dictates otherwise currently.)
#2 Are the better optics necessary to produce results like those shown in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuhvI5Na_zo
#3 Many years ago (1980-85) we use to "brand" our name/logo onto leather-working products with an electric tool that was basically a metal stamp heated like a soldering iron and after the proper warm-up would be pressed against the leather, branding it with whatever text/graphic was on the stamp. If I use a laser engraver to put text/graphics on leather (such as a wallet, belt, etc) would the result be similar, since the laser is essentially "burning" the text into the surface?
#4 Is it possible to do 3-D type engraving with a lower cost machine, such as the ebay machine i'm looking at, that would be similar to the samples shown in this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGpkgtVVjcY
Since the laser engraver is burning away the material, with a lower cost machine having a 40-50W tube I would think the speed would need to be much slower for 3-D cutting such as what's in that video, but that might result in the material near the cuts to be "scorched" because it's exposed to the heat longer? Am I picturing this correctly in my mind?
I have only begun reading and educating myself regarding these laser engravers in the last week, so I know little-to-nothing, and thank you in advance for answers/information/advice.
Thank you for your time and assistance.