Yeah, another newbie. I have no metal working experience but hope to change that from now.

The company that I intern for is looking to get a laser system for use with metal and plastics. Several months ago, we were looking at an Epilog Helix and next week the Epilog rep is coming in. What should we know before the meeting? What other manufacturers should we consider?

It's primary use will be for engraving 18-16 gauge steel. Next would be engraving 1/8" thick aluminum. Personally, I would like a system that would also be able to cut these materials. Other thicknesses would also be useful. Other materials that may be subject to engraving\cutting are lamacoid, plastics, and thin metal labels (I'm trying to narrow down the metal and thickness that our current labels are made from. They are current produced by Metal Photo.) Working area would be about 24" by 36" but being able to work on pieces longer than 36" would be nice. (I need to get the piece in there but it doesn't have to work the entire length. We regularly work with 96" long aluminum entrusion.) We use mainly Autodesk Inventor and Autocad for our cad work

Thanks for any help,
Frank