Hi all. Firstly, forgive me if I use the wrong terminology. I've decided out of the blue to try out metal engraving.

Basically what I want to do is engrave letters and numbers onto metal plates. The plates I want to engrave are business / credit card size and will be made of titanium or brushed steel (not a soft metal like alluminium, brass, copper). When I get better at this i'd like to encorporate some fancy graphics onto the cards but for now just alphanumeric characters.

I've never done anything like this before and have no idea what's available out there or how to approach it. Could you guys recommend an entry model that is small and cheap enough for a novice to use? Maybe even a shop here in Brisbane where I can drop into and chat with someone about.

If you google image "metal business cards" or "metal credit cards" you will see the sort of stuff I want to try and make.
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=metal+business+cards&client=firefox-b-ab&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW6qGltJrYAhXKTrwKHW1fAJkQ_AUICigB&biw=1536&bih=734


Oops, forgot to add a budget. How much would a small desktop machine cost? I have something like $500 in mind. Is this reasonable or way under?