CI haven’t read much here but my Glow Forge is coming soon and i am wondering if it can engrave or etch on cylindrical metal objects such as this work of art pictured right here,
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As long as it’s under 2 inches high I think you should be able to! I’m not sure if you’ll be able to cut around it with a consistent design though? Also with metal you should use a product like Cermark.
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All known information says yes. However, you’ll want to create your own jig for such an object. I’m thinking of possibly using Arduino to make a wireless rotating jig for things like this. I have a couple of uses in mind for that. Then I’d be able to rotate without disturbing anything. If I can make it small enough.
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I would suggest you use the search feature in this forum to find out what you can do with a CO2 laser.
No, you can not etch on metal. You can however mark on metal using a product called Ceramark
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Ruby Mod. Nice.
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if you are talking about the “kennedy” detail, no. Not directly. That appears to be etched or stamped, and a C02 laser will not etch/engrave metal.
You can mark it, as @JeremyNielsen said, using a product like cermark, but it will not be dimensionally engraved like the image you posted.
If the metal is powder-coated, or painted, you can probably mark it (that is what is going on in the promo video with the macbook). In that case @thomas.alessi.jr is correct that you would most likely want a jig of some type. The glowforge should be able to deal with the curved surface (variable autofocus), but I think you would need to do it in at least three sections to cover the entire cylindrical surface.
Another possible option would be to use the Glowforge to cut a design, make a mold from from that, and cast a metal-stamp
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Does anyone know if the Glowforge API would allow a jig, that can rotate a cylindrical object, coordinate rotation with the laser head position?
Maybe it will be an add-on feature once the mass number of Glowforges are shipped?
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Who knows what the future will hold, but last year @Dan said that they had no plans for a rotary axis. These typically require wiring into the y-axis driver, so isn’t likely to be a supported feature in this version of the hardware.
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Appreciate the link. It was back in Sept 2015 (before I even knew there was a thing called Glowforge).
I have been reviewing old posts, but had not gone that far back.
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No worries – that’s why I dug it up. 
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Roundhouse! I love it.
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depending on the layout removing the y axis belt and putting it onto a custom rotary device might make this possible. definitely something im gonna look into…
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