Hi friends — I’m asking for a little help from the hivemind. Over the past couple of years, I’ve bookmarked sources for all kinds of “primary” materials like woods, plastics, metals, etc.
Meanwhile, I have managed not to bookmark a single source of engravable product blanks, like knives, gift boxes, and the like. As much as I love making things from scratch on my GF, sometimes I just want to customize things that are beyond my abilities/patience to make.
I’ve spent the past hour googling for “engraving blanks”, “laserable gifts”, ad nauseum, but am only find sites with goods that have already been engraved/customized.
Obviously, I’m searching with the wrong terms — What in the heck should I be searching for?
Specifically, I want to engrave some (blank) wooden fly boxes as gifts for an upcoming event, but have not been able to find any (no, I’m not shelling out for the Orvis ones). I know they exist, as almost every listing on Etsy & Ebay seem to use the same blanks, but I’m coming up, well, blank.
You may want to consider bookmarking and checking monthly publications from The Engraver’s Journal. They appear to a significant trade journal for the engraving industry, and put out a monthly magazine in digital form you can review.