Laser-engraved caps

Yakima 728
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Toot said:
I have always wanted to be able to say that! ;)
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The machine was hard to fix, but fixing the shark whose head the laser is attached to was even harder. ;)
 
As for the price, I'll pay whatever (within reason) you want to charge. I don't plan on using these on all my beers, just any I plan to sample out. Probably 12 bottles out of each 2-case batch...

A few hundred caps would last me a while...

Let me know when its up and running...
 
Toot said:
I'm thinking the first thing to do is start doing large runs of "easy" cap designs. Things like "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Birthday". You could sell those all day long. Also, things like "Barleywine" and "High Gravity"- things for beers that will age for a long time. That way people get the most use out of their caps, ya know? They get to look at them purty things for a long time before cracking them open.

I would easily pay $5 for a batchload of caps (about 50... so about a dime a piece), but I'm not sure that I'd be willing to pay shipping to ONLY by the caps. In otherwords, I'd be far more inclined to buy these caps from a HBS (internet or local) than from a third party- no offense to you, I'm just saying shipping could be a deal breaker just for this item, but if I was already buying other stuff, I could see throwing these in.

As for truly custom orders, one off batches, I would love that! Would gladly pay about twice as much for a truly custom cap in low quantities. The shipping issue still applies though...
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Makes a good point about the shipping. Perhaps a good idea would be to team up with a homebrew site or lhbs store. Maybe get them to take the orders supply the caps and they pay you for the engraving and charge the customer extra for the engraved caps. That way you shipping wouldn't be a deal breaker because you could purchase them with other items. I imagine using a middle man would have to drive the cost up a little bit, but if it could stay within the 10 cents per cap range I think people would still buy them for certain beers but not all. Which is probably what they would be anyway more of a novelty thing than something to use for each and every batch.
 
This thread brings up a point about how to distinguish different brews. My method is buying overrun caps and using a different overrun for each brew. sometimes this method doesn't work because I brew too many different styles and don't have enough different caps, but it works most of the time. Most of the time by the ones with the same cap condition the old ones with that cap are already gone.
 
ayrton said:
The machine was hard to fix, but fixing the shark whose head the laser is attached to was even harder. ;)
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Alright Aryton! Enough of this nonsense. All I ask for is Frikkin sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. Is that so much to ask of you?
 
joshpooh said:
This thread brings up a point about how to distinguish different brews. My method is buying overrun caps and using a different overrun for each brew. sometimes this method doesn't work because I brew too many different styles and don't have enough different caps, but it works most of the time. Most of the time by the ones with the same cap condition the old ones with that cap are already gone.
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I use a sharpie on blank caps. O-Oatmeal Stout, H- House, etc....
 
I use those metallic RoseArt markers that are like sharpies only metallic. In my scrawly, scribbly handwriting, I spell out the name of each beer- "ESB" or "Apfelwein". The markers stay on pretty well, but will rinse off with a rag in some starsan. And it looks "sorta" pretty, imho.
 
joshpooh said:
This thread brings up a point about how to distinguish different brews. My method is buying overrun caps and using a different overrun for each brew. sometimes this method doesn't work because I brew too many different styles and don't have enough different caps, but it works most of the time. Most of the time by the ones with the same cap condition the old ones with that cap are already gone.
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http://www.homebrewheaven.com/ stocks about 8 different colored caps, which I currently use to distinguish my different brews. I bought a pound of each a year ago (except gold and stars/stripes, which I think everyone already uses). I have the same problem of still drinking the old ones when that color comes back around.

Brewpastor said:
Cool idea. Would this work on glass, as in drinking glasses or growlers?
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You can purchase a glass etching kit from most craft stores, and certainly online. The disadvantage being that you need a stencil to maks off your image that you want to stencil. If you have patience, an exacto knife, and some packing tape or sticky shelf liner, it's possible though.

*EDIT* Looks like http://www.glass-etching-kits.com/ has a system which lets you make exact stencil copies of your digital print-outs - if you have access to a UV exposing unit. As it so happens, I do. Sunlight should work if you adjusted your exposure time.
 
ayrton said:
We have a laser etching machine where I work, and they're always looking for new things to try to "burn." I thought bottle caps would be a good idea:

5023-hbt.jpg


I can crank out a batch's worth in about five minutes. :mug:
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I don't like you...;)
 
Personally, I think I'd be prepared to go to about €10 for 100 engraved caps but at that price I'd keep them just for a few bottles per batch. If you could do them at €5 per 100 I'd probably use them for all bottling.

Of course, the shipping charges to Europe would probably make them ridiculously expensive...
 
Nope! :) My boss is in California right now, and he's doing the pricing. I'm just a software developer, so I don't really deal with anything on that side unless he brings it up. The website is being created as we speak. As soon as I have some figures (or at least a site to which I can point you), I'll let you know.
 
ayrton said:
Nope! :) My boss is in California right now, and he's doing the pricing. I'm just a software developer, so I don't really deal with anything on that side unless he brings it up. The website is being created as we speak. As soon as I have some figures (or at least a site to which I can point you), I'll let you know.
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Any update on the cap situation? :mug:
 
im interested too :)

i know most people arent gonna like this, but i think the prices are abit low.

normally you have to buy a ton of custom caps, not because the caps are expensive, but because of the process involved with making them.
he said it takes ~5 mins to make ~50 caps, but i doubt that includes the setup time, wear and tear on the machine (even if its minimal) etc etc

i personally would be willing to order ~500 caps once pricing is released.
 
Just wondering what kind of laser this is? Company Wise. I work for a Pinstamp and Laser Etching Company and since it's for Boeing there's a very good chance it's one of ours. Whats the name and Model number? Since you did rocks I'm guessing it's a Co2
 
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