Patti,
Welcome to the forum. You will find a wealth of information and helpful people here. I still consider myself a newbie so I will throw in my two cents and even offer you change.
When considering a laser, keep in mind that while it is a tool and a machine, in it's most simplistic terms it is nothing more than a printer, with a little more complex print driver. All lasers do the same thing to a varying degree, depending upon power.
I had thought I had researched my laser quite well when I bought mine, but two things I learned after I purchased it, was to be sure of after sale service and support, ( in my case the rep I bought my machine from did not support corel, and having never used corel before, I was kind of stuck) either through your rep or the company itself. Tech support is paramount, especially during your learning curve.
The other thing I wish I had done differently is to have stretched a bit and purchased a machine with more power. Depending on your budget, buy a machine that has as much power as you can afford. I bought a 25w machine. In retrospect, I should have bought AT LEAST a 50w machine. I would have easily made up the price difference in the time savings on many jobs. A 50w machine can and will work faster than the 25w.
As to what brand of laser to buy, that eventually will become a personal decision. Everyone has their favorites, however Universal and Epilog tend to lead the pack. If you search the forum you will find a poll that listed the four or five major brands and asked the question would you buy one again. That will give you a good start. You will also find lots of information that suggests you actually have some samples of product that you want to create, when your rep does the demonstration for you.
Yes, this industry can be lucrative but it is easy to become distracted by the versatility of the laser. It can produce so many things that it is important to find a niche, develop that niche, and THEN think about what you can expand into. It sounds like your son has already given that some thought.
Also, since you are already familiar with Corel, and I would assume digitizing because of your embroidery, your learning curve will be lessened to a great degree. Add to that. that you have a 16 year old son that is interested, and you should have it down in about 10 minutes ( insert teasing laugh here)
Since you already have an embroidery business, adding engraving is a natural next step. This way you can offer you existing clients another service, which is much easier than trying to develop new clients.
I hope my rambling has made some sort of sense and we ( the forum) wish you the best of luck. You are in good and friendly company here.
Anyway, as I said.......
.....just my two cents. Want change? B-)
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