@Flat Thunder Channel I'll check out your videos, thanks for the heads up. That Fox Alien and the Ortur I have look like similar designs, at first glance. I didn't realize there were so many "affordable" laser etching options out there.
I bought some new glasses from Amazon that are supposedly in the range of protection needed because I didn't have much faith in them either. Even the ones I bought seem a bit less than desirable as I stare at the place being engraved. Seems like they could be darker. They are also yellow tinted(?) and made the outside world look real weird.
An enclosure seems like a good idea, and it sounds like well rated plastic is pretty easily available. If nothing else, for as long as these things take to do their work it'd be nice to set it and forget it while doing other stuff, without the eyewear. Also it would mean I could leave the laser in the workshop and it wouldn't get too dusty, and could make for easier exhausting too...
Have you built any kind of stand for yours? I've found that detailed work or short, multiple bursts will move my entire machine around causing inaccurate etching. There's a guy on the ForestryForums that built a pretty neat rig with his Ortur, here's
his YT video, I really like the table and feet he's made to hold everything.
Also, the learning curve is interesting. At first things were great! Designs, on the sample wood they sent with the machine, and the pressboard/cardboard junk I've got covering my bench are very crisp and dark. I tossed some Balsa wood on for a different project and the burns came out very, very light, unless I etched about half the thickness of the wood away. I haven't messed around with other woods/materials yet but it'll be interesting to see how it goes. What I was trying on the balsa was a much more complex design than I'd tried previously and it appears as though I'll have to take the design apart and rework things a bit for it to etch properly.