The trophy & award industry has adopted laser etching and cutting
over the last few years.  The engraving machines can handle virtually
any material that doesn't absorb heat.  Smaller machines of 15 to 30
watts power cost about $13,000 to $25,000.  Note that they only engrave
an area of about 15" x 24".

Although they are pretty fast, considering what they do for an
engraver, they would be slower than a multi-punch roll perforating
machine.  One potential problem might be what to do with the cutout
punchings.  All of these machines have forced air exhaust systems since
they do make smoke.

Anyway, for anyone that is interested, just look in the Yellow pages
for trophies and find a shop with this equipment.  I'm pretty sure if
you took along a sheet of roll paper, you could get a quick demo to see
what happens.

And, just for fun, you might mention my name.  Twenty years ago I
introduced the first mechanical computer controlled engraving machine
to the awards industry.  The front end computer was a Radio Shack Model
One, and its program was loaded from a cassette tape deck.  The
Dahlgren line of engraving machines are still being produced today.

Will Dahlgren