Pagoda Arts Laser Cutting Service

I am doing my own wedding invitations and live in Chicago. I came across Pagoda Arts after a TON of searching online for local laser cutting studios and not finding anything that wasn’t absolutely astronomical. Don’t ask me how I stumbled upon a shop in San Francisco, but I am so happy I did. I LOVED working with Alex — he was extremely responsive with my questions via email and worked through all the details — even how to go about ordering paper and having it delivered to the studio all the way from the Windy City. My invitations turned out better than I could have imagined. This is definitely the best place I have worked with — and affordable to boot!

Very responsive with e-​mails, professional and top notch work on my laser cut ketuba!

These guys cut my keys for an instrument and saved me a week of hand work! Super good people to work with.

If you’re looking for laser cutting service, no browsing any more. This is it. Amazing service +fabulous job+affordable price.

Alex and Pagoda Arts are worth the short commute! We sent Alex an email and he replied in under an hour. Our particular situation called for a unique and very popular Bay-​area (& expensive) electronic engraving for a corporate gift. Alex was meticulous with the setup and for the price was well worth the short commute. Even after a two-​way Über trip from Soma he was more affordable than the other engravers in the city. Very nice guy, hard working, and a true pro at his craft — makes you happy to support a small business. Thanks, Alex!

For Father’s Day this year, I bought a beautiful wood tray for my Dad and thought it would be a great idea to get his name engraved on it. The only problem was, I couldn’t find any engraving services in San Francisco that could do the job. I didn’t think it would be so difficult to find such a place! Although Pagoda Arts isn’t centrally located in the city, I was desperate to get the tray engraved before Father’s Day and decided to make the trip out to Bayview.
Before driving to Pagoda Arts, I decided to call ahead to make sure they would be able to engrave the tray. Alex was extremely helpful over the phone and asked that I email a photo of the tray before bringing it in. He promptly responded to my email and assured me that he could do the job. He also quoted me the price based on the photo I sent so there wouldn’t be any surprises when it came time to pay. The price was extremely reasonable so I quickly brought the tray to Alex.
Upon arriving at Pagoda Arts, Alex told me that he had a few other projects to work on before mine and that I could pick up the finished piece after the weekend. I was eager to give the tray to my Dad, but decided I just had to be patient. To my surprise and delight, Alex emailed me Friday afternoon saying that he had finished the tray early and to come pick it up at my earliest convenience. I was very pleased with his effort and efficiency.
The tray looked amazing! The finished product looked even better than I had imagined and my Dad was so grateful for the beautiful and unique gift. Alex was incredibly professional, helpful and worked quickly. If you’re looking for high quality engraving services for a good price, Pagoda Arts is the place to go! Thanks Alex!

Absolutely awesome experience from start to finish. As a new customer with zero experience getting work like this done, I can;t recommend Alex and his crew better. Really reasonable rates too!

I’m a designer with tight deadlines, a small budget and specific ideas – working with others that are able to help me achieve my goals efficiently and at a reasonable price is a dream come true for me. I seldom write reviews, but I do when I feel compelled and when I believe a business truly deserves it.
Alex is very pleasant and the price cannot be beat. He was able to laser engrave several large wooden pieces on the same day as well as cut some chipboard for me. They came out beautifully and I cannot be more satisfied with the quality and aesthetic feel to my project. This was for a Spike Jonze film festival and if Spike were here to see this, I’m sure he’d send an approving nod my way.
I’ll be back soon for future projects. I’m very happy.

Well done, timely, and reasonably priced!

It is rare to find that mix of both excellent service and cost, and this is one of those rare businesses. Alex, the owner, turned my project around in 2 days. He was very friendly, and professional and easily grasped the intent of my project. He knows his craft very well. I will be sending him a photo of the finished sculpture.
I highly recommend Pagoda Arts if you have laser cutting needs.

A guy with a laser cutter with same /​next day service?
YES PLEASE!
I rarely give positive feedback. But this guy deserves it. An amazing find, economical. Very smart and hardworking individual.

Alex is outstanding. A consummate professional; detail-​oriented, delivered ahead of schedule, responsive, great quality. Used his services for an architectural model, and couldn’t be more pleased. I would recommend him to anyone from the design professional to the home-​crafter.

Alex is amazing! I had a very small paper cutting project with some scoring. He was always amenable and understanding, worked around my manic tendencies, and turned around the job quickly, even amidst all the other work he appeared to be doing in the shop. He was quick to get back to me when I had questions, and is generally just a great guy. I also like that he has great attention to detail — an important quality when doing custom jobs like mine. I would recommend him to anyone. I’m sure he does other work as well. I think his specialty is architectural models — but I only saw him doing all sorts of other interesting projects. And doing them well!

Did An over –nite cutting job for us ! All was perfect ! This company has been filed for future use.

Alex Thompson | 5 stars.
I have been working with Alex in my art practice over the last year producing laser etched stencils & plastic & chip board. As well as producing laser etched plastic vinyl artwork. Alex’ process & professionalism is fabulous. I am a repeat client exploring new mediums & processes. Highest recommendation. Timely & cost effective.
The images below are my world celebrations public art project.

Great experience. Alex was quick to respond to my emails and was happy to provide me with recommendations about where to get materials, he also helped me come up with correct laser settings. The turn-​around time was super fast, and his quote was the best compared to both other local laser shops, and online services.

Alex at Pagoda Arts was extremely helpful. Im pretty clueless with this kind of thing but it was super easy to get my project laser cut and it really didn’t take long at all. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to prototype something like I am. My only complaint is that I am in the east bay and Pagoda Arts is in SF doh.