Hmmm, have you considered used, and/or industrial equipment auctions? There is a guy here in AZ that picked up a couple ex-Intel YAG lasers for dirt cheap years ago, and started a B2B engraving biz (primarily firearms). The machines are a bit outdated and the "power units" take up considerable space. However, since then he's been going full-tilt and has a bunch of work from gun manufacturers and .mil contracts. Last time I was at his shop he was showing me Al/Ti warheads that he had just finished engraving SNs onto.
Obviously you wouldn't get any factory support/training going that route, but with the potential savings you could probably hire a guy to come and show you everything you need to know, and still have a bunch of cash leftover.
Or, these days you could probably be an expert in a matter of hours just by watching a few youtube vids.
Industrial auctions might be few/far between, but places like this might be worth checking out:
Laser Resale - We buy, sell and broker qualified used equipment
