How a Combat Veteran Turned a Little Green Laser into a Family Business — and a New Mission

Business Snapshot

• Weekly Revenue Peak: $4,000 in a single week
• Equipment Path: xTool F1 OG → F2 → F2 MOPA → F2 Ultra Dual + Apparel Printer
• Marketing Budget：$0 — Pure word-of-mouth & Facebook tagging

Wil Cope was sitting in his home office in Quitman, Georgia — laser engravers humming behind him, rows of custom tumblers and slate coasters lined up for delivery. He was calm, smiling, talking about his wife and his xTool machines. And then he said something that reframed everything:

What you’re about to read is the story of how a retired combat medic and narcotics agent — dealing with PTSD, a deep loss of identity, and the back-to-back deaths of both parents — found purpose, income, and family connection through a little green laser engraver that a buddy told him to buy.

If you’ve ever retired from a high-intensity career and wondered what comes next — or if you’re looking for proof that a laser engraving business can be built entirely on local relationships and zero advertising — keep reading. This one’s for you.

How It All Started

Wil Cope is 49 years old. He lives in a 3,000-square-foot house in Quitman, Georgia, with his wife. Their daughter is grown and lives in Tennessee.

Before everything changed, Wil had spent his entire adult life in high-stakes environments. He started in law enforcement at 18, took military leave to serve as a combat medic in Iraq for 17 months, then returned to spend 20 years working narcotics — always undercover, always on SWAT teams, always in danger. He rose through the ranks to captain, worked criminal investigations, and retired in 2021 as a disabled veteran with severe lung disease and combat PTSD.

And then the silence hit.

After decades of adrenaline-fueled work where completing the mission meant someone lived or died, Wil suddenly had nothing. No badge, no gun, no mission. His mother passed away. His father followed shortly after. Everything, as he puts it, went “boom.”

He went into a serious depression. Not because he was weak — but because the only identity he’d ever known had been stripped away, and he didn’t know who he was without it.

That Little Green F1 OG

The turning point came from an unlikely source: his former captain at the sheriff's office — a buddy who'd picked up laser engraving as a hobby. He told Wil to buy an xTool F1. Wil had never heard of it. He didn't think he could figure it out. But the buddy insisted, and Wil trusted him.

He bought the F1 OG in 2024 and set it up at home. He started experimenting — first combining it with his four 3D printers, engraving on black PLA prints, then branching into tumblers, coasters, pens, flashlights, and custom display stands.

But the real change wasn't in the products — it was in what the process did to his mind. Laser engraving demanded his full attention: material tests, speed calibrations, problem-solving. For someone with combat PTSD whose brain would spiral the moment it went idle, that constant engagement wasn't a hobby bonus — it was medicine. The sticky notes, the parameter logs, the trial-and-error — all of it kept his mind in productive thought instead of dark loops.

From Hobby to $4,000 Weeks — With Zero Advertising

What started as therapy quickly turned into real business. Wil's secret? He didn't go online. He didn't build a website. He didn't run ads. He went back to what he knew: people.

As a retired law enforcement officer in a tight-knit community, Wil knew the judges, the sheriffs, the police departments, the local businesses. He started making promotional items — a coaster with his logo, a sample tumbler — and handing them out in person. People saw the quality, asked if he could do the same with their company branding, and just like that, he had customers.

He calls his marketing strategy "spider-webbing." He asks customers to follow his Facebook page and tags them when he delivers their products. Their entire friend network sees the post. Calls start coming in. Orders multiply. No advertising spend required.

His core client base reads like a courthouse directory: the local magistrate court, 24 counties in the judicial circuit, 150 judges, sheriff's offices, police departments, and outdoor/hunting companies. The products are straightforward — personalized tumblers, slate coasters, engraved pens, custom flashlights, gun display stands — but the margins are extraordinary.

High-Margin Examples

He even shut down his website — the maintenance cost more than it brought in. Word of mouth outperformed everything.

The “xTool Academy”

Wil laughs when he talks about his home. He calls it “an xTool academy” — and the description isn't far off.

The office holds three laser engravers: the xTool F2, the F2 MOPA Single, and the F2 Ultra Dual. The dining room is being set up for an incoming apparel printer and Wonder Press. Upstairs, an entire bedroom is filled with four 3D printers. Every room in the house has a purpose now.

Current Fleet

• xTool F1 OG — where it all started
• xTool F2 (standard)
• xTool F2 MOPA Single
• xTool F2 Ultra Dual
• xTool Apparel Printer (incoming)
• xTool Wonder Press (incoming)
• 4 × 3D Printers (upstairs bedroom)

When people ask why he keeps buying machines, Wil's answer is simple: he never imagined a small laser hobby could grow into what it is today. Every new machine unlocks a new product line, and every product line brings new customers through the door.

SheepDog Designs — and the Name Behind It

Wil named his business SheepDog Designs LLC — a name that carries the weight of his entire career. In military and law enforcement culture, civilians are the sheep; the officers and soldiers are the sheepdogs who protect the herd. It's the same protective instinct, channeled into creation instead of combat.

That instinct shows up in one of his most innovative products: a laser-engraved medical alert bracelet with QR codes linking to the wearer's medical history, doctor's information, and emergency contacts. It's the kind of product only someone with combat medic and law enforcement instincts would design — practical, life-saving, and built with a laser engraver.

From One-Man Show to Family Business

For a long time, Wil's wife wanted nothing to do with the lasers. She watched from a distance — skeptical, uninvolved.

But she kept watching. She saw the orders come in. She saw the joy it brought him. Gradually, she started doing material tests alongside him. Then she got accepted as a content creator. Then she launched her own business — Gunner Fancy Designs — focused on apparel printing.

Now they run two separate businesses under one roof. Wil handles laser engraving; his wife handles apparel. The incoming apparel printer and F2 Ultra Single are for her. Three companies are already waiting with orders for shirts, hoodies, and jackets. What started as a one-man therapy project has become a family operation — just the two of them filling up a big empty house with machines, purpose, and partnership.

The Rainbow Tumbler

There's one piece in Wil's office that he will never sell. It's a rainbow gradient tumbler, laser engraved with his and his wife's wedding date.

The story behind it is the most personal moment Wil shared with us.

When he was at his lowest — struggling with depression after retirement — his wife asked him what he was looking for. He told her: the gold at the end of the rainbow. She smiled and said she couldn't be the gold, but she'd be his rainbow.

That exchange inspired the tumbler. And for Wil, the meaning goes even deeper:

A"She thinks she's always been just my rainbow. But to me, she's always been my gold at the end of the rainbow. She's my foundation. She's my rock. She stands beside me on everything."

Complete the Mission — Then Relax

There's a phrase Wil keeps coming back to: “Complete the mission.” It's how he was trained. It's how he operated for 30 years. It's why he still sometimes works until 2 or 3 in the morning — running material tests, tweaking parameters, refusing to stop until every setting is dialed in — until his wife walks in and reminds him it's time for bed.

He sleeps about four or five hours a night, partly from the PTSD, partly from the drive. But he's learning something new: that not every mission has to be completed tonight.

"If these orders don't get fulfilled, nobody's going to die. It's okay. I can wait. It took me a long time to realize that I can actually relax."

His orders are his new missions. And unlike the old ones, they come with a very different reward — not survival, but satisfaction. Not danger, but joy.

What Wil Wants His Daughter to Know

Wil's daughter is 26 and lives in Tennessee, where she works as a district manager for Amazon. She doesn't get to visit often, but she loves what her father has built. And Wil has a message for her — and for anyone reading this:

"It's never too late to start something new and pursue your goals. After my career, I could have simply retired, but I wanted to continue building something meaningful for my family. I want her to see the value of hard work, perseverance, and not being afraid to take risks. Most importantly, I hope she learns that success isn't just about money — it's about creating something you can be proud of and leaving a positive impact on others."

Continue the Journey

Interested in starting your own laser engraving business? Explore the xTool F2 series — the same machines Wil uses to run SheepDog Designs from home.

Still have questions? Book a Free 1-on-1 Demo