I am working on a homebrew pinball of my own and also laser engrave for work. I've been using the laser to help with my project, and want to share any info I can. Working with laser engravers is something I randomly fell into, so there is a lot I still need to learn.
Using a laser is great making acrylic plastic protectors or petg playfield protectors. Cutting a 1/2in piece of wood can be hard but is possible. Marking lines on wood to route by hand is also useful.
Types of lasers
Co2 laser: What you will see in more industrial machines. They take up a lot of space and will be in the 50w-100w power range. Engraving is easy and can cut most material.
Diode: These are what you will mostly find on Amazon or eBay for home use. The cheaper ones are compact and power ranges from 5w-40w. Mostly for engraving but at 40w you can start to cut useful stuff.
Fiber: This is for cutting and engraving bare metal. Just use SendCutSend.com to cut stuff.
Safety
If you buy a laser and just comes with pair of glasses for safety and no enclosure, I strongly suggest making some kind of enclosure. Make a wood box or use plastic that will filter out the light. Risking a laser to the eye is not worth it. An exhaust is a must to the outside or to a filter.
DO NOT laser vinyl, ABS, or polycarbonate the fumes are very toxic.
For programs I use Coreldraw with Lightburn. There are free options but Lightburn is a lot better to use.