Terri, you answered Reagan?s question well. The seal is around the outside but there is a protective layer covering the entire inside of the lid. As I said earlier, a few setting adjustments would probably make a difference to any marking on the inside. There was no damage done but some of the engraving changed the colour of the seal. Jim, it sounds like you got a great price on the engraver. You guys always appear to be able to buy stuff much cheaper than what we can (even after the money rate conversion was applied). If you want to cut any material, a honeycomb bed will be needed. From memory, it did come with a small one but I ended up buying one that was larger than the cutting capacity of the machine. The machine does not come with any software so you will have to purchase it. There are excellent videos on YouTube in relation to Lightburn. I watched quite a few of them to get me started. The thing I like about Lightburn is that most of my design work can also be done on the package. I am a designer and maker rather than an artistic type of person so this software suits me. There is a free trial of the software that runs for a month. I started that way and found it was so good that I purchased it before the trial ran out. I would suggest that is a good way to start. Phillip, I don?t know the answers to your questions. The only maintenance is to clean the laser lense every now and then. The machine will let you know when that is required. A spare comes with the kit as well. I?m sure that the laser head has a lifespan but it is a plug and play unit so it would be easy to replace. I?m not sure how long the rest of the components will last. I?m sure it would be similar to a 3D printer from that perspective. Jim may be able to answer those questions. I will have another play with lid settings in a day or so to see what improvements I can make.