Here's a short video clip of my laser doing some 1/4" baltic Plywood.
Pretty impressed with the cuts so far.
Wade
Well I'll be damned. I'm going to have to try that!
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Here's a short video clip of my laser doing some 1/4" baltic Plywood.
Pretty impressed with the cuts so far.
Wade
So, a bit of an update, now that I have played with it for a few days.
One of the things I'm not real crazy about is their motorized up/down table. They have a pretty nice system, but there are 2 stepper motors that control it. One for each side. I do think it would be better if they had 1 stepper motor to control the whole table, because if they get out of sync a bit, one side of the table is lower than the other side. It's not too big of a deal, as if one side is lower, I just turn off the machine, and adjust the height by rotating the belt a little bit. Just an observance mind you. I've only had to adjust the one side 2 times so far (the 2nd time because I didn't do it right the first time.
The other observance that I think they should look into is their honeycomb table. It is extremely large, and only has support on the sides. There are no straps or bracing across the middle of the honeycomb, so the center of it sags by 2mm. I fixed that by shimming the middle of the table. It wouldn't be a big deal if the frame that holds the honeycomb were even with the bottom of the table as they have aluminum planks directly under the honeycomb, but since there is some space, a shim was needed to stabilize the center of the honeycomb.
Other than that, there really hasn't been any hiccups with the exception of not using the correct power settings on the acrylic. That is now resolved. Turns out that a speed of 10mm/sec and 65-70% power were perfect for a beautiful clean edge on the 1/4" acrylic.
I can't think of anything else at the moment, will update more as I notice and see things.
Cheers all!
Wade
Very glad to hear everything is fine with the machine. The desktop smaller model though has one or to combined step motors for moving the table up and down but still the route of the table is not so smooth. You have to go back and forth to achieve the wanted height. It could be much smoother. I do not know if the autofocus optional setting could be better or not.
Have you noticed the option to order the autofocus function? It cost's only 85$
Keep up the good testings!!
Cheers
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I don't know about the autofocus. My salesperson didn't want to sell it to me even tho I wanted it. She said the focus block was much better. For $85 I would have had them send it anyway, I probably still will.
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A few thoughts on the software. First of all, I have the most experience with lasercut. RD Works however is pretty nice.
There's a few things I like on one vs the other, which I'll list out here.
Corel Draw Plugin for RD Works
Pros:
- Works on all recent versions of Corel Draw
- Doesn't crash - forcing you to restart Corel Draw
Cons:
- Doesn't save your Speed/Power Settings or layer order
- can't save a output file compatible with RD Works so you can open it in RD Works
Corel Draw Plugin for LaserCut
Pros:
- Saves speed and power settings in a file format you can open with LaserCut Software
Cons:
- Plugin only works on Corel Draw X4
- Plugin Crashes forcing you to restart Corel Draw
- Changing Origin point within plugin requires restart of Corel Draw
LaserCut Software
Pros:
- Allows many recuts of a particular layer
- menu items are reasonably well translated to English (aka they are understandable what they do)
- allows you to turn a layer on and off with a single click of a checkbox
Cons:
- Doesn't have good undo function
- save's GOBS of files when you save a single project, especially if you etch a BMP
RD Works Software:
Pros:
- Fast
- has lots of undo feature depth
- doesn't crash
- single project file instead of multiple different files
- easier to install that lasercut
Cons:
- Can't seem to find a feature to repeat over a layer (ie. cut it twice for thick material)
- Doesn't save or export into DXF format if you make tweaks
- translation for menu items is not understandable (example: on the layer setup, there is an option called Through Power with no explanation of how it's used, just a checkbox and percentage setting)
This is just some observances of the software. Overall, I think I like RD Works better, it's just taking some getting used to, and I REALLY wish that if I setup a cut file in Corel Draw that the power settings and layer order would be freaking SAVED! (I think that's my biggest grumble.)
That's it for now folks... back soon with more.
Wade
On of the things I do pretty regularly is use the cut function of the laser to etch lines into acrylic. I used to always use a power of 9% with a speed of 100mm/s, but I found that if I am etching letters, that the gantry is too heavy for those short fast movements, so I have to drop it down to 75mm/s which seems to alleviate that problem. When I did a few of those at 100mm/s, the laser lost position on occasion. The one thing that I find VERY nice about the bodor laser is that even if it misses a step, it auto-corrects itself.
That is telling me that they have positional encoded on their machines. I'm not sure if that is true, but it sure seems that way - which is a very nice feature.
Wade
Hi, im really happy reading this thread, it was really helpfull, im actually looking for a 130 x 90 cm 130w laser, im from colombia, here we have some laser seller, but they just import them from china and and make it really expensive. so i decide to make the proccess by myself. i was looking some brands, like gwekie, bodor, unich, etc. but still wondering what is the best option. hope can give me an advice. thanks.
Hi 3DLabCo,
Well, if you read my posts, you probably see that I'm pretty happy with my Bodor laser. This is actually my 2nd chinese laser, and I've been happy with both of them. Truth be told, I think that there is just the chance that things may go wrong in shipping, especially when you are going 1/2 way around the world, no matter who you order from. I followed the progress in China very closely, asking for photos, updates, and asking questions every few days. I also mentioned I was doing a blog to let other's know my experience. Somehow, I think this helps. Regardless, every laser company has good results and bad results when the machine get's to the end user.
I think for determining what you want, talk to the various companies. As questions. Ask to see the software. Ask questions about using the software. Be aware of their level of knowledge. I won't go over why I settled on the Bodor, as it is detailed in my blog here, but a lot of it had to do with customer service, warranty, and response to questions.
Good luck in you choice.
Wade
Hi Wade Any nice update working with the machine? Comments, samples, did you notice something good to mention? Greetings from Athens!!
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Hey there, here's a few projects I've done with it. Enjoy!
Wade
Did you make the file for the acrylic or did you find it somewhere?
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I made it.
Wade
You rock man! Nice works
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Thanks. The rose and the box was my gift to my wife for Valentines Day.
The puzzles were just some fun, the rulers are for a customer.
The trees are actually coasters. I cut 2 sets out of different woods, then swapped the pieces, glued them to a 1/8" piece of plywood, with some felt glued to the back of them.
The box jointed pieces actually are a tool rack for my milling machine tool holders. These were for a friend. I even custom cut out a box from a big piece of cardboard to pack them in with the laser.
Wade
Bottom line is that the Bodor machine looks that it does what it suppose to do and with much less money than the "famous" ones. So, good investment after all!
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Yep, I couldn't be happier with the machine. It's fast, very configurable, has a large work area and good build quality. As I've mentioned before, there are a few things that could change, but they are minor, and I found other methods to get around the small issues.
Oh, one other thing. Even tho I requested the auto-focus when ordering, it wasn't put on the order, so I didn't receive it. That being said, Bodor is shipping it to me at their cost. That is good customer service.
Wade
Yes, customer service is nr 1 to consider. Looking forward to tell me how the auto focus works and if it worth installing.
Polis
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I got the autofocus device, and am now just waiting for the install video they are putting together. On a side note, I also used one of the rotary devices yesterday. Took a bit to figure it out, but the manual did a good job stepping thru it.
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Ok, waiting for first impressions ))
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