Complete newbie, looking for hobby laser, reasonable requirements.
I'm a hobbyist (with probably more money than sense) and recently got very interested in laser engraver / cutter due to a Kickstarter I recently saw done by Full Spectrum Lasers. However, I did my due dilligence and I'm not exactly so enthusiastic anymore.
I recently bought a 3D printer (photolithography style, not extrusion style), have a mini-mill and mini lathe (Sherline brand), comfortable with a soldering iron. However, I also live in an apartment, so weight and space is a bit of a concern. I have a spare bedroom for all my "junk"
I am liking at about 40w CO2 laser, preferably with a decent work area, weighing less than 100 lbs, preferably. No particular requirements except that it costs <$3000 or so, reasonable support, available replacement parts without too much hassle. I'm not sure what is the largest object I'll work on, but bigger is better if affordable. I can do basic to intermediate fixes, but rather not have to rebuild any machine due to its deficiencies.
Options:
1) FSL laser. Pros: good work area, cons after-purchase support?
Affordable 20"x12" LASER Cutter / Engraver, Assembled in USA by Full Spectrum Laser — Kickstarter
2) Hurricane Storm Allison 40W 12x12 Laser. Pro: cost, support. Cons: small work area.
40W CO2 Laser 12 x12
3) various Chinese 40w laser. Pros: good value. Cons: so-so software, build quality.
After-care support hit or miss.
4) your suggestion?
Similar Threads:
Check out Legacy lasers,
They added some smaller machines and their chiller is included in the price. Dean is a great guy to deal with and the support has been wonderful when needed. They also include a spare tube and you get a 2 year warranty. Software is laser cut which is not too bad when used with coreldraw.
Just my 2 cents
TK McKnight
800 Series 60W from [url]www.legacylasers.com[/url]
Hi FormerEnigma,
I'm here for the exact same kickstarter reason
Full Spectrum one look interesting... What made you less enthusiastic about it ?
I would love to get people feedback on a laser cuter in the >3k$ range.
I don't want to get screwed on price, or being stuck with something that have lot of limitation.
It seem 40Watt CO2 laser to be a good setup to do lot of thing (except metal). Print area can be chalenging... I want something that can be packed easily... Yet print on big surface... I also want some low maintenance and work out of the box. And Full Spectrum new laser seem to offer all this...
I'll love some experience people to comment about it and recommend other solution..
Thanks
laser cutting machinewith40w/ 60w
[QUOTE=mochouinard;
I'm here for the exact same kickstarter reason
Full Spectrum one look interesting... What made you less enthusiastic about it ?
I would love to get people feedback on a laser cuter in the >3k$ range.
I don't want to get screwed on price, or being stuck with something that have lot of limitation.
It seem 40Watt CO2 laser to be a good setup to do lot of thing (except metal). Print area can be chalenging... I want something that can be packed easily... Yet print on big surface... I also want some low maintenance and work out of the box. And Full Spectrum new laser seem to offer all this...
I'll love some experience people to comment about it and recommend other solution..
Thanks[/QUOTE]
Hi mochouinard ,
Dear now you are looking for a laser cuting machine for some materials with 40w ?
Dear we have laser engraving machine with 40w ,60w, 80, or bigger , this could engrave on non-metal or metal .
Please conatct me for more infroamtion.
SKYPE:wkquiven
Email: chloe@wklaser.com
DO NOT BUY those desktop el cheapo models , they are utter rubbish compared to a bigger machine , get one of the 600x 400's or 700 x 500's with a 60w tube ...they should fit into the budget of $3-4k and are DECENT compared with the cheapies.
I bypassed local dealers and imported directly from China , been there to see the laser factory etc and was impressed.
See these threads
Tips on buying a laser from China
Chinese lasers - they're here !!!!!!
and
Despatches from China
Rodney , Cape Town , South Africa
[url]www.tokerbros.co.za[/url]
we are laser cutting manufactuer from China
Hi Rodney Gold ,Originally Posted by Rodney Gold
We are laser manufactuer From China ,dear you are looking for China laser cutting machine manufactuer ??
Dear now we look for agent for our machine ,if yu have any interest ??
i had check your web .
Ok if interest please conatct me 。
SKYPE: wkquiven
Email: chloe@wklaser.com
I'm just a user , there is no money in selling the machinery , the money is in selling the products it makes.
Rodney , Cape Town , South Africa
[url]www.tokerbros.co.za[/url]
Such spam...
Just an FYI, it appears FSL has removed their forum from here(cnc zone) and others say the forum they own(FSL) is heavily moderated to where you can't even post without it being reviewed. Just something to consider.
Former Enigma
Please check out HurricaneLasers.com for quality lasers with support based in Las Vegas. You can check the boards here and on Sawmill Creek. We offer a 1 year warranty on all machines which covers the tube as well.
Feel free to give me a call at the office 855-552-7377 to discuss your needs more fully.
Thank you and I look forward to working with you.
John
never buy china made product and most of the companies are fraud. Only buy from US based companies . Check the review of the company and call them
I have purchased items often from china without much issue (only bad experience is a 3$ small arm band cell phone holder I never received).
It an additional risk, but it not much bigger than buying in the USA... There is some trusted laser supplier you can find on this forum that been present for a while, so I don't think it much of an issue.
And most of the US bought laser are China made anyway.
If you feel safer to go this route, there Hurricane Laser that are US based reselling China machine with support and service that I haven't heard bad thing from them in my search. Or you can go with the more expensive Epilog Laser if money is no object for example.
So checking the review and calling them apply to USA or China business... it just good practice when dealing with multiple thousand dollar piece of equipment (Some even visited China factory to be sure).
I personally feel that all the low end laser cutter are crap... And you need to go the 200lbs laser cutter that fit only on a crate to get something good... Full Spectrum have a new small model made in the USA but no one ever touch one... So you could hear some review here once they become available.
Another newb without experience here, but my PERSONAL outlook is that while it may be a bit cheaper to buy direct from China, and you'd get the same machines buying from companies like FSL and Hurricane, I'd rather US support in case something wrong. Not only that, but even if the support in China is top notch, if you can get past language barriers and everything else, the cost to ship replacement parts would quickly outweigh any savings you may have received in the beginning. Not to mention the time it would take to ship those parts. You may be out of commission for weeks at a time. As a hobbyist that may not be a big deal, but if you set any sort of deadline, you're much more likely to miss it. Just my $.02.
@notprtty
I agree in general to your post... Except that you can buy parts in the US for your China made product. But I did feel the China email communication I had so far was of poor quality.
One thing I've noticed is that a lot of design made available to cut require more than 20x12" mark... In general 24x12" is recommended... So the table top FSL is 4 inch shy to be in the good range... But going bigger mean it going to be huge 100lbs+ equipment.
So it all depend if your usage... Check what size you really need... And how much production you want to do. Autofocus system might be worth every penny... A more secure system that check water/air flow.
As for a hubby user with no garage space, I want something that I can unplug and move around. Something that I can move by my self without require a fork lift.
So there is only 2 option I saw so far... The Chinese model that is also sold in the US by Hurricane and FSL (Maybe other), or the new one from FSL no one have played with yet.
I would say if your not sure between those 2 option... Go with the bigger model, and if you can afford... Just wait !
@mochouinard
Yes, you can buy parts in the US, I was referring more to any parts that may be covered under warranty, if any. Obviously, if you purchase your machine from China, you'd be getting your replacement parts from them as well.
But I agree about communication. Even when they aren't doing anything shady, it's just terribly difficult to discuss things in a satisfactory manner (in my opinion) when the language barrier is so thick. My few emails back and forth with someone from wklasers had me more confused than before I began asking the questions. As someone with very little knowledge of the machinery, being able to get answers I understand is a big deal for me. Just the thought of spending days just trying to get across the problem before it can be fixed exhausts me! And as I will be getting a laser cutter for business purposes,I simply don't have that kind of time.
Well, I am not speaking from "theory" but from actual experience.
Dealing with a Chinese manufacturer was a pleasure for us.. We did our homework and found a PRIME mnfgr and not a re-badging agent. I run a big business with 8 lasers in total , I could not be more pleased with our chinese lasers , they have given us better results than expected and have been real workhorses ..we run em 7-8 hrs a day week in and week out. I have only had one cheapy tube break and that was OUR fault. Spares are so cheap we imported a raftload for our machines , EG 60w tube $170 , motherboard $295 , stepper motor $48 , stepper motor driver $70 , LCD panel $120, lenses $30 , mirrors $22 and so on.
My sales person and tech support are always on line on skype and its real easy to communicate with em, the service is really very good , in fact the tech guy actually spent almost a day in support with one of my associates here that don't even have one of their lasers.. its another make , and they got her machine up and running.
A word of caution , those small desktop el cheapo lasers are junk , no matter where you get em from , it's like trying to buy a silk purse made out of a pigs ear. If you want a decent machine , like a 600 x 900 60/80w you are looking at about $4-5k with spares and transport.
Rodney , Cape Town , South Africa
[url]www.tokerbros.co.za[/url]
Which company did you order from? Also, how do you go about breaking the tubes? I'd like to learn from other people's mistakes, if I can, so I don't repeat them myself.
I bought from Liaocheng Shenhui Laser Equipment Co., Ltd. I have personally been there as well.
I must add here , I am in no way connected to any mnfgr ..just a user , it's no issue to me what machine anyone else uses.
The tube bust because:
I used the cheap cw3000 piece of utter junk chiller supplied with my 60w machine and it uses evaporative cooling - basically a bucket with a rubbish underpowered pump and some arb fan blowing on the water..the water temp started getting hotter and level was dropping , so my operator stuck in some iced water into it , thinking he was doing good , but the thermal shock of the iced water cracked one of the water inlet pipes in the tube.
$170 lesson learned.
Last edited by Rodney Gold; 08-27-2012 at 01:50 PM.
Rodney , Cape Town , South Africa
[url]www.tokerbros.co.za[/url]
If you are looking only to get 1 machine for your business , you have to make sure you order spares right from the start (controller boards, belts, laser tube, motors, power supply etc). Or you have to be sure you can get it immediately in your local area.
Because once it's down you might take 2 weeks just to figure out where is the problem, communicating the problem with your supplier, worse if they are not responsive, waiting for replacement parts to arrive from china. I learned this the hard way, machine down for 2 weeks , lose a few jobs and customers which itself already cost more than the laser machine.
So unless you are going to have a few of those chinese lasers, and can afford to wait when one breaks down, then it may be better to get one locally where , immediate support is available.
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