Looking at Banggood Desktop laser engraver. Need opinions

[gregrlevy]

Hi

I'm looking at Banggood Desktop Engraver 5500mW A3 30x40cm model. This is for a hobbyist. I would like to do some engraving and cutting light weight materials. Is the 5500mW machine too large for these simple items or is it best to go large just in case I want to do more in the future?

Does anyone have any experience with these machines? I see the same machine on different websites with different brand names.

Thanks
Greg

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[rfresh737]

HI Greg - I have the Benbox machine which (I believe) is the same unit. I was told the 5500mw laser does not put our a dot beam and in fact the beam is about 2/3mm wide...so its not good for engraving or precision cutting for that matter. As a result of being told that by the factory, I opted for the 2500mw laser diode. My machine is all assembled but I am still waiting for the laser head to arrive.

I found support lacking from the factory, but there is now a new community-based support site for these lasers here: Benbox Laser DIY Machines - Index

[gregrlevy]

Thanks for the information.

Greg

[Bigbird48]

if you want to cut and engrave your going to want a co2 laser of at least 30 watts 40 or 60 will be better.

[rfresh737]

if you want to cut and engrave your going to want a co2 laser of at least 30 watts 40 or 60 will be better.

That's very true...if you can afford those class of machines. And it depends on what you want to cut and what thickness. Unfortunately I could not afford them.

As an FYI, there is a laser machine called the Emblaser which has a 4 watt diode laser, but before you laugh, many customers have posted on their Forum that they were able to cut 3mm plywood in 3 or 4 passes. The Enblaser runs around $700.00 (depends on what size you buy A3 or A4) and is sold as a kit. I personally decided to spend about half that amount and buy a Benbox DIY kit that I assembled (from China). However, I'm still waiting on my 2.5 watt laser head to see if I can cut 3mm plywood in multiple passes....maybe, maybe not.

But I'm a tech geek so I don't mind playing around with this low cost machine and learning as I go. I've already re-calibrated my stepper motors (they were really off the mark) and I'm working with a developer in France who is modifying his CNC software to support low cost low, power laser machines. I installed a Com port sniffer tool to capture the laser specific gcodes to figure out what codes are being used to turn the laser on, set the power level, etc. I'm passing this information on to him so he can add it to his new Laser version of his software. His software will be the first one available in the CNC class to support low cost lasers (and any laser in general actually). This will give us the ability to set up jobs to actually cut materials, something the Benbox software wasn't designed to do.

[Storen]

See this one:

Amazon.com: Eteyo Engraving Cutting Machine Parallel Port Support Laser Engraver with Usb Co2 Laser 40w 200*300mm

It should be significantly better and the cost (including shipping) is $525

[rfresh737]

See this one:

Amazon.com: Eteyo Engraving Cutting Machine Parallel Port Support Laser Engraver with Usb Co2 Laser 40w 200*300mm

It should be significantly better and cost (including shipping) is $525

Yes I am aware of this one and it is very tempting because of the low price. However, if you read some of the experiences others have had with it, you may change your mind as I did. It's construction is a nightmare with wires poorly inserted into crimps that should be soldered and in one case the fan wires were just shoved into the fan case manually twisted with no isolation. The articles I read showed there were a lot of construction problems with this machine and a lot of safety issues that were just ignored, etc. All in all the quality of this machine was a nightmare so I doubt it would run very long even after fixing all of the arrival and safety problems (which one could spend some time doing admittedly). But I thought, in the long run, with such poor quality control, surely the machine wouldn't run for very long before a part stopped working.

I may regret buying my Benbox DIY Laser when I find out I can't cut 3mm plywood with it but I've learned a lot from it already: I'm learning to program gcodes, how to calibrate stepper motors, flashing Grbl .hex files into firmware, other software to use with my Benbox such as Grbl Controller, Universal Gcode Sender and a lot about the hardware to build one of these, etc. So if I end up having to give up using this laser, I still have acquired a lot of knowledge along the way, with a lot more to learn!

...and if I do need to step up, I like this one:

TEN-HIGH Upgraded Version CO2 40W 110/220V Laser Engraving Cutting Machine with USB port, Ready to Use! - Renewable Energy Charge Controllers - Amazon.com

...because it got pretty good reviews. However, for me anyway, I will have to save up to make this purchase!

[Storen]

Here is one happy user:

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/genera...-software.html

[Bigbird48]

you say your a tech guy you would be a lot better off with the cheap K40 then the one you going to play with . It will take you hours to cut a small circle with that and many pass's. You can fix up a k40 and have a better time of it.

[rfresh737]

you say your a tech guy you would be a lot better off with the cheap K40 then the one you going to play with . It will take you hours to cut a small circle with that and many pass's. You can fix up a k40 and have a better time of it.

Yeah, you're probably right...I'm sure I will step up to that class of machine with my next one...

[wklaserliu]

Hi

I'm looking at Banggood Desktop Engraver 5500mW A3 30x40cm model. This is for a hobbyist. I would like to do some engraving and cutting light weight materials. Is the 5500mW machine too large for these simple items or is it best to go large just in case I want to do more in the future?

Does anyone have any experience with these machines? I see the same machine on different websites with different brand names.

Thanks
Greg

I am Quiven form gweike laser
our storm600 is ok for you: http://www.wklaser.com/index.php?m=c...128&l=2&id=254

ok,for more news contact me :
skype:wkquiven
chloe@wklaser.com
whatsAPP:8615698041856
WECHAT:1091701353

[rfresh737]

>I am Quiven form gweike laser
>our storm600 is ok for you

Price?

[wklaserliu]

>I am Quiven form gweike laser
>our storm600 is ok for you

Price?

HI Rfresh,

dear our storm600 35w ,up&down table, air fan, air pipr, water pump etc :USD1200 FOB price
and if change to 60w tube then add USD150

ok, please check photos below,


any news you can contact me at :
skype;wkquiven
chloe@wklaser.com
Quiven form gweike laser

[parsifaldruddle]

Ebay - greenwholesaler 40W CO2 Laser Engraver w/Water-Break Protection Upgraded Control Board | eBay - just bought - $324 or so - excellent out of the box - definitely not junk. You'll want to mod / upgrade, but the whole schmang WORKS for the cost of the tube and the power supply. You can get ~12"x14" out of it by just removing the stock bed and the blower duct. It is a very very good value (and I value shop like ebeneezer). Stock dsp isn't 'great' - but it works. Stock bed and clamp aren't 'great' - pull'em out and use spacers under a screen - google the DK 40 mods available, visit LightObject, etc. If you want to cut and engrave more stuff, more quickly - go this route - it's like 60 bucks more than Banggoods 2.5w violet/blue diode laser kit (which I'm about to order to get granddaughters started, because they can help assemble it and learn a lot, and they like to foamcraft and such). The CO2 will etch the ANODIZED or paint coating on aluminum (won't cut it), 1/4 balsa, 1/8 ply, most all fabrics, thin leathers, etc. It's not perfect, but it also isn't 'junk' as so many folks would have you believe - a bertter DSP or a Mach3 friendly controller are great upgrades, but you can get started for $324 - insane!!!. Get your feet wet with either, but bang for dollar is a 'DK40-series' CO2. If ya do a lot of Cricut(sp?) stuff, the 2.5w diode oughta be fun.

Take the plunge, get your feet wet and hands dirty - ya have to use one to get a real idea of what you'll finally need

[rfresh737]

Hi Greg,

A lot has happened in the past 18 months since I first posted in this thread. Let me bring everyone up to date:

1. Benbox Laser Machines/CO2 Lasers/3D Printers - Index is a community support forum for low cost, low powered laser machines that I started 18 months ago. It's now the biggest and most active laser diode machine forum you will find anywhere. I am the Admin for it. It now also has a section for CO2 Laser machines and 3D Printers. It is a very active forum.

2. I've had to write my own CAM software and it is called BenCutLaser (BCL). It is supported on the same forum (Benbox Laser Machines/CO2 Lasers/3D Printers - Index) in the Software section.

3. There is also another CAM software program on the forum called T2Laser you can try out as well.

4. Both BCL and T2Laser now support controller boards that you can modify your CO2 laser machine and make use of BCL and T2Laser software. So, you now have a nice choice of CAM software.

5. The CO2 laser controller boards BCL and T2Laser now support are:

a. Smoothie board. Comes with its own firmware.
b. Cohesion3D Mini board. Comes with its own firmware.
c. MegaPi board. Can flash Grbl 1.1e to it.
d. RAMPS 1.4 board. Can flash Grbl 1.1e to it.

[wmgeorge]

Facebook has a very active and friendly user Forum without a lot of know it all's like show up here from time to time and insult people. I think its called the Chinese K40 something. Nice people and lots of shared useful knowledge.
The Benbox one above is also very good, I wish I would known about it when I had my laser diode machine.

[pfavoril23]

this is a proven scam company. don't buy from them. you will be scammed!!!