Kern vs. Beam Dynamics??

[baksiidaa]

Has anyone out there used both Kern and Beam Dynamics laser cutters? Any thoughts on how they compare? We'll be using whichever system we get mainly for metal-cutting one-off jobs.

[MonoNeuron]

After looking at the Kern Laser site and a lot of their videos personally I would buy a Kern. I haven't seen the beam dynamics stuff but the Kern has the best software out there and it does 3D really well. I tried to buy their software years ago but they only sell it with their machines.
They use Coherent lasers as well which are rated as one of the best out there.
I know what one I would buy.
Just my opinion.
Rich.

[cj8n@mac.com]

I bought a beam / coherent system in the fall.

It is a total piece of junk and their support is even worse.

I've been waiting two months for a fix on a major problem and all I get is "we're working on it"

The machine arrived with serious assembly defects.

My only option now to to take legal action to try and get my money back before it bleeds me to death.

Don't buy a Beam Machine.

[goingincircles]

Old question but hey, I wasn't here back in the day so in case anyone else is still wondering about this here's my two cents

I operate and service a Kern HSE 150 but it doesn't have the metal cutting option.

In 1.5years I've only had to shut the Kern down for roughly 48hrs. Worker error caused a head strike and bent the optics. Keep in mind height follower is a metal cutting option so we didn't have that. It wouldn't have saved the laser anyways since the employee was trying to be "creative" and had lowered the head below the appropriate deck height and allowed it to try and align.

Called Kern Lasers and was actually helped by Derek Kern himself. Quick phone call, exchanged pictures of damage and suspect parts via e-mail, $300 & 48hrs later like nothing ever happened.

I don't know if this is typical but we didn't even require an optical alignment. We refocused the optics in the tip after swapping over the entire head and it was dead on.

One thing that would be helpful with this question is what is the intended product output? The Beam Dynamics looks very industrialized and offers a whopping 1000watt option.

We use ours for cutting custom toolbox foam primarily but we've done everything from cutting to 3D engraving and this thing doesn't miss a beat.

I can cut .75" hard oak as thin as paper in a single pass, perforate a piece of paper without burning it and my acrylic products looks as good as what Kern shows on their sites and granite+laser=beautiful results.

I'm attending the Fabtech show in Chicago if all works out so I'll report back if I get to see the two products or anything similar perform.