My New Laser arrived

[FlyGuy007]

I ordered a LC6090 80w laser from Jack at WKLasers and it arrived last week. The shipping was prompt and it arrived in Canada just as Jack said it would. The Freight forwarder used in Canada was lacking to say the least but a few words from Jack at WKLasers and things seemed to move along nicely.

I picked the laser up in Halifax and took it home and uncrated it. The crate was top notch and the packing was better than I could ever have expected. The general build of the machine is also better than i could have hoped. The body of the machine is very well built, its a heavy guage steel and is several times thicker and heavier than I expected. Everything looks well made . My only gripe with the build is that many of the bolt holes are drilled and tapped and odd angles, so its obviously done by hand. Many have holes in one side of the machine but not the other so no bolt was placed at those location. But there is probably more screws than are needed anyway. I saw about a dozen of these instances where hardware was installed. And a few lock washers would have been nice as alot of the hardware just wasn't tight.

The instructions are pretty much nonsense. The translation is poor and its very difficult to understand the idea trying to be conveyed in many of the sentences. Just a jumble of English words tossed into a sentence. But the video plus the instructions make it doable for someone who is on the ball.

The PCI driver card that came with the machine (MPC03) is a nightmare. Its quaility appears low and I tried four computers before I found oe it would even boot in. In the first two cases with the card installe dthe compuetrs would not even POST, just a dead computer. Worked fine with the MPC03 though. The computer I am now using boots most of the time with the card in it but gives various errors at times, and after 5 or 6 boots becomes unusable. Removing the card and rebooting a few times fixes all the errors and I reinsert that card and start over :-) There has to be a better system that the MPC03 card.

The software is hard to use and the install is not well documented. But after I installed anything that looked like an .exe the system booted OK. Much of the install is in Chinese though so some guesing at which button to click was encoutered several times.

I ordered alot of extra parts and (mirrors, lens, drivers and an extra tube) which is a good thing as I suspect the first tube I installed is bad. But I am not sure enough to risk changing it out until I have heard from Jack as I don't want to do that only to find I missed something simple.

Anyway overall I am impressed and I think it was a great deal. Now if Jack helps me like I think he will it will be a super deal.

I'll keep you all posted!

Mike Purcell

[wklaser]

Hi Mike Purcell,
I have sent you many emails but all of them are returned to me marked failure notice, I wonder if you have received my email. Please reply to me

wklaser@yahoo.com or wygls@hotmail.com

thanks

JackYin

[FlyGuy007]

Jack;

I have not received any except one 2 days ago asking if I received the laser. I will resend my emails to you.

Thanks
Mike Purcell

[FlyGuy007]

Well here's an update.

I have the laser making pinholes on the test and I can even cut a circle etc using the supplied software.

I have had nightmares with the controller card included with the system (MPC03) It just seems like 3 of the 4 computers I have at the house will not work with the card. It appears from here that its an IRQ issue. Two of the 4 computers are completely lifeless with the controller card installed. One is so flakey that it just won't stay running. The last one boots now about 80% of the time but gives random and varied issues (POST errors, CMOS errors, random detection of new hardware etc) But its at least working.

The reason I bought the laser was that it can cut corel files but so far I can't use the corel files I have. In fact it will not recognize Corel X3 at all and wants my system to have much older versions of Corel on the system before it will even install the drivers. I am currently trying to find an older version so I can continue to try it out.

So far I like the system, it appears well made, not USA well made but not bad and certainly a great deal for the price. But there is alot of setup involved and still many things I have not yet ironed out. For example the cutting table is supposed to move up and down but I can't see how and my water chiller actually seems to warm the water. But I am making progress and the company has been good so far.

Thanks
Mike

[KTP]

So how cheap does something have to be to be a "good deal" even if it doesn't work?

I was thinking of coming out with a new car design, modeled on a Lexus, but for about 1/5 the price. It wouldn't actually run or anything, but do you think people would buy it because the price made it a really good deal? Just seeking opinions...

[FlyGuy007]

You know I guess it depends on the type of person you are. If you decide you want to learn to fly, you can buy yourself an almost finished airplane kit and tweak it yourself for as little as a few thousand or you could buy a brand new Boeing 737 for 40 million. Easy choice for me.

I am a bit of a tinkerer and bought the laser mostly because I needed it but also because its a toy. Yes, I could have paid and I am not exaggerating here 17x more for a finished model like an equivalent Epilog here in Canada. So even if I spend weeks getting this operating right, or even months I will have saved well over 50K and had fun and yes a few frustrations doing so. That's part of the enjoyment of it.

If you have a business that needs it quick and needs support right now then I'd stay clear. If you don't have spares tens of thousands falling out of your pockets then I'd go the way I did. For support, Jack has been good, in fact as good as some North American companies I have dealt with. Truth is, when I write to ask a support type question I have usually figured it out by the time he gets back to me.

I think the laser is basically well built and I'd say in many cases works fine, its the language issue that I think is the real problem as the instructions just are not up to the standards we have come to expect in North America. But the info is there and after you get it to work I have gone back and said to myself that well, maybe that's what the instructions meant..... :-)

I have no doubt I'll get it working and in the end I'll be a much better end user than if someone had of airlifted in a shiny gold plated Epilog and held my hand for the entire first month.

How many of us here that own CNC machines bought a $250K mill and how many of us turned to the Shopbot, shopSabre style systems that allow us to get in there and tinker without costing us the price of a house.

I could never have come close to owning a new Epilog or General period.

Mike

[channel7]

Originally Posted by KTP So how cheap does something have to be to be a "good deal" even if it doesn't work? I was thinking of coming out with a new car design, modeled on a Lexus, but for about 1/5 the price. It wouldn't actually run or anything, but do you think people would buy it because the price made it a really good deal? Just seeking opinions...

I am in agreement with this perspective more than the view of getting the most parts for the lowest buck and finishing the engineering yourself once it arrives.

Maybe that is one of the lines that will separate a hobbyist from a guy trying to make a living off what the machine can produce. I keep thinking that MY time is the most expensive component in this equation. I will waste enough of that time doing research trying to find the laser that will best serve my needs. I certainly don't see it being beneficial to spend an additional month once the machine arrives trying to get it to cut something correctly.

I do see your perspective, FlyGuy, I do. You chose to invest the time and not the capital. I am very interested in these 'Made in China' lasers but reading the posts here for so long I still haven't found the purchasing experience that has been a smooth one. The software is so critical yet it seems to be frustrating to use. That is the major turn-off for me at this point, the software adds unnecessary labor costs.

Please continue to post your experiences, FlyGuy!! It helps me to see how the machines are built, the support structure surrounding them, and the ease of using the packaged software. Your story, and many like it, helps a lot of us reading the posts here.

[FlyGuy007]

Well, time for another update.

The laser is up and cutting and I am pretty happy. Its been a fun time getting it to where it is. There is still some issues with quirky software. Initially I couldn't install corel drivers as it wasn't compatible with the latest version. So I got an old copy and it cut, but outputs everything at about 2/3 size and even I believe 2/3 power. The tube is noticeably dimmer using Corel at 100% that it is using the native program. No big deal its 80w so I have power to spare for cutting what I am. I am not sure this is even a fault of tha laser and way well not be beciause I have run into a similar problem cutting files that were originally made in Corel on my CNC as well. Its weird but the only way I can cut using Corel is to increase my cutting object by about 70% and then the laser reports back quite rightly that it exceeds the table size so I have to trick the laser into thinking the table is bigger than it is. So a workaround my workaround :-) But it short it cuts and does so very nicely. I am only running 10mm/sec at 40% power or maybe less if I am indeed cutting at an already lowered power setting.

I am cutting PETG so its a very nice cut but am looking forward to trying real acrylic soon as its supposed to cut even better.

It engraves like a champ. I have engraved MDF (WOW!), acrylic (seems to just melt it, so no nice white contrast, probably my focus when I tried it.) and a variety of other things. Very accurate and perfect alignment.

All in all, I really like it and while there were some frustrations I think its been very much worth the effort. The manufacturer should learn to use lock washers and the manual translations and software are written in Chinglish and as such are hard to understand at times. Support from WKLaser and Jack Yin has been stellar I think, considering the distances, time zones and the language barrier. At times we communicated with Messenger/Skye and at one point I got an updated driver file from him in minutes... at 2am my time!! Try that almost anywhere else!

I used the machine yesterday for 11 hours straight. My current project takes 40 min to cut so it was working hard. I hope to be able to multiple the cut speed by about 4x when I switch to acrylic next week. The laser still cuts PETG but its prone to flaming which destroys the project if I cut too fast or with too much power. So slow and steady it is.

All in all a great machine and a good investment! Now if I could only find a spot for it as the size the specs quoted were for the normal machine but I of course upgraded the laser to 80w..... who would have expected the laser tube would project out of the machine and be protected by an 18" metal attachment? Now the laser unit is 18" wider than I expected and just does not come close to fitting in the basement spot I allocated for it. Oh well :-)


Thanks
Mike

[wklaser]

Hi Mike,
I am pretty glad to hear that you are happy with the machine, last time I send the DSP4.0 to you, now please log on your Skype I would like to send the new DSP5.0 to you, then you can use the one you prefer

Thanks again for your comments.

PS: Anybody who wanna buy laser enrgaveing cutting machine, please feel free to contact me:

email:wklaser@yahoo.com

men:wygls@hotmail.com


Jack Yin

[wklaser]

Hi Mike,
Can you log on your MSn or Skype agine? I did receive your message that day but I always failed to send message to u by msn that day.

[Laser Doctor]

Originally Posted by FlyGuy007 I ordered a LC6090 80w laser from Jack at WKLasers and it arrived last week. The shipping was prompt and it arrived in Canada just as Jack said it would. The Freight forwarder used in Canada was lacking to say the least but a few words from Jack at WKLasers and things seemed to move along nicely. I picked the laser up in Halifax and took it home and uncrated it. The crate was top notch and the packing was better than I could ever have expected. The general build of the machine is also better than i could have hoped. The body of the machine is very well built, its a heavy guage steel and is several times thicker and heavier than I expected. Everything looks well made . My only gripe with the build is that many of the bolt holes are drilled and tapped and odd angles, so its obviously done by hand. Many have holes in one side of the machine but not the other so no bolt was placed at those location. But there is probably more screws than are needed anyway. I saw about a dozen of these instances where hardware was installed. And a few lock washers would have been nice as alot of the hardware just wasn't tight. The instructions are pretty much nonsense. The translation is poor and its very difficult to understand the idea trying to be conveyed in many of the sentences. Just a jumble of English words tossed into a sentence. But the video plus the instructions make it doable for someone who is on the ball. The PCI driver card that came with the machine (MPC03) is a nightmare. Its quaility appears low and I tried four computers before I found oe it would even boot in. In the first two cases with the card installe dthe compuetrs would not even POST, just a dead computer. Worked fine with the MPC03 though. The computer I am now using boots most of the time with the card in it but gives various errors at times, and after 5 or 6 boots becomes unusable. Removing the card and rebooting a few times fixes all the errors and I reinsert that card and start over :-) There has to be a better system that the MPC03 card. The software is hard to use and the install is not well documented. But after I installed anything that looked like an .exe the system booted OK. Much of the install is in Chinese though so some guesing at which button to click was encoutered several times. I ordered alot of extra parts and (mirrors, lens, drivers and an extra tube) which is a good thing as I suspect the first tube I installed is bad. But I am not sure enough to risk changing it out until I have heard from Jack as I don't want to do that only to find I missed something simple. Anyway overall I am impressed and I think it was a great deal. Now if Jack helps me like I think he will it will be a super deal. I'll keep you all posted! Mike Purcell

You say the instructions are a nonsense. The PCI card is a nightmare. Quality is low. Computers don't work with the system.Video doesn't live up to expectations. Software is hard to install and use. You purchased alot of extra parts. -And your impressed with it. My feeling is you are going to experience many troubles with this unit and you will end up replacing it within one-year. Please keep me posted.

Thank you.

The Laser Doctor

[dragoneye]

I have 3 of WKs lasers and am just about to complete the set with a LG900.

AND I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY TROUBLE WITH THE TUBES and if you bear in mind that there are thousands of these machines comming out of china i feel that although it is personal to a person that has a bad machine on percentages it is probally very low.

Also we dont hear about North American machines that have faults is due to the fact that A they dont want anyone to know that there peice of junk that cost 5 times as much is faulty and B look close and see just what is manufactered in china.

Most large companies state made in their country when they take their chineese parts out of their bonded stores and put together in the country of origin allowing them to fool the public with standards of their country and any one who thinks not needs to check this out before commenting as we all know china is supplying 90% of all goods in the world today.

So stop comparing all chineese as bad they are not .

I understood that this site was to help each other buyers and sellers alike but all i seem to see is one way traffic aimed at the seller who is improving his products all the time with R & D for example take WKlasers machine of a year ago and look at the build and software today,they listen and improve all the time.

So please keep on posting experiances GOOD & BAD so we can all learn from it AND sellers keep posting your machines so we can see the improvements BUT how about those who have no machine and express their veiws on others misfortunes keep their big mouths SHUT until they actaully have their own experiance to comment on good or bad.