about to buy a chinese laser co2 machine - advice required

[mark747]

I am not in Birmingham and have nothing to do with them. I am by Birmingham and that is the reason I went to look at these machines. I thought I was doing someone a favour because I had found a decent machine with some good customer service.
Sorry for trying to help

[jasongtr]

I am not in Birmingham and have nothing to do with them. I am by Birmingham and that is the reason I went to look at these machines. I thought I was doing someone a favour because I had found a decent machine with some good customer service.
Sorry for trying to help

why so touchy? i just said good find. and also pointed out that i wouldnt buy that as it doesnt support multi colour cuts, had you read the thread you would of noticed ive already bought one

[Zootalaws]

Just as an FYI for others looking looking at a cheap Chinese laser, replacing the Chinese supplied controller with a decent, standard-based one is very simple. So, if your favoured laser doesn't support different colours, get a controller that does.

An Arduino/RAMPS combo running decent firmware, a TinyG or Smoothie board will run you from $20-100 and completely transforms your toolpath.

I have all three and they all offer much more than your average Chinese controller. I have a TinyG running over Bluetooth, a Smoothie connected by Ethernet and controlled via the web, and replacing the existing controller is a breeze.

Using stepper-motor equipped laser mechanisms, higher resolution is always better and the ability to get 1/128 or 1/256 steps with advanced motion, jerk, acceleration, etc. should justify the upgrade alone.

As a mixed Mac/PC/Linux user, the ability to use open-source, rather than pirated software that only runs on windows is a massive improvement. For my current CNC and 3DP machines I use a raspberry Pi to front end the device, effectively giving each machine its own dedicated computer.

I viewed my first laser as a box of donor hardware to which I would add the electronics I wanted. Budget £100/$150 and you can transform that clunky old controller into something swish and modern.