Laser engraving/cutting?

[Nige52]

Has anyone bought a low priced engraver cutter machine?
I turn lots of objects on my lathe, but my pyrography leaves a lot to be desired, I don't have the quality of handwriting and I don't want to use a hot brand.
I have seen many products for sale that have laser engraved names or pictures on them and would love to buy a machine that does this, unfortunately a lot of them are very expensive but there are quite a few for sale on the auction site for less than £350 and some for less than £200.......I mainly want to engrave names on items to personalise them and to provide a permanent mark, so has anyone on here got one of these cheap machines and can tell me if they live up to the blurb?
Many thanks
Nige

 

[acewoodturner]

Hi Nige, as someone who has 10 years experience of using lasers to engrave and cut materials, can I make a few comments to enable you make an informed opinion on the subject. First of all I own 2 lasers, one costing 12k and the other 18k as well as fume extraction equipment and some other bits and pices to go along with them. These are both air cooled european made lasers with state of the art parts and tubes from well known manufacturers. They both use Corel Draw for the design work and I know if I have a problem with either one a quick phone call can be made for support. Indeed one of them can be linked up to the UK headquarters and can be remotely assisted. (only because I got broadband in the workshop last week though!)
The tubes on the lasers last for thousands of hours and are both cooled by a flow of air around them. (my first one I reckon has got over 50,000 hours on it). The cheap chinese ones have to be cooled by a flow of water at a certain temperature which must be kept free from dirt and bacteria etc. This is quite difficult to achieve I believe and damm near impossible if in a woodworking shop. Most chinese tubes last about a hundred hours or so if you are lucky and they work in the first place.
My lasers are rated at 25w and 40 watts respectively. The 25w one is the older one and is probably sitting nearer 20w. The 40w one was new a couple of years ago and was rated at 50w approx last year. The 50w one can cut 7mm sycamore with a couple of passes and I have also done 6mm oak with it as well with ease.
I believe the one you are looking at are a fraction of the power I have mentioned and I would doubt could cut anything apart from a piece of paper.
I use Corel Draw as mentioned. The Chinese ones use RD works or something similar. All artwork has to be converted to this before it can be engraved and having seen the work involved is a pain in the buttocks and time consuming.
My lasers are also highly accurate due to the precision european/us parts used and easily and quickly replaced should the need arise. Big waiting time for stuff sitting on a slow boat from China.
My two lasers are also CE marked and meet strict health and safety requirements and are both safe to use. I have yet to see any CE marks on the cheaper Chinese ones. Having seen a few of these cheap ones on a certain auction site, if they have CE markings then this certification is almost certainly fake. Should you order one its almost certain it wouldnt get through Customs and Excise at the port and then you lose your money.
I dont want to put you off buying a laser as there are some good models coming in from China who are sold by reputable dealers in this country with a full support backup mechanism in place. They are cheaper than buying a european model and engrave and cut ok. Its a bit like buying a car, a cheap one will get you to your destination the same as a rolls royce, it might just break down more often or the parts might not last as long etc etc

Mike

 

[Jelly]

Ace, I'm part of a group who have one of the far eastern laser cutters (A0 bed size, 80w laser) and most of what you say is correct, but perhaps a little exaggerated.

In practice the water cooling is almost maintainance free as it's a sealed system, the machine lives between a welding/machining area and a woodworking machine-room, but neither give it any trouble, it's been in 3-4 years, and replaced a smaller light duty one, which did similar service.

The tubes last for a several thousand of hours of use (the manufacturer states 8000, in practice longer is achievable), by agreement the group it's used at no more than 75-80% of its rated power to extend the life of the tubes before loss of power.

There is a local UK based dealer/importer (Just Add Sharks) who will support the machine if we experience breakdowns.

It's compatable with most free and proprietary 2D CAD programmes, and all graphic design programmes which will output vector graphics.

The one thing that is apparent is that even with excellent extraction and an air-blast assist on the head, the optics need frequent cleaning due to deposition of fume residues which then impact massively on power transmission, the one my secondary school (going back about 12-13 years) had used optics which were sealed off from the cutting environment, which was much lower maintainance as a result, is this the same for yours?

 

[acewoodturner]

No, my optics need cleaning daily or even twice daily. I use mine at full power most of the time which cuts down on the no of passes I need to make. I base my experience on chinese lasers on a former customer of mine who had to buy a second laser as his first one was down that often. Now he has 2, one that works and one awaiting spares/ getting fixed. In the 20 months I have had my second laser I have only had to clean it regularly. My purex fume extractor has packed in but as it only cost me 80 quid on ebay I am not too worried. I have a big fan and speed controller and tonight I am building a fume extractor to vent directly outside. All I have to buy is some flexi hose. My fan is 180w which is about 80 pet cent less than the purex so I will save plenty on the leccy. My leccy bill jumped from 20 quid a month to 60 as I was using the laser that much. I think also my timber drying kiln for all the trees I mill up also had a part to play in that though! Still, it beats buying in timber.

 

[bugbear]

I base my experience on chinese lasers on a former customer of mine who had to buy a second laser as his first one was down that often.

It's possible there's more than 1 laser maker in China... big country. Prices and quality may vary. :wink:

BugBear

 

[acewoodturner]

He did buy his laser from a well known distibuter in this country

Mike