DC Ross Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'm comtemplating investing in a laser cutter/engraver eventually, and I'm looking for some info that isn't skewed by marketing speak. The two companies I see most often are Epilog and Universal; are there others that I should be looking at? What wattage do you guys w/ lasers run? I'm planning on cutting and engraving up to 1/2" polycarbonate, as well as abalam, wood (of course), and marking aluminum and steel. What type of maintenance items are there on lasers (i.e. how often does the tube need to be replaced, and at what cost?) Are there any specific features that I should be looking for? Are brushless servo motors worth the extra expense? Any other additional info? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 I'm contemplating investing in a laser cutter/engraver eventually, and I'm looking for some info that isn't skewed by marketing speak. The two companies I see most often are Epilog and Universal; are there others that I should be looking at? What wattage do you guys w/ lasers run? I'm planning on cutting and engraving up to 1/2" polycarbonate, as well as abalam, wood (of course), and marking aluminum and steel. What type of maintenance items are there on lasers (i.e. how often does the tube need to be replaced, and at what cost?) Are there any specific features that I should be looking for? Are brushless servo motors worth the extra expense? Any other additional info? Thanks! I looked into lasers about 6 months ago and realized they were just way too expensive. You need at least the 24" size to do any basic guitar work and that adds about 5k to the price of the baby machine. In terms of CO2 tube life I think the specs are 10 -20K hours. Read this first http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=42876 Their is also the Chinese lasers that run pretty cheap. However if you want to have it work out of the box you have to find a local distributor who can and will replace any defective parts. Ebay is a problem for Chinese machines. The CNC Zone forums are a better place to find out all the dirt and ask pointed questions. http://www.cnczone.com/ The one thing is you should not think of a laser engraver as a cnc machine because it is based on a printer driver it is not controled by dedicated software. You design then print to the laser. More like a plotter. A bit easier than a CNC mill or Lathe. Of course You have to adjust the driver for the kind of part or engraving you are doing as that controlls the laser. I have no idea why you would need any special motors as the unit has no lateral force acting on the motors or head. As far as wattage the old saying the more the better as it gives you more possibilities. Since I dont own one this is only what I can remember from my voyage in that direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 I also looked into an Epilog Laser. Price was toooooo much. Instead Im building a CNC table for routing/engraving/cutting wood, plastic, aluminum. It made more sense. Spoke is right on, go to cnczone.com -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted May 27, 2009 Report Share Posted May 27, 2009 I also looked into an Epilog Laser. Price was toooooo much. Instead Im building a CNC table for routing/engraving/cutting wood, plastic, aluminum. It made more sense. Spoke is right on, go to cnczone.com -Vinny I have also been thinking of a small 24" CNC router. I already have a MINI mill I CNCed so I am ready to plug the compouter and controler into a CNC router. I keep eying some of the ready made tables and carriages. Also looks like many people are CNCing their inlay which you really cant do on a laser. Or at least its difficult. If you posted a build link it for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted May 28, 2009 Report Share Posted May 28, 2009 Spoke, Still assembling the "Black Box' controller driver/board, as it starts to look like something I plan on starting a thread here. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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