Bought a laser, now there's a thing

[Robin Hewitt]

I was Googling for someone to laser some acryllic for me, idly typed "laser cutter" into fleabay, price + P&P lowest first...

I found a dinky little laser engraver/cutter with a buy it now of £550 + £45 shipping from Cornwall.

I thought, "What's the worst that can happen?", offered £500 and got it.

Laser cutter machine Laser Engraver | eBay
You may now tell me what is wrong with it and where I could have bought a new one for less

[r0bsk1]

Nice find. I was looking at £700 just for the laser Industrial 808nm 15000mw 15Watt Infrared Focusable high power laser burning TTL | eBay

[Web Goblin]

The laser tubes on these dont normally last very long so the fact that your getting a spare is a major bonus.

[Philly]

The laser tubes on these dont normally last very long so the fact that your getting a spare is a major bonus.

Mines at about 1500 hours at the moment :) Not sure if thats long in the laser world though.

[Robin Hewitt]

The laser tubes on these dont normally last very long so the fact that your getting a spare is a major bonus.

Thanks for not telling me I am an idiot, but perhaps that is yet to come

I have read a bit about Chinese lasers and quality seems to be a bit of a lucky dip. I think the tube life also depends on whether you run the poor thing at top whack. If I stick to cutting thin Plasticard in no particular hurry I could probably wind it back somewhat.

Note: Back in the good old days, before political correctness, they used to grade schoolchildren on a sliding scale. Idiot was the bottom of the scale, one step below moron.

[Jonathan]

Hmm I'd have considered getting that... favourite search now set up. My current plan is to attach a laser to my router, but on a second gantry. Since I'm using rotating ballnuts, I can easily have two gantries running independently on the machine, so one lightweight one for laser cutter (+3d printer) and a robust gantry for conventional cutting. The one you've got says 21m/min, which is manageable and I should be able to do it without loosing much, if any travel.

I expect to see your mayan calender on Monday...

[John S]

I expect to see your mayan calender on Monday...

Sunday any good ?



Been kicking about for a while and it's lost some of it's detail. Should have sealed it but didn't bother as it was just part of the packing case the laser came in.

About 4" diameter and took 7 minutes.

[martin54]

Not read much about these Chinese lasers, can you do a little review of it when it arrives & you have had a little play with it Robin please.

Is it the same machine you have Philly

[GEOFFREY]

Very interesting. I bought a black cat laser (900x600 bed) about 18 months ago and am hoping to get it set up next weekend. Anyone else got one?
I,m sure Robin will have his up and running long before me. Await your comments about set up and performance Robin (I mean the llaser of course). G.

[Philly]

It is mate, had it 2 years now.