Ready to push the button and buy a laser....

[pinballdave]

I've finally got round to ordering one of these 60W laser cutters, and just been given my tracking number (which of course doesn't work on the DHL website). Did anyone manage to successfully track one of these sent from Germany, or am I destined to stay at home all week waiting for the crate to turn up?

[Davek0974]

I just badgered the seller to give me the correct tracking ref - it was because they logged it into DHL international and their system is ending soon, it does not show on DHL uk.

When i got the right link it worked ok.

[pinballdave]

Thanks, I've been sent a link to the tracking page for DHL freight, but the number isn't working there either. The 'Help' for that page says you need to be logged in first, and I don't have a DHL account, so can't log in. :(

I'll keep pestering the seller until it turns up, and then I'll start pestering you lot with all my questions about setting it up properly. ;)

[Boyan Silyavski]

I am looking at the 100W ones.

One question. Whats really useful size ? I am looking ebay at RECI 100W Co2 1300x2500mm Flatbed Laser Cutter Laser Cutting Engraving USB, which i assume is around 80W. But hey, around 5000 only. Then tax, extra reserve tube, etc. I started already thinking schemes how to obtain it :-)

[Davek0974]

Don't get a spare tube until your one fails.

They have a shelf-life and you may well find that when you go to use it, your new tube is nearly dead.

Always best to buy new stock.

[pinballdave]

Got the tracking working in the end. Turns out it hasn't left Bremen in Germany yet, and was only collected from the warehouse today (I got the eBay 'Dispatched' email on Sunday!).

For any one else who's trying to track their laser cutter and finds this thread, you need to select 'Logistics' (instead of the default 'Express') tracking from the DHL homepage and then 'Road and Rail Freight' Tracking and enter the supplied tracking number as a 'Package ID', and it will only show anything after the package has been picked up by DHL.

To answer Boyan's question, for me the most 'useful size' is the biggest one I can afford, and will fit into the workshop. The size and laser power isn't too important to me at this stage, as I'll be cutting small parts from thin plastics which should be fine with even an entry level machine.

However, If I need a more powerful laser in the future, then a new tube and power supply could be shoehorned into this machine (with perhaps an optics upgrade at the same time). On the other hand, if I needed a larger cutting area, then I doubt any upgrade would be practical.

[pinballdave]

The laser cutter turned up just over a week ago. The top of the crate was completely smashed up, and the two separate pieces were laid on top of the cutter and 'fixed' back on with a bit of plastic pallet wrap. The front side of the crate was cracked, but still in one piece. Needless to say the contents of the crate were covered in a fair bit of dust and dirt, and a few minor scratches in the paintwork, but luckily it was all intact, and at this stage everything appears to work.

Removing the legs is quite an involved process. There are a number of sheet metal screws holding the legs onto the machine, but half of them are under the cover for the belt and pulleys that raise and lower the bed. The problem is that all the other parts that are directly fixed to the base of the machine were fitted after the legs, and their screws go straight through into the legs as well. So to get the legs off, you have to remove the bed lifting motor, a couple of the pulleys on it's belt, the stepper motor drives, and one final screw nicely hidden in the cable channeling. Luckily I had a nice sunny day to do it, and it was all reassembled in the 'shed' a few hours later.

The extensive disassembly gave me ample opportunity to clean all the dust and dirt out of the machine, so the proverbial two birds were well and truly dispatched. ;)

I've fired it all up a couple of times, and burned some small patterns into some scrap wood, but haven't got as far as laser alignment or any real cutting yet, as I have a question about the laser cooling.



The tubing for the coolant water is wrapped around the high voltage end of the laser in a fairly haphazard fashion, which makes it pretty much impossible to bleed any trapped air out of it. There seems to still be a decent flow of coolant, but I'm a little concerned about this setup, and was wondering if this is acceptable, or should I refit the tubing without all the twists and turns? I'm not really comfortable running the laser for more than a few seconds until I know whether this is OK or not.

Also I filled the coolant bucket with de-ionised water, and the pump was run for about a minute, and the water immediately smells musty. There was some green liquid in the laser tube when it arrived. Is there anything suitable for flushing the system out, or should a drain and refill with added antifreeze be adequate?

Finally, I only bought the basic machine without the rotary axis. There is wiring and connectors present for one to be connected, but the wiring only goes to a spare connector next to the two stepper drives. I'm just curious, but do the machines that come with the rotary axis have a third stepper driver, or is it just done with a wiring swap on the y-axis?

[TERRY CORDER]

I am looking at the 100W ones.

One question. Whats really useful size ? I am looking ebay at RECI 100W Co2 1300x2500mm Flatbed Laser Cutter Laser Cutting Engraving USB, which i assume is around 80W. But hey, around 5000 only. Then tax, extra reserve tube, etc. I started already thinking schemes how to obtain it :-)

Hi, up to 80w for engraving and cutting, 100w for cutting. AS tube 100w or greater does not engrave that well.