Recommend me a Laser cutter.

[Gasgasbones]

Hi

Im looking for a laser cutter powerful enough to cut through thinnish plywood, leather etc I dont need a very large machine.
Ive seen some crappy ones on ebay etc that look like they would fall apart as soon as you look at them and other that look a bit more substantial.

What and who should I be looking at gents ?

Many thanks

Carl

[shoeswith]

We brought a HPC laser. They import and service Chinese lasers. They are more expensive than importing one yourself but as a company are reasonably reliable and there machines although still having a lot of the downsides of Chinese lasers (lacking the sophistication of epilog or similar) are workable and reliable although you will have to get your hands dirty. I'm sure there are other importers but I have dealt with these guys a lot for three years and they are good enough. I would say if you are unwilling to fiddle with the workings of a laser don't buy a Chinese one

[gianluca_g]

I bought the usual cheap chinese laser from ebay, when it came i didnt even try to switch it on (i had another one in the past so i knew it was useless). I just stripped out all the electronic and refitted it with 2 stepper drivers and a breakout board, I now drive it with mach3 and im happy with it

[komatias]

My girlfriend bought this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2214290806...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I have to say, I am very impressed with the value of it, separate drives on each axis plus a onboard motion controller that has etherent connectivity.

aligned and focused it when it arrived and it is working very nicely.

They do produce smoke so adding a bilge fan in line is a must.

[Jess]

We brought a HPC laser. They import and service Chinese lasers. They are more expensive than importing one yourself but as a company are reasonably reliable

An increasingly common trend for Chinese sellers I've noticed seems to be holding their wares in EU (including the UK) based warehouses, removing many of the usual worries of importing, whilst as a buyer you're still paying imported-from-China prices.

The result as far as we're concerns is that HPC laser's lowest end model (the LS3020 pro) is £1,125 (with shipping of £12.95+VAT) which appears to be very similar in both look and specification similar to ones that are £405 'all in' (including shipping etc.) As someone who's interested in acquiring a laser cutter (who isn't, apart from those who've got one? ), that £735 premium is hard to swallow, especially if I can also expect to have to get my hands dirty either way.

Worse, if I go the way gianluca_g suggests (and ripping the existing controller out seems to be a rather common suggestion with these!), then I'm taking it apart and retrofitting it; and £700 buys a lot of fixing and retrofitting. On the other hand, if £735 is the difference between ending up with working hardware, and ending up pouring lots of precious time and good money into a bad purchase then it's it's worth every single extra penny - all 73554 of them!

I dont need a very large machine.

Large is in the eye of the workshop owner. Seriously, though, given you know what you want to do, you can just look at the working area and know whether it'll fit. The cheapest machines seem to be able to cut an area of about the size (well, a little less) than an A4 sheet. A larger machine, like the one that komatias linked, will do more like twice that - two A4 sheets (aka A3).

Depending on how much engraving/cutting you're hoping to do, you might find the larger machine works out cheaper in the long run. The larger cutting area means you may be able to get more efficient use out of your material (less important for ply, more important for leather?) and, of course, the more powerful laser should allow you to get jobs done slightly faster.

Ive seen some crappy ones on ebay etc that look like they would fall apart as soon as you look at them and other that look a bit more substantial.

It's difficult; whilst it's often a good guide, I've bought enough polished turds in the past to be cautious. They looked great, but the internals were cheap trash. Equally, I've found enough rough diamonds to hold out hope!

[lateAtNight]

Probably not what you were after but are you aware of this open source project: Lasersaur. Its a lot bigger than what you're probably after and the BOM is very pricey, but you could use some of the ideas for a version cut down in size / power. But I guess by the time you bought parts + time you're just as well buying a Chinese machine.

[Gasgasbones]

Cheers Komatias,
Im concerned about backup if things go wrong, spares and email help etc. Not sure if all ebay sellers can provide this, any experiences with your girlfriends model ?

[Gasgasbones]

They look pretty good to me !! Nice website and professional.
https://www.epiloglaser.co.uk/index.htm

[komatias]

Cheers Komatias,
Im concerned about backup if things go wrong, spares and email help etc. Not sure if all ebay sellers can provide this, any experiences with your girlfriends model ?

Hi

The machines are minimal in terms of elelctornics so most parts can be sourced on ebay. The only expensive part and maybe difficult to get is the laser tube. The sellers are pretty good at responding too. As for the software, it is basic but good enough for the job.

see example 6mm pine, cut at 90% power 20mm/sec, engraving 30% power 200mm/sec:



The good bit is you can send data to the machine through USB, Ethernet or just plug a usb stick in.

[shoeswith]

Worse, if I go the way gianluca_g suggests (and ripping the existing controller out seems to be a rather common suggestion with these!), then I'm taking it apart and retrofitting it; and £700 buys a lot of fixing and retrofitting. On the other hand, if £735 is the difference between ending up with working hardware, and ending up pouring lots of precious time and good money into a bad purchase then it's it's worth every single extra penny - all 73554 of them!

Im not sure Hpc is selling the same machine as an eBay machine. I am assuming they have had to do things to meet UK health and safety legislation and its hard to imagine that they could survive and expand selling basic eBay machines. Yes buying from an importer is more expensive but they are supplying a degree of service you can't get from an eBay seller such as a guarantee and serviceguarantee. We haven't had to mess with the motion control stuff and when things went wrong (not their fault) they repaired it under the guarantee. When I said getting your hands dirty I was referring to the water cooling and alignment. I know people who have epilog machines and they just don't have these kind of issues. I understand someone buying cheap who is willing to invest a lot of time repairing but we need certainty and Hpc provided a balance between price and convenience.