about to buy a chinese laser co2 machine - advice required

hi there,

i am about to buy a chinese/ebay co2 laser engraver, im in the uk and my budget is £2000

from what i can tell with my limited knowledge is it will engrave pretty much anything other than metals which it will mark with a spray treatment.

i am a car trimmer and i primarily wanted it to work with leather and alcantara materials, but since looking at them im sure i would use it for much more


some of the machines ive seen are rated at 60 watts and come with a rotary attachment (like and lathe chuck), others come with a better exhaust fan but no rotary thing, and t the top of my budget one comes with a proper water chiller and a rotary attachment - not the lathe chuck type but seems to be better as its not limited by the chuck size, this one is £2000 giv or take a few pounds.

the trouble i see with the most expensive one is it doesnt support multi colours so i couldnt cut and engrave in the same job - i assume thats the only way i can do that (again limited knowledge)

is the multi colour function to control the power/speed really needed or just a nice thing to have?

any help and advice is going to be very helpful

thanks

I highly recommend buying a machine with a true "DSP" controller like one from Ruida. The Ruida controller uses software called RDWorks/Laserworks. The Ruida control panel typically looks like this:
RuiDa RDC6442G CO2 Laser Cutting Engraving DSP Controller System | eBay

RDWorks/Laserworks lets you set different elements different colors/layers. Each color/layer can be set to either engrave or cut (at different powers/speed).

There is a great new user group for users of the RDWorks/Laserworks software at rdworkslab dot com.

If you are going to be using your laser for long periods of time (hours per day), or your ambient temperature is high, then I would highly recommend a chiller to extend the life of your laser tube. Different manufacturers have various recommendations, but generally the cooler you can keep the laser tube the longer the life. I keep my chiller at 19 degrees C for a 50W laser. Before I had a chiller the water temp would go up to 30C pretty quickly, especially during the summer, which is not good for long tube life. Beware, the cheaper chillers (e.g. the CW3000) are actually just radiators and can only get the water temperature down to ambient. Chillers like the CW5000 and the ones on Lightobject dot com are actual chillers (i.e. they contain refrigerant and keep the water at the temperature you set).

I wouldn't worry about the rotary attachment unless you definitely have a use for it. I have never used mine. I am sure you could buy one separately if you do start to have a need for it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jasongtr

hi there,

i am about to buy a chinese/ebay co2 laser engraver, im in the uk and my budget is £2000

from what i can tell with my limited knowledge is it will engrave pretty much anything other than metals which it will mark with a spray treatment.

i am a car trimmer and i primarily wanted it to work with leather and alcantara materials, but since looking at them im sure i would use it for much more


some of the machines ive seen are rated at 60 watts and come with a rotary attachment (like and lathe chuck), others come with a better exhaust fan but no rotary thing, and t the top of my budget one comes with a proper water chiller and a rotary attachment - not the lathe chuck type but seems to be better as its not limited by the chuck size, this one is £2000 giv or take a few pounds.

the trouble i see with the most expensive one is it doesnt support multi colours so i couldnt cut and engrave in the same job - i assume thats the only way i can do that (again limited knowledge)

is the multi colour function to control the power/speed really needed or just a nice thing to have?

any help and advice is going to be very helpful

thanks

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Hi,

The below is my suggestion,hoping it can help you.

1.For engraving on leather and alcantara,40W/60W both are ok.

2.For the leather,alcantara materials is soft,so i think it should not need to use the rotary attachment.

3.Need to use honeycomb platorm.

4.Can you tell me what is the thickness of the leather,alcantara? If you cut,thickness is needed.

5.What is the length and the width of the materials?

6.Exhause fans ,all are machine have.

7.For the chiller,usually 80W laser tube or bigger,we will suggest install.

If you have any other question,please feel free to contact with me. My name is jenny ,i am in the fields nearly 8 years ,email is [email protected] , [email protected] . .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by toyeacnc

Hi,

The below is my suggestion,hoping it can help you.

1.For engraving on leather and alcantara,40W/60W both are ok.

2.For the leather,alcantara materials is soft,so i think it should not need to use the rotary attachment.

3.Need to use honeycomb platorm.

4.Can you tell me what is the thickness of the leather,alcantara? If you cut,thickness is needed.

5.What is the length and the width of the materials?

6.Exhause fans ,all are machine have.

7.For the chiller,usually 80W laser tube or bigger,we will suggest install.

If you have any other question,please feel free to contact with me. My name is jenny ,i am in the fields nearly 8 years ,email is [email protected] , [email protected] . .

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thanks,i wasnt suggesting id need the rotary for the materials,maybe for glasses or bottles

material will be 1.5mm max,

i know they all have exhaust fans just some are the centrifugal type and are more powerful

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robertk925

I highly recommend buying a machine with a true "DSP" controller like one from Ruida. The Ruida controller uses software called RDWorks/Laserworks. The Ruida control panel typically looks like this:
RuiDa RDC6442G CO2 Laser Cutting Engraving DSP Controller System | eBay

RDWorks/Laserworks lets you set different elements different colors/layers. Each color/layer can be set to either engrave or cut (at different powers/speed).

There is a great new user group for users of the RDWorks/Laserworks software at rdworkslab dot com.

If you are going to be using your laser for long periods of time (hours per day), or your ambient temperature is high, then I would highly recommend a chiller to extend the life of your laser tube. Different manufacturers have various recommendations, but generally the cooler you can keep the laser tube the longer the life. I keep my chiller at 19 degrees C for a 50W laser. Before I had a chiller the water temp would go up to 30C pretty quickly, especially during the summer, which is not good for long tube life. Beware, the cheaper chillers (e.g. the CW3000) are actually just radiators and can only get the water temperature down to ambient. Chillers like the CW5000 and the ones on Lightobject dot com are actual chillers (i.e. they contain refrigerant and keep the water at the temperature you set).

I wouldn't worry about the rotary attachment unless you definitely have a use for it. I have never used mine. I am sure you could buy one separately if you do start to have a need for it.

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thank you thats very helpful ill make sure mine has the colour separation capabilities

took the plunge and bought one

80w CO2 USB Laser Engraving Cutting Machine Engraver Cutter Woodworking/Crafts | eBay

Looks good, best of luck! Search for a user called SarbarMultimedia (Russ) on Youtube, he has a lot of really informative videos on a similar (smaller 50W like mine) laser cutter.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robertk925

Looks good, best of luck! Search for a user called SarbarMultimedia (Russ) on Youtube, he has a lot of really informative videos on a similar (smaller 50W like mine) laser cutter.

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thanks will do, need to buy a proper water chiller i think and an ammeter, keep an eye on the laser stats so as not to allow it to run too hot and over power it shortening the life, from what ive read anywhere

Yes, definitely add an ammeter. It is pretty simple to hookup and gives you great info. to prevent overdriving your tube. I bought a 0-30mA ammeter for around US$7 and it works fine.

Also, keep in mind that the 60W tube is probably over-rated. Mine was sold as a 50W laser, but based upon the diameter and length of the tube it is most likely a 40W tube at best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robertk925

Yes, definitely add an ammeter. It is pretty simple to hookup and gives you great info. to prevent overdriving your tube. I bought a 0-30mA ammeter for around US$7 and it works fine.

Also, keep in mind that the 60W tube is probably over-rated. Mine was sold as a 50W laser, but based upon the diameter and length of the tube it is most likely a 40W tube at best.

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think mine is an 80w, where do you connect the ammeter up to thats what i dont know, also what would you say is the max mA i should run my tube to?

cheers

I followed these instructions (although I mounted it on the laser tube extension plate on the side of my machine).
LensDigital - How to add ammeter to 50W Chinese laser cutter from eBay

I don't know the max amperage for an 80W, but the safest thing to do is either go on the laser tube manufacturer's site (if you can figure out who actually made your tube) or go to lightobject dot com and look at the specs for a similarly powered tube. Lightobject's website tells me that for a true 80W tube the recommended amperage is 26mA (28mA max).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by robertk925

I followed these instructions (although I mounted it on the laser tube extension plate on the side of my machine).
LensDigital - How to add ammeter to 50W Chinese laser cutter from eBay

I don't know the max amperage for an 80W, but the safest thing to do is either go on the laser tube manufacturer's site (if you can figure out who actually made your tube) or go to lightobject dot com and look at the specs for a similarly powered tube. Lightobject's website tells me that for a true 80W tube the recommended amperage is 26mA (28mA max).

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thanks, ive sinced found a Russ video about it, setting the thing up, beam setting i mean looks like not a lot of fun.... cant wait for that... not

If they send the same machine they show in those pictures (unfortunately, the Chinese often steal/repost pictures copied from others), I have the same machine. Based on conversations with other people who bought the same machine, the 80W tubes in these machines seem to be of better variety than those found in the 40 and 50 watt machines. Mine came with an Lasea/EFR F2 series tube that tested very close to 80w using Russ' Dohickey device.

You definitely want to join and start reading the forums at RDWorks Lab - Forum

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Originally Posted by vrc321

If they send the same machine they show in those pictures (unfortunately, the Chinese often steal/repost pictures copied from others), I have the same machine. Based on conversations with other people who bought the same machine, the 80W tubes in these machines seem to be of better variety than those found in the 40 and 50 watt machines. Mine came with an Lasea/EFR F2 series tube that tested very close to 80w using Russ' Dohickey device.

You definitely want to join and start reading the forums at RDWorks Lab - Forum

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thanks, hopefully it is going to be close to what i asked for, the way i looked at it was the higher the power i bought even though you shouldnt max it out (ammeter bought for immediate fitment when the machine arrives) the higher power i would have at my disposal.

i will look into that forum

thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jasongtr

thanks,i wasnt suggesting id need the rotary for the materials,maybe for glasses or bottles

material will be 1.5mm max,

i know they all have exhaust fans just some are the centrifugal type and are more powerful

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You are welcome.For engraving on bottle and glass,i suggest the rolling type rotary attachment. For cutting 1.5mm thick leather,60W is ok,80W is better.Exhause fans,750W is ok for you?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by toyeacnc

You are welcome.For engraving on bottle and glass,i suggest the rolling type rotary attachment. For cutting 1.5mm thick leather,60W is ok,80W is better.Exhause fans,750W is ok for you?

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i will get a rotary as i will be mark stainless steel tube, exhaust fan? no idea what power i have

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jasongtr

i will get a rotary as i will be mark stainless steel tube, exhaust fan? no idea what power i have

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OK.co2 laser tube only work on non-metal materials and the oxidized metal ( printed metal ) .By the way,you have bought the laser machine,right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by toyeacnc

OK.co2 laser tube only work on non-metal materials and the oxidized metal ( printed metal ) .By the way,you have bought the laser machine,right?

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a Co2 laser from everything i have read will mark stainless steel with the use of the prep spray, and yes i have bought one

Right, to mark Stainless Steel you need to use Cermark (better, more expensive) or Dry Moly (cheaper, more inconsistent results).

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Originally Posted by robertk925

Right, to mark Stainless Steel you need to use Cermark (better, more expensive) or Dry Moly (cheaper, more inconsistent results).

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that Cermark better be good at £95 a can - hope it lasts a long time