I thought I would give a brief review of my G Weike laser that I've had for about 6 months. I would recommend buying a Chinese laser system. Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks, Peter.



I bought The G Weike LG900 (600 x 900) laser with 80W tube, up/down gantry, 500W extraction fan, air blower, chiller (CW 5000), auto focus. The red dot, spare mirrors and lenses were included for free. Shipping to my nearest UK port was included in price.
I also considered lasers from Thunderlaser (more expensive) and Shenhui (similar prices but slow on communication).


Ordering process and delivery
G Weike were very prompt with all emails and enquiries. A full price list was provided too. I paid for the laser by bank transfer and it was ready to ship with 2 weeks. The shipping process was very straightforward, with the local agent doing all the leg work and guiding me through the process. Apart from paying taxes, It only cost me £120 for delivery from the port to my house (~150 miles). The cost of the laser including taxes and delivery was exactly half of what it would have cost in the UK (i.e. from HPC laser).


First impressions
It was very well boxed and took quite a lot of effort to break open. There was no damage to the laser either. I was surprised with how well made it was, lots of welded steel sheet that had been well painted. It all looked very solid, hence the weight of ~350kgs.


Set up and use
After plugging in the chiller unit and hooking up all the sockets etc, I tried to do some test work.
It was immediately obvious that the laser wasn't working. I identified this as 1) a faulty safety switch on the access door and 2) a dead laser tube (water was leaking inside it). Replacing the switch was easy to do. However, G Weike were unhelpful and have not sent me a replacement laser tube as promised. I bought my own tube in the UK at a greater cost (£400) than it would have been through the manufacturer at the time of purchase (~£150). I wish I had bought a spare tube.
Once the machine was up and running, aligning the mirror was easy (I recommend buying some masking tape and watching a few youtube videos). Within a couple of hours, it was ready to go. I also optimised the focal length too as the laser came with autofocus.
I opted for the CW5000 refrigerated chiller unit, which again was a wise choice. It ensures the laser tube stays in the 18-20°C range, no matter how hard I push it.
Software/hardware instructions were provided but within an hour or two I had learned the basics.


Running files and cutting

The Lasercut program (included) is a basic design program. Instead all my designs are created in Solidworks and imported as a DXF. The great feature of Lasercut is it's ability to have 'layers' ,which is the ability to cut, engrave etc... all in one file.
Most of my work is either engraving anodised aluminium or cutting 6mm ply. The quality of the engraved/cut pieces is fantastic, although I now wished I'd gone for a more powerful 100W laser system instead (a few hundred $ more). The air extraction system is essential for doing any wood cutting.
I've found that the minimum laser power is 12% for cutting/marking materials. In my opinion this means the laser is a bit inefficient. However, I never need to go beyond 50% power for cutting work.


Pros
50% cheaper than buying from UK based importers
Importation was easy
Solid built laser
Easy to use software (with a few quirks) that produces great results
The wealth of knowledge and help available on this forum


Cons
The amount of power required to cut some materials

Anything less than 12% laser power will not cut/mark
Maximum plywood cutting thickness is ~10mm
Very unhappy with G Weike for not sending a replacement laser tube
Buying from China - don't expect any customer service after you've bought it