[smartresins]

Hello. I am a avid car modeler, resin caster and train enthusiast. I also enjoy woodworking. My wife is into dollhouses and I am like wise into scale dioramas. I recently became unemployed like millions of others across our nation. I am thinking about becomeing self employed and looking at the possabilities of a table top laser cutter. My idea is to be able to cut out both balsa wood projects for doll houses as well as plastic (styrene) projects like diorama building kits, as well as smaller diorama objects like say coolers. Also interested in making train building kits. On a side note, also interested in engraving items as well. I am wanting to find a machine that can cut and engrave, nothing too think, 1/8" thick styrene at most for cutting. I am interested in a table top style machine and have a budget of under $3,000. What would you guys recomend for a good starting machine? Thank you. Jody

[yamingf]

i would say 60W laser is a good choice but it will be more than $3000 if taking shipping cost and custom cost into consideration. chinese HX3040 40W desktop laser will be ok to get your job done. i guess thats the only model which might meet your budget requirement. 3040 model's working table size is 12" X 16".

[smartresins]

Can I use corel draw and photograv with that machine? I have read about that unti and it would fall within my budget. Thank you for the reply. Jody

[yamingf]

you need to export your file to PLT, DXF format and import to chinese software newlyDraw to send to laser machine. let me know if you have any issue on file format conversion.

[smartresins]

Is corel draw proficient with doing pictures from scans, or would photoshop or photograv be better? Thank you. Jody

[zax15uk]

I use Photoshop but unless you're already experienced with it I'd recommend Photograv. It does the same job and is much easier to get good results.

Corel would probably work too but it's not going to be the easiest solution, and do you really want to waste time and material getting poor results.

Zax.

[DaveDoesIT]

Is corel draw proficient with doing pictures from scans, or would photoshop or photograv be better?

Hi Jody,

You cannot take a picture of a house wall then scan it in and hope to cut it from balsa.

If you are going to be cutting balsa then you will need vectors and not a raster image. Photograv does not do that but Corel does. You will need to use Corel Trace to trace the outline you want from the scan then pass that to Corel Draw and then send it to the laser software and cut it.

From what I understand PhotoShop does not do vectors either.

[DaveDoesIT]

Corel would probably work too but it's not going to be the easiest solution, and do you really want to waste time and material getting poor results.

Zax, the OP said they wanted to cut balsa and that means Vectors.

[smartresins]

Dave, that si correct, but cutting is not the only thing I desire to do. I desire to engrave pictures, and awards and gifts as well and engraving and cutting balsa. Thanks. So many variations in programs ect. I know in some photos, airbrushing would be nice, why I was thinking photoshop. Thanks. Jody

[zax15uk]

Zax, the OP said they wanted to cut balsa and that means Vectors.

DaveDoesIT, You may be right. Thanks for catching that.

Jody, If you want to take a picture/scan and cut from it you could try tracing it in Corel if it is simple but results are far from perfect. Expect to do some cleanup of the vector before it is ready to cut. Photograv, Photoshop and other raster software is for engraving pictures.

Zax.

[smartresins]

So I take it I certainly will want the corel draw then. What would be best for taking photos and engraving them, or tweeking them before engraving or touch up. it is sounding like the photoshop may suite me more then photograv though photograv would be of some benefit.Jody

[zax15uk]

Jody,
Yes Corel is a must and unless you have experience with Photoshop already I would go the Photograv direction. If you plan to do a lot of photo engraving then definately get Photograv - it will save you a lot of time.

Zax.

[yamingf]

corel draw usually is usually for vector design even its able to process bitmap, i would suggest that you better write down the resolution while you scan your picture and save it as bmp or jpg file, open it in photograv, pick the same resolution , material and machine, you better know some parameters of your laser tube, usually you can set beam spot size as 0.1mm - 0.4mm, you would get a amazing result if your original scanned picture is good.

[smartresins]

What do I use if I need to touch up a picture, or enhance it, or change the lighting in it, or airbrush some spots on itfor touch up. Can I do these things in photograv or in corel?Thanks. Jody

[zax15uk]

Corel will do it, but that's a task for Photoshop.

Zax.

[DaveDoesIT]

What do I use if I need to touch up a picture, or enhance it, or change the lighting in it, or airbrush some spots on it for touch up. Can I do these things in photograv or in corel?Thanks. Jody

Hi Jody,

As Zax is saying, CorelPhoto can do that but Photoshop is better at photos as the name implies. Corel comes with Draw, Photo, Trace and a bunch of other stuff. It is not bad at photo retouching but not as good as Photoshop. Although someone very conversant with CorelPhoto can make a pretty damn good job of retouching.

Again I agree with Zax, the Trace in Corel is not really all that good and I usally jump straight to hand outlining in Draw as Trace is clunky and usually still needs a lot of work afterwards. There are quite a few places online that will convert a raster graphic to Vectors for a nominal fee. Often under 20-bucks.

Photoshop has IMO, quite a steep learning curve and while Corel is not easy, it is easier to get stared with.

I have not used Photgrav but it is basically only for preparation of pics to send to the laser in gray-scale or B&W. I have seen Photoshop and Corel used to equal effectiveness with a little practice though. Photograv just automates the tasks a little more.

You can download a trial copy of X4 from the Corel website. Not sure how long it runs but it might be long enough to give you a good feel for it. There are lots of free video tutorials online for Corel. I would think there are also some for Photoshop but I have not looked as I quit using Photoshop at about version 6, I think it was as I needed the Vectoring of Corel.

Bottom line here is you are not going to find one software package to do it all. Since you want to cut, you will need Vectors. You can also do Vectors in a CAD package but not sure if the laser software can accept DXF files for input. I guess you could load the DXF into Corel then output it as PLT file for the laser.

You need to walk before you run so I would suggest Corel to start with. Then if you feel it is holding you back add Photograv, Photoshop and/or CAD. I can do a lot of Vector stuff much faster in FastCAD than I can in Corel.

Oh, one other thing, Styrene (I assume you mean rigid Styrene like ABS) does not cut well on the laser. It produces quite a mushy edge rather than a clean cut. Acrylic cuts well once you find the right settings and Styro-foam, forget it! :bat:

Dave

[zax15uk]

Oh, one other thing, Styrene (I assume you mean rigid Styrene like ABS) does not cut well on the laser. It produces quite a mushy edge rather than a clean cut. Acrylic cuts well once you find the right settings and Styro-foam, forget it! :bat:
Dave

Agreed! A hot wire is the correct tool for cutting EPS, and ABS like most thermoplastics will melt and produce 'soft' edges.

Zax.

[smartresins]

Thank you for the replies. As stated before I certainly will need the coreldraw then. I have found where I can get coreldraw x3 for about $100, so that I will get. I have some basic photo tools on my PC where I can do some touch up ect. So I will see if I can use these programs to do what I need, then save and load into corel draw. If down the road I find myself limited then I will go into the others. I may get a cheaper version of photoshop, but will hold out for now. I do need to be able to walk, as stated and these programs will take me some time to get used to and learn my way around. I have found the online forum for corel draw, so that is a plus. The others I have not yet.Also as stated, there is a free, I think I read 30 trial for the corel draw wich I can start playing with now before I decide wich unit to buy for sure so when I do get my unit, hopefully I will have the fundamentals down. I have eliminated one choice for sure. There was one unit I was admiring for $3500, but didnt realy want to spend that much. I was told this morning it will not etch metal. I really dont understand why not. But anyways, if I tried, then had warrenty issues, they could easily say I was etching metal and I was told it could not so they would not cover the warrenty. So I will not go that route to save myself possible futre issues! Thanks for the help guys! Now I need to figure out just wich unit I do want!Or perhaps better put, can afford! LOL.Jody

[DaveDoesIT]

I was told this morning it will not etch metal. I really dont understand why not.

Hi Jody,

happy to help. No low cost (under $80K) CO2 laser is going to etch metal. The reason is the wavelength at that low power is not enough to melt metal. To etch metal you will need Nd-Yag. Check sticker-shock on those.

The only metal marking you can do with these CO2 lasers is on pretreated metal. Anodized aluminum can be marked by the laser boiling out the color from the anodized coating. Painted metal can have the paint burned off.

There is an expensive fluid (Cermark) you spray on, let dry then laser and it attaches well to the metal. The excess washes off with water.

It sounds like you need to do some homework on just what a low power (under 300 Watts) CO2 laser can and cannot do.

Do a search for "Sam's laser faq" and read, read, read.

Dave

[zax15uk]

I was told this morning it will not etch metal. I really dont understand why not.

Jody, a low power CO2 laser won't etch metal. You should look at a diode pumped Nd-YAG (usually just called YAG laser) or fiber laser for that. These are expensive in comparison.

It is possible to use a laser marking spray or paste and then fuse this material to some metals to mark them. This is an additive process but works for some requirements.

If you want a laser to mark metal then I would suggest http://www.epiloglaser.com/fibermark_laser.htm or Rofin.

Zax.