[ozlaser]

Hello all,

There are many threads re: importing laser machines from China, and many are very skeptical and there is little feedback re: peoples experience with them when buying. I only found a couple of China based manufacturers positively endorsed in these forums. If more share there experiences, it will help people in looking to import from reliable Chinese Suppliers.

Today, we have just finalized our purchase of a custom built laser from www.sukelaser.com (Jinan Suke Science&Technology Co.,LTD). I found them in these forums, where Alice from sukelaser.com has been providing positive practical advice towards solving user issues. But there was no feedback from buyers of their machines. In this thread I will keep posting about our experience with sukelaser.com from manufacturing, through to delivery, setup and commissioning machine.

Our custom built machine is based on their SK1490, and includes :

• Twin 80W CO2 lasers
• CCD Cameras
• SK1490 has working area of 1400x900mm
• Honeycomb, vacuum table with fume extraction
• Motorised platform
• Rotary attachment
• Upgraded Chiller (for two laser heads)
• Red Dot Pointer
• Auto Focus
• Filtering System on exhaust
• Software
• Spare Co2 tubes and mirrors.

Alice has been more than helpful, in terms of working to advise us on which machine and what specifications will work for our particular needs. Last week, we sent her some product samples to check on their machines, and very quickly got images back of our product (we sent specific product, with my handwriting on them, so we could ensure photos from the test were ours - and they were) and this came with specific feedback on which laser strength was required, as well as the limitations on the products we sent (single sheet/double sheet cutting etc).

Alice will be sending me some images of the machine during construction, so if you are interested, subscribe to this thread, and I will keep updating, all the way through to final commissioning of the machine.

Hope this helps someone, who is looking to purchase a laser machine, that is about 1/3 of the cost of a similar machine from local suppliers.

[Litografa]

Your avatar contain too many advertising :banana:

[ozlaser]

Thanks for your feedback. I have amended.

[ozlaser]

Within hours of confirming the deposit, Alice sent soft copies of all user documentation and videos of how to use the software for not only the standard system but also the CCD system.

Without the machine, it was only an interesting read but it did highlight a few things that I hadn't thought of. So if your buying a laser cutter, consider the following :

• Water chiller - highly recommended to use distilled water (30L every 3 or 4 days). Don't know how critical it is but I am assuming it is. I thought of getting it delivered and found companies that will delivery 1000l barrels. However, I did a bit of research and found a local company that supplies small water distillers with 3yr warranty. They produce 4L in 4 hours for about $250. So - 8L a day x 3 days is 32L and costs about 8c a day to run - a lot cheaper than having 1000L barrels delivered! So we are going to distill our own water.
• Laser system needs separate earth (to earth not door frame). The wire is included, so fortunately where we are installing the machine, a small hole already exists in the wall, so we can drive a steel spike into the ground to connect.
• Power regulator is recommended. Given spare parts are not just around the corner and may take weeks to arrive, I am going to use a Belkin Surge Arrestor. I used to sell their products and have seen them being tested - effective and relatively cheap - in comparison to machine down time!
• Original specifications were for USB connectivity. However, as we upgraded to dual laser heads, I wasn't aware that dual heads systems need a different motion controller that requires a PCI Card. So driving the system from the laptop is out of the question. Fortunately, I have a spare desktop PC that I can dedicate to this machine.

So like, any project there are always a few unexpected expenses, but so far, these are fairly small. The good thing though, is that now I can prepare everything in advance of the unit arriving, so that commissioning is not delayed.

Am I glad Alice sent the docs. in advance - absolutely!

[Ken_Shea]

Looks like I am about two days ahead of you on ordering a laser

Similar in size (1400x1000) and options except for the dual head and cameras. I ordered a single 130W RECI tube, stated hours on that tube can be up to 10,000 hours, properly cared for.

Your outfit sounds like it will be a great piece of equipment.

Ken

[sukelaser]

Hi Ozlaser:
The dual laser head laser machine can have USB port connection, but the CCD camera can not,we need to use the PCI card! I will take some photos during production and before shipment!
Alice
[email protected]
Jinan Suke Science & Technology Co.,LTD

[Rodney Gold]

I have just gone (and still am in) China to buy trophies , marble crysal awards, acrylic sheeting and have gone to the factory that made my lasers - have a look at this thread for some great info and pics of the factory and lasers etc...
Despatches from China
I would suggest you buy a lot more spares like a spare stepper , a spare stepper drive , a spare mainboard , spare belts , a spare laser power supply etc - they shouldnt be expensive and you can carry on operating instanly instead of waiting a long time.

[ozlaser]

Thanks Rodney Gold - sounds like good advice.

Alice has sent a few pictures of the machine in production. Two images attached show the machine being assembled with the twin lasers installed.

Production is scheduled to be completed towards end of the week.

So far so good.

[InfernusDoleo]

Mind if I ask what that setup cost you?

I see myself upgrading to a new laser in a year or so as I ourgrow what I have now, and whule yours is worlds beyond what I'd want, I'm curious what a setup like that cost.

[Flying Ben]

Hi everybody

I got a SK1280 directly from Suke few weeks ago. Alice well organized the shipping to France, everything went right. The surprise was port fees, almost 15% of the total price for just unloading the container, that's crazy. I went to the seaport with a van and I cleared custom by myself as a non-professional people, this was easy.
Let me show you some pictures.

I really had a doubt when the forklift came with the box, only few centimers of margin !


The machine in my workshop.



Cooling system, air pump and air extractor


This is a computer watercooling radiator, it's fit perfectly with machine water tube.



I can't really speak about the machine performance, this is the only one I ever saw working. So far I have cut plywood to build some furnitures, this it good up to 15mm and the precision is far beyond what I need.
I find the machine well made. It use mostly standard parts easy to change. Most important are from major manufacturers, 3M belts, Hiwin rail guide, Omron electrical switchs. The software Lasercut 5.3 has some bugs but I don't find any default on the machine itself. I guess that these kind of machine are used widely in China for mass production. Once the file is in the machine, nothing can stop them !

[ozlaser]

Hello All,

Thanks for the PICS & info Flying Ben - nice to see everything went well for you!

The Port Charges are over the top aren't they! I often find with imports that it is anywhere from 20 to 40% on top of invoice for port fees, customs brokers and taxes etc.

Alice has advised our Machine is now officially at sea, after a Typhoon cleared way, and we now have the Released Bill Of Lading - very excited as it means it should arrive in a few weeks!!

Attached are some more images.

Next post will be when we receive.:wave:

[bpoulin]

The upgraded cooling system is a trash can of water and a radiator with fans?:drowning:

[Flying Ben]

The upgraded cooling system is a trash can of water and a radiator with fans?:drowning:

No I choose to not take the chiller. I made this trash system by myself, it works well since I never use the machine all a day.

[ozlaser]

Well, after more than $2200 in customs fees and local freight forwarding, the machine was finally delivered to our premises this week. Today I had the joy of unpacking it - thank god for forklifts as it crate was huge! Even with two of us, there would be no way of removing the machine from the crate without a forklift - so if you're buying a big laser, make sure you have a forklift ready to unpack it - fortunately we did! You can get an idea from the size of it, as it is dwarfing my forklift which is shown behind the crate!

So far, everything looks good. The machine was packaged well and despite losing a some paint in a few areas due to rubbing during transit, everything appears to have arrived in good working order. Whilst I did not unpack the 4 laser tubes yet, a quick light shake of each tube didn't reveal any rattling - so fingers cross they are all good.

All the components that were ordered appear to be there, and it all appears to be brand new. The power supplies and plugs are all were correctly configured to our region. A quick internal check has revealed that certainly the machine does make use of quality components - the most obvious and easy to see is the drive belts - all 3M branded belts.

Whilst I won't be able to commission it properly until later next week, initial checks of the documentation and software etc all appears to be good. The only documentation missing was how/where to connect the rotary device and the control panel is upgraded to handle twin lasers etc, but the manual is only for a standard control panel which is somewhat different. Searched for about 1/2 hour and couldn't find the socket for rotary device and I had some obvious questions re: the control panel. So I am now eagerly waiting for Alice to confirm over the weekend, so we are ready to start next week.

FYI - The $250 water distiller I purchased has been going great - easy to use and is making about 10 litres a day. We have about 50L ready to go for the upgraded water chiller.

As I get it working, I will let you know how it all operates.

So far - so good. Sukelaser has to this point done everything very well.

Stay tuned for more soon.

[Rodney Gold]

congrats on your purchase , makes one happy to see everything is correct and it arrived safely.

What software does it use ? Rdcam/Laserwork?
As to the dual head thing , I think you should have options to turn off one laser or only check one laser which then makes it into a single head machine

[ozlaser]

Thanks Rodney.

The machine is driven by Lasercut 5.3, which can work as a stand alone piece of software or can be installed as a plug-in to Coreldraw or Autocad. I plan to use it as a plug-in to Coreldraw for personal efficiency reasons.

The camera system is driven by LasercutSB - similar to above but has the vision functions for the cameras to work properly. Alice has sent some videos of both of the software applications in use, and they look fairly straight forward to operate.

In regards to switching one of the laser's off, yes this was an essential component in the machine design specs. Alice has assured me that we can easily switch one off.

FYI - within a few emails yesterday, Alice very promptly supplied the documentation for the upgraded components (e.g. control board). We are now all good to commence setting the machine up next week.

[ozlaser]

Well, a couple of days of concentration and I can confirm the machine is now fully set up, with all software operational.

We promised to talk about the good and the bad. So in being honest, we have had a few challenges but most have been fairly straight forward to overcome, and I have not needed to contact the factory for further help at this stage - which I pretty good considering, we have never used a CO2 laser before.

The manuals/documentation supplied was good (not brilliant but pretty good - pleasantly surprised). Where the documentation lacked was about how/requirements to install the 3 different versions of Lasercut that we use - Corel plug-in, Standalone with Z axis, and Standalone with CCD Camera. After a couple of unsuccussful attempts, I installed Comodo Time Machine to be able to completely and quickly undo any installation. For a first time user, I also though the documentation on how to install the laser tubes could have been a little better - Water in/Out at which end of tubes, red/black wire and which ends of my tubes. Had the machine been a single laser, it would have been very straight forward - a water tube and electrical connection at each end of the tube. However, once you have two tubes, opposing each other, with 4 water pipes and double the electrical connectors etc, without them being labelled, it definitely slowed things up a little. Good thing I had some good PICS of the machine during construction.

The only short-comings I can find so far are that the auto-datum on the Z axis, brings the table up way too high, to the point it can touch the lens covers and jam. The other is that in manually moving the laser heads, there is no automatic stop at the far end of the X & Y axis - so if moving them manually either from the control panel or software you must keep a lookout, as I hit the frame a few times. From within the software, the correct table range seems to work properly, so the issue is only on the manual movement away from 0,0. At 0,0 there are switches on the X&Y, to stop the heads moving. But at the other end of the axis, there are no switches.

My blower fan for the exhaust system was damaged during transit. I didn't see it, until we powered the machine up and it started making a horrible noise and was red-hot to touch and lightly burnt my fingers! During transit, the alignment of the fan and housing was somehow distorted. I disassembled the housing, found the bent components and straightened them with some pliers. As soon as I re-assembled, she worked perfectly and quietly again and hasn't missed a beat in two days.

Some learning's from my set up:

• If using Leetro MPC03 PCI Controller, stick to installing on XP based machine. Vista/Win 7 wouldn't accept MPC03 driver. XP was straight forward.
• Couldn't integrate Lasercut 5.3 into Coreldraw X5, but I also had v11 available, which did install, after some other learnings.
  
  • If installing Lasercut as both an integrated and standalone application, install integrated version with Coreldraw or Autocad first. After this is installed, install standalone version onto new partition on your HDD.
  • My Coreldraw buttons would not work. At first it was because of multiple installations on same HDD partition. This was verified as during debug of Macro's, macro's ran but errors occurred. After correcting partitions, all macro's ran correctly but the built in button toolbar for Coreldraw would not work - visible and labelled correctly, but would not execute macros. Solution was to manually re-create the buttons from the toolbar configuration. Once I did this, everything works well.
• Sukelaser did a very good job, that was just about perfect. All the software had already been completely prepared for my machine. Even with a 1400x900 table, with two laser heads, they had already programmed the configuration files to a 700x900 work area. This was fantastic. Only one little problem, one of the applications after they set it up, forgot to change the installation language from Chinese back to English. This made things a bit tough to try and change back. I tried copying & renaming the language files but they just kept on being overwritten. Eventually, I found where to change the language in the configuration file and it immediately installed in english. Once I did this, I then found an option in the menu to switch languages on the fly. So, one tiny little oversight cost me a few hours but the great thing is, that the software I am running is an exact replica of the software settings that they used in the factory during build/testing. Very thoughtful and confidence building - the software is correctly configured to my machine - out of the box! Well done Sukelaser.

• Calibration of the both of the mirrors/lens paths was still largely in-tact from shipping. Despite the machine being moved and bounced around between countries, I only had to make two very minor adjustments to the laser paths, and these were both on the height of the laser tubes - not the mirrors. This leads me to believe that the metal frame of the machine is well constructed. After being moved 1000's of km, on/off trucks etc, the mirror alignment was still spot on - just a slight difference in the re-installation of the laser tubes required 2 x 30s adjustments.
• To disconnect one of the two laser tubes, don't simply un-clip the data wires on the tubes themselves. The wires are still active and will arc (even over 10cm!). Solution was to simply unplug the laser power supply, and the machine correctly operates on just one laser, instead of two and by alternating which power supply is unplugged will alternate which laser is turned on/off. Interestingly, I read a few warnings about shipping laser tubes and that they often don't work upon arrival. Well we had 4 tubes shipped, and I randomly chose 2 tubes to install, and both worked.

At this point, I have only done some very basic testing on cardboard, timber, material, glass etc and it appears to be straight forward. Obviously, there is some trial and error in obtaining the correct settings for each material being cut, but I will work with these over the coming few days/weeks. I will post a few pics of my first project-proper shortly.

So, apart from a few small undocumented bug-like issues to overcome, the result so far, is that as a complete novice with no previous laser/plotter experience, within 2 days, I was able to move from unpacking, to connecting laser tubes and all peripheral equipment, install 3 versions of the software and successfully cut and engraved several products.

I would have to conclude at this point, that my experience with Sukelaser.com has so far been very good and I would have no trouble recommending them to anyone thinking of buying a laser cutter/engraver.

[Rodney Gold]

All sounds good , the manual movement thing is most likely cos of 2 factors, maybe the actual machine size need to be written to the motherboard itself
(im not familar with your setup , but on mine , i go to vendor settings , read the card , change the settings as to actual bed size , write back to the card and then the macine will automatically NOT allow key movements to exceed the beds limits , doesnt need a limit or proximity switch for that)
or it could be something to do with the twin head setup.... I think its probably the read/write to car thing
the Z axis should have a microswitch that stops it rising too far , tho not sure how your auto datum system works...I dont have the same motherboard or laser.
I actually prefer not to integrate the cutting from corel , far better imo to just export as ai and import into you laser cutting program, all the integration actually does is just that , auto export as ai , start the laser cutting program and auto import ... but its not an issue whichever way you use. If you manually export , it doesnt make a difference what version of corel you use etc.
Check your "engrish" lang file , on the software i use (laserworks/rdcam) you can actually edit the file and change the programs text and labels to be understandable...like the word bestrewing in my software means array, and you can change it so the software actually has the word array in the dialog boxes etc instead of bestrew. I also found it forced a default to english if you actually deleted all the other language files.
good luck and enjoy the jorney...

[ozlaser]

Thank Rodney - appreciate your insight and suggestions - great for newbies like me!

Well turns out the table dimensions were fine, once I reset the machine so that it automatically returned to datum, it no longer over runs the table dimensions and stops precisely.

The Z axis does also correctly datumn but only with a piece of paper on the cutting table under the auto focus. When I first played with Z axis, there was nothing on the table - so nothing for it to focus on. With a piece of paper it auto focuses correctly. But if you put a piece of paper on a block of timber etc, ouch - crashes into tube. So now I just autofocus on paper, then program the step value in Lasercut to the height of the timber/acrylic and then it will quickly move to the correct focal length for that product.

I have found myself working like you as well - outputting from Corel and importing to Lasercut. Just seems like a better interface than the integrated version.

So it is all in good learning, and appears to be related to user/documentation and not the machine itself.

Now just trying to fine tune the cutting of materials to production ready versions. Having slight problem with air assist leaving a mark on the left side of the cut. Turn air assist off, and the cut is perfectly clean but flaming is a problem. I have gone out tonight to purchase some mod. parts to see if regulating the pressure of the air assist makes a difference. If not, then my best guess is that the laser or air assist if not exactly perpendicular and I will have to try and figure that one out.

Thanks again for your help.

[Rodney Gold]

I dont like the coaxial air assist , it makes the edges of the cut contaminated and actually makes the lens get dirtier, heres my "high tech" solution