[mochouinard]

Some of you ask me for the review but I didn't had the time to finish it... But here my document I'm working on so far...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...EStjYAz-U/edit

I'm happy to answer any question.

[Rodney Gold]

What was the total cost of this machine? Including everything.

[mochouinard]

What was the total cost of this machine? Including everything.

Here a quick rundown for the cost of the stuff I bought based on US price I saw.
Normal FS 5th Gen 20x12 laser : 3500$+125$ shipping (ground) (3000$ for ultra early bird kickstarter campaign)
Air Compressor : 150$ (Free/Gift For early KS pledge only I think)
Exhaust fan: 100$+10$ shipping
Aluminum Air Duct : 2x 10$
Water Bucket: 5$
Distilled Water : 3$ +10$ consign for the 5gal bottle
Table: ~30$
PowerBar: 10$
CO2 FireExtinguisher: 100$
Fan Speed controller: 20$

I think at 4083$ or less you are up and running if I were in the US48. (Cost me 450$ for shipping UPS worldwide Saver to Canada). But you can probably add other accessories along the way.

You need material now, and if your out of cash at this point, 5x5' 3 ply Russian Birch cost about 10$ a sheet and are really fun to engrave and cut !

BUT, the thing that annoyed me the most is the exhaust fan NOISE !!! It freaking loud (Probably because the fan is not balanced), so I will probably try to find a better one, so increase my cost a little.

It also come with a very short network cable, so a longer cable will probably be required for your install (as mine did).

I heard lot of praise of their Retinaengrave software, but I can't say I like it that much... It can just make me imagine how bad other one are... It require CONSTANT check of all the value I input all the time since they tend to reset to default 100/100 with all layer on and screw the cut.

I'm REALLY disappointed at the result I get coming from Inkscape with curve... Corel draw seem to do curve ok but have lot of issues in it own also that just make me endure Inkscape for the moment... When I print to PDF or XPS with an external viewer the curve are perfect even zoomed in at max level, but when in RetinaEngrave, a curve is converted into 5 straight line making a pretty uninteresting looking cut.

[Bec Weir]

The short USB cable is probably a hangover from the 4th gen laser, which was flukey with interference using a longer cable.

Which version of Retina Engrave are you using? I am currently using the second latest version and it does not reset cutting values between cuts or even when loading another job.

Can you stick your fan outside where the noise would be less of a problem?

[draper]

Here a quick rundown for the cost of the stuff I bought based on US price I saw.
Normal FS 5th Gen 20x12 laser : 3500$+125$ shipping (ground) (3000$ for ultra early bird kickstarter campaign)
Air Compressor : 150$ (Free/Gift For early KS pledge only I think)
Exhaust fan: 100$+10$ shipping
Aluminum Air Duct : 2x 10$
Water Bucket: 5$
Distilled Water : 3$ +10$ consign for the 5gal bottle
Table: ~30$
PowerBar: 10$
CO2 FireExtinguisher: 100$
Fan Speed controller: 20$

I think at 4083$ or less you are up and running if I were in the US48. (Cost me 450$ for shipping UPS worldwide Saver to Canada). But you can probably add other accessories along the way.

You need material now, and if your out of cash at this point, 5x5' 3 ply Russian Birch cost about 10$ a sheet and are really fun to engrave and cut !

BUT, the thing that annoyed me the most is the exhaust fan NOISE !!! It freaking loud (Probably because the fan is not balanced), so I will probably try to find a better one, so increase my cost a little.

It also come with a very short network cable, so a longer cable will probably be required for your install (as mine did).

I heard lot of praise of their Retinaengrave software, but I can't say I like it that much... It can just make me imagine how bad other one are... It require CONSTANT check of all the value I input all the time since they tend to reset to default 100/100 with all layer on and screw the cut.

I'm REALLY disappointed at the result I get coming from Inkscape with curve... Corel draw seem to do curve ok but have lot of issues in it own also that just make me endure Inkscape for the moment... When I print to PDF or XPS with an external viewer the curve are perfect even zoomed in at max level, but when in RetinaEngrave, a curve is converted into 5 straight line making a pretty uninteresting looking cut.

Hi mochouinard,
I am new to lasers also and found this website and i was also one of the Ultra Early Birds on kickstarter i received my laser last Wednesday but have barely had to chance to play with it. Work has been so overwhelming right now where i haven't even played with it other then to test that it is working and do some alignment. I just wanted to comment and say what?? about the air compressor, because I for sure didn't get one for free at all i guess you are a lucky one!!. I questioned them a whole bunch of times about the best air compressor and air mover to get. But no free air compressor?? I did order the Rotary attachment through them but this is back order 3 weeks supposedly.
But i do agree with you about retina engrave its pretty confusing but i spent the past couple days reading the manual for the laser and the software.
I havent had the chance to read your review but i will look at it shortly, hopefully its not a let down as this is alot of dough.

[mochouinard]

hopefully its not a let down as this is alot of dough.

The air compressor where to the one who emailed them about it following them saying in the comment about a special offer for KS user.

Note that the air compressor is A MUST for Safety ! I cut once acrylic without removing the paper sheet and boy did it make flame but were you saw the air compressor jet keeping the flame really low and killing it in millisecond... Pressure is not that high though.

Well, here some stuff I laser cutted :
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...008_204746.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...008_204428.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...007_205650.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...006_204131.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...004_175213.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...53460163_n.jpg

I've done more but it the one I took picture to share Got some star trek project in the work.

I can't say I'm disappointed so far... I'm a lot happier with my laser cutter purchase than my 3d printer from Makerbot that for sure !

There a few thing that does need some tweak... But for the price, it a good deal I think, yet I'm not a laser expert except of my lot of googling in the past few weeks...

Let me know how the rotary tool goes, it might be one of the thing in my list before Christmas

I have started a wiki about laser at www.wikilaser.net I'll probably open a section about technical stuff I found with my usage of this laser, and hope other contribute also.

Let me know if you need any help, since I'm probably a lot quicker to reach than FSLaser outside of business hours.

[draper]

Thanks man i appreciate it and wow with those pictures those pieces look amazing!!
now you got me really excited, i wish i had more time to play with it hopefully this weekend!!
Here is a picture of mine i threw a little color changing led strip in there for fun it looks good.
Did you see anything on how to take the floor off in the manual i didnt? it looks like you need an Allen wrench and need to unscrew like 12 screws or so on the bottom?? Unless i missing something dont really care right now just wonder if you looked at that.
And yes for sure ill let you know how to rotary works, i will try to stay in touch and id be glad to try to update the wiki with stuff as much as i can also. I want to use this item to its potential instead of leaving as 3500 sculpture.

by the way look at the front edge of my lid it looks like a piece of it is broken or they didn't snap the piece off?? everything else looks very well done on the machine other then the acrylic lid.

The air compressor where to the one who emailed them about it following them saying in the comment about a special offer for KS user.

Note that the air compressor is A MUST for Safety ! I cut once acrylic without removing the paper sheet and boy did it make flame but were you saw the air compressor jet keeping the flame really low and killing it in millisecond... Pressure is not that high though.

Well, here some stuff I laser cutted :
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...008_204746.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...008_204428.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...007_205650.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...006_204131.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13477186/La...004_175213.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...53460163_n.jpg

I've done more but it the one I took picture to share Got some star trek project in the work.

I can't say I'm disappointed so far... I'm a lot happier with my laser cutter purchase than my 3d printer from Makerbot that for sure !

There a few thing that does need some tweak... But for the price, it a good deal I think, yet I'm not a laser expert except of my lot of googling in the past few weeks...

Let me know how the rotary tool goes, it might be one of the thing in my list before Christmas

I have started a wiki about laser at www.wikilaser.net I'll probably open a section about technical stuff I found with my usage of this laser, and hope other contribute also.

Let me know if you need any help, since I'm probably a lot quicker to reach than FSLaser outside of business hours.

[mochouinard]

by the way look at the front edge of my lid it looks like a piece of it is broken or they didn't snap the piece off?? everything else looks very well done on the machine other then the acrylic lid

Weird, mine was ok... It pretty evident that something not ok... Wonder why they didn't catch this at the factory..

I haven't look at how the floor remove yet... But it doesn't seem to be a quick snap I remove the floor kind of thing... I was surprise too that I didn't saw documentation about it neither. Probably will be with your rotary attachment kit.

I think that at some point I'll make my own table for the laser cutter and keep the bottom removed at all time, make door so install the rotary attachment or a lower table under it. But for the moment, I'm fine as is.

I'm still not really happy with the acrylic engraving, it still leave a weird pattern in the print making it look not so professional... Will do more test this week if time permit.

[flitelab]

mochouinard - How much did you end up paying in taxes/duty/brokerage to get it into Canada? Did you clear it yourself or let the courier or a broker handle it?

I've be researching a laser for a while now, keep looking at FSL but for everything good I see on them I also read a lot of bad. Hard to decide if they are worth the price or not especially with the shipping costs.

[herby08]

Hi there
I do a lot of acrylic engraving. Ihad the same experience with the raster showing up and have spend countless hours and material
the solution in my case was that first dont use half dithering. also dont use a higher dpi or sca gap as the original especially with picture is and last but not least very important set the table hight to exactly the perfect sweet spot hight. find this with a strip of material rais on one side about 10mm or 3/8 and engrave a line, then measure the distance from the material to the head where the line is the thinnest thats you sweet spot.
maybe it helps
greetings
walt

Weird, mine was ok... It pretty evident that something not ok... Wonder why they didn't catch this at the factory..

I haven't look at how the floor remove yet... But it doesn't seem to be a quick snap I remove the floor kind of thing... I was surprise too that I didn't saw documentation about it neither. Probably will be with your rotary attachment kit.

I think that at some point I'll make my own table for the laser cutter and keep the bottom removed at all time, make door so install the rotary attachment or a lower table under it. But for the moment, I'm fine as is.

I'm still not really happy with the acrylic engraving, it still leave a weird pattern in the print making it look not so professional... Will do more test this week if time permit.

[Hurricane21]

Flitelab,

Please consider Home page for your laser needs. we do not carry a lightweight hobby machine that lacks quality. Our lasers start with our Lisa 16x12 for $3495 and go up to our 4x8 ft Wilma. All of our machines come with water chillers, air compressor, exhaust etc No surprises with a Hurricane. We also include a 1 year full warranty on everything including the tube!

You can read many reviews on here and other forums and we pride ourselves on our outstanding service and support.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

John

[Antioch]

Flitelab

I don't believe lasers are dutiable to Canada but you will pay GST/HST depending on where you are regardless. Shipping will happen regardless of who you import from. I believe a broker will charge 2-3% of the amount. You may want to call one yourself & verify that.... Also remember it depends who made a unit & where which also may impact issues...Duty isn't the onnly charge you may face.

Personally I use a broker (my own broker) & most of my problems disappear... but that is your choice..Just remember cheaper isn't always better.

mochouinard - How much did you end up paying in taxes/duty/brokerage to get it into Canada? Did you clear it yourself or let the courier or a broker handle it?

I've be researching a laser for a while now, keep looking at FSL but for everything good I see on them I also read a lot of bad. Hard to decide if they are worth the price or not especially with the shipping costs.