[stan at UniFirs]

I've used one of Universal stand alone laser systems in the past and was overall pleased with the performance, quality, etc. However this was in an academic setting.

I've returned to industry and am researching the possibility of changing a process of cutting cloth emblems from a manual die cutting method to one that uses a laser and automated.

In my search I came across the Universal ILS models which have a pass through capability and are wide enough to accept our fabric. Has anyone out there used one of these models?

Did you add the Camera Registration feature? If so what is your opinion of the option?

Did you add the air assist?

What material(s) are you cutting and are you satisfied with the speed?

Are you using the machine for continuous manufacturing for at least 80 hours a week?

I sure would appreciate any input on their systems in general and the ILS line in particular.

One more question. Has anyone found a source for consumables (lenses, mirrors, etc) that fit Universal's equipment without the high Universal price?

Thanks,

Stan

[kcederquist]

I see no one has replied to this thread yet, I was also looking for some more insight into the ILS series as well as answers to some of your other questions.

I can't not speak specifically on the ILS series, but I do own a VLS 4.60. I have been extremely satisfied with it, and Universal in general. I've spoken on the phone with the factory directly, and they were extremely helpful. My local sales rep as also been great.

The system I have is rock solid, been running it for about a year with no issues what so ever. It's fast, and powerful. The laser cartridges themselves are extremely easy to swap out, and the ILS can run dual cartridges for double the power, or you can run dual heads for twice the production.

The job control software is really easy to use with lots of customizable settings. We primarily use photoshop and adobe illustrator. I have used Corel draw in the past, and it has worked great as well. The factory also totes the ability to use many other programs, with a new feature to be able to import directly from a .pdf into the job control software.

I haven't done a lot of fabric in it, but what I have done and the leather I have worked with has turned out just fine.
At the moment we work primarily with tempered glass and cermark marking. The glass produces quite a bit of byproduct in the form of dust, we clean it regularly and have had no issues. Everything inside the machine is easy to get to if you ever need to work on it. The most we have done is replace head bearings, and that was a simple job.

So, while I can't speak directly for the ILS system, I would definitely recommend Universal for your consideration. I hope to be able to add an ILS system in a few years.

I know it's not much to go on base off the actual questions you asked, but I hope it was worth something.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that we did opt for the manual air assist feature. I already had a large compressor just on the other side of the wall from where we set up the laser, so I ran a line in, through several filters, separators, and a pressure valve, and have had no issues. We use it regularly with the cone nozzle set up and it works great. There is also a pressure adjustment on the machine itself, set up is easy and the air assist directs air along the beam to help keep the optics clean from both sides. It was worth the extra cost in my opinion.