[Storen]

Requirements:


1. To be able to pass trough a standard front door - below 33" or 85cm width.
2. Servo drive system
3. Laser head with 1" focal length
4. Under $5000


I know Thunderlaser Mini-60 (Nova 24) complies to all of these requirements.


Do you know of any other brand or model?

[Endurancerobots]

Hello, EnduranceRobots.com made a video lesson how to make gcode for engraving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw8h0c5Vdw8

Some samples you can download from our web site:
http://endurancerobots.com/products/...r-engraving-2/

Can be used for WanHao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwj9JtBH4Y
and for any DIY engraving machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajU8XB5SnYE

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s3koJ5MvIA


--off topic video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q487XonWG-U
(hope it will not be banned. For real man)

[Endurancerobots]

Hello, EnduranceRobots.com made a video lesson how to make gcode for engraving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw8h0c5Vdw8

Some samples you can download from our web site:
http://endurancerobots.com/products/...r-engraving-2/

Can be used for WanHao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdwj9JtBH4Y
and for any DIY engraving machine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajU8XB5SnYE

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s3koJ5MvIA


--off topic video ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q487XonWG-U
(hope it will not be banned. For real man)

[Storen]

Thanks for the reply!


These are really cool ideas but the machines are very far from being production-ready. I am looking forsomething suitable for a small workshop.

[cinematic2]

Requirements
I know Thunderlaser Mini-60 (Nova 24) complies to all of these requirements.

Don`t be stupid. This machine is nothing more than standard chinese laser engraver.
1. Using servos with glass laser is a mistake. This kind of laser is not quick enough for real servo.
2. Using horrible big servos is only for marketing. They are slow in fact. Real servo driven machines uses very small and high speed servos .

[Storen]

haha "Don`t be stupid" is always a good advice

1. Interesting - Could you explain a little further please. Are you concerned with the performance only at super high speeds? How the delay will effect the quality of the cut? There are a lot of Chinese brands offering glass tubes with servos. Thunder laser is not the only one. BTW servos have other advantages not only speed.

2. Are you familiar with the exact servo model they use? What are the problems with this motor?

[Storen]

GLOWFORGE



Glowforge is a new player in the desktop cutter game. Their machine is still under development and it will be released in 2016. The company started with very generous funding and ran a super aggressive marketing campaign. Even though the machine is not high-end I expect them to hurt seriously the sales of Epilog's and Trotec's desktop lines. I haven't seen samples from their prototypes but I expect them to be good enough for the 90% of the office customers. What I know so far is:

Housing - The most obvious thing about Glowforge is the look of the machine which sets them apart from the rest in the low-cost market. It's creators were smart enough to understand the important role of the aesthetics for the contemporary office equipment. It is beyond my understanding why the Chinese brands don't hire some industrial designers to help them make their laser machines attractive to the western market. I think the royalties plus the extra BOM cost on the housing and packaging should be only around $20-30 per machine, so I am guessing it is more of a mentality and cultural issue.

Work area - 500x300mm on all models.

Drive system - They use Hybrid stepper-servo motors that should offer significantly better performance than the traditional stepper motors. They are still not as good as the true servos used by the good brands. The actuation is with traditional square rails and belts which should offer good speed for scan-mode engraving.

Laser tube - There is very little information about that. The base model will come with 40W tube and the top one with 45W. Because of the overall price of the machine I am guessing these are very cheap and unstable Asian tubes with a short life-span. The replacement tubes would probably be offered exclusively trough their brand so they could make a good amount of money that way.

Cooling - That is a very curious aspect of these machines. It looks like their engineers will attempt to cool the tube with an aluminum heat sink and small integrated pump. The tube should run at about 70°C which may be a bit high and may shorten its life.

Cameras - That is another curious thing. It seems they will come with a positioning camera system similar to the ones used in the professional class equipment for cutting roll-material (usually fabrics).

Filtering - They offer small integrated air filter. I am very curious how good it would be.

Cost - Roughly 1/3 of the price of the Epilog and Trotec desktop models and below of some Asian brands.

[gweikelaser]

glowforge need to wait long and long time ,there is no finished machine yet

[MichaelHenry]

Storen - what did you end up buying? If you saw a Nova 24, what did you think of it?

[Storen]

Storen - what did you end up buying? If you saw a Nova 24, what did you think of it?

At the time I started this thread I was panning on buying my second machine. I already had one typical Chinese cutter and I wanted to get something smaller and more precise. It turned out that the least expensive machines that could comply to my requirements were around 18K... That was way above my budget so I didn't buy anything. However it was a very educational experience.

It turned out Cinematic2 was absolutely right when he suggested the Thundelaser SERVO is not a real SERVO. Or maybe it would be more apropriate to say that their SERVO is not what most people expect when they hear this term. So that was a huge disappointment for me. The second disappointment were the samples I got from Nova24. They were very similar to the samples I've done with my old Chinese laser. Frankly I expected more. So what I think about Nova 24:

- It is a typical Chinese machine assembled with exactly the same third-party, off-the-shelf components as most other mid. rage Chinese machines.
- The price is higher compared to the other Chinese machines with similar components because of their marketing model oriented primarily toward the western small and mid. size shops. They offer some of the best after-sale support in English.
- The machine is equipped with CL Stepper motors (advertised as SERVO by Thunderlaser) which have nothing to do with the real analog SERVO motors used by the western brands.
- Thunderlaser have significantly better quality control than the average Chinese assembling factory.
- The most curious feature for me is their lens-trough red dot pointer. It is not an essential feature but it is very convenient and accurate.

The bottom line is Nova24 it is a descent low-speed cutting machine for real production work. It could also be a great choice for hobby/enthusiast general purpose machine. Those who need high precision at high speeds and high quality engraving should look elsewhere.

[MichaelHenry]

Thanks Storen, that's a nice review. Can you comment on the Nova 24 rail system and the quality of their laser tube, power supply, and control board?

[Storen]

Thanks Storen, that's a nice review. Can you comment on the Nova 24 rail system and the quality of their laser tube, power supply, and control board?

I am afraid my information may be outdated. TL may have upgraded/downgraded some of the components. The components they use to use at the time I acquired about them (roughly 2y. ago) were the same as the components used by most other Chinese machine-assembling companies. Form the resent pictures I can see that they are still using Ruida controllers and software. They are exactly the same as what Bodor, G Weike and most other Chinese companies use. The software is unfriendly and unintelligent compared to the proprietary software of the real R&D companies, but it does the job.

You could contact TL and ask them for the exact brands and models of their components. Most Chinese assembly factories do not mind sharing this information when you discuss prices and configurations with them. Of course some of the current owners of TL machines could also provide this information and even some pictures of the components. Maybe start a new thread - something like "Brands and models of components used in the Chinese lasers". I would be very interested to join, compare tech. specs. and discuss the pros and cons of the different options.

[MichaelHenry]

Maybe start a new thread - something like "Brands and models of components used in the Chinese lasers". I would be very interested to join, compare tech. specs. and discuss the pros and cons of the different options.

Thanks - I'll do that.

[Hassanhey]

(flame2)