you need a agent to help you, it is easy. You do not save a lot after you add all fee together
https://www.automationtechnologiesin...level-machine/
you need a agent to help you, it is easy. You do not save a lot after you add all fee together
https://www.automationtechnologiesin...level-machine/
I also thought I needed a customs agent to help with this process, and even reached out to one, who was very helpful.
But then G Weike said that another agent is not necessary and that they take care of all the customs forms, getting a truck to pick up the laser from port and ship to my house, etc., so I haven't yet hired an agent but I'm still wondering whether I should!
I managed to answer all those questions, and they've filled in the shipping forms, and the laser should make it onto the 10/26 boat, and take ~40 days to ship to New York City.
Sam from G Weike emailed copies of the completed shipment forms, showing that the laser left on the boat on 10/26, heading to NYC. Now I have to wait 40 days (well, another 35 days from today)! The gross weight is 350 KGs, phew. I'm trying to figure out how to track the location of the ship across the ocean for the next 35 days.
https://www.vesselfinder.com/ you can search the ship name on the top right. Congrrats on your purchase!
How did you manage to contact G weike? I tried contacting them on the website but they kept asking me for my email which I provided 3 times. I gave up afterwards.
OK G Weike told me I can track the laser at Track and Trace | ECU Worldwide ... I just enter the bill of lading number and see the ETA (11/25 -- only 19 days left!).
Also, a customs brokerage company suddenly reached out asking me for various information necessary to help get the laser through customs and delivered to my house. They also explained additional fees + forms, and the 25% trade tariff, that I'd have to pay, had me fill in a power of attorney form and send a copy of my ID (license or passport).
@itsflashpoint -- I just filled in the information on the chatbot at G Weike's site (https://www.wklaser.com/) and shortly after that I received an email from G Weike.
How much was the total cost of your machine I'm thinking of buying the same model in a couple weeks.
Hi @Robert415, it was ~$4,600 for the laser itself, but there are numerous additional customs fees and of course Trump's 25% tariff that we will have to pay any day now once the laser arrives in port at NYC.
Hope you receive it soon and that all is good with it. I've had my LG900N with 100W Reci tube for a couple of years now and it's a workhorse. No problems with it and it has paid for itself many times over.
Thanks @epilotdk, that's great to hear.
I got an email that my laser had arrived in NYC port 2 days ago, via ECU Worldwide shipping, and then another email from ECI Customs Brokerage that it had cleared customs and I had a bunch of fees to pay, including the 25% tariff. I'm paying for those by credit card and then the laser should come soon by truck. I made it clear that I need a liftgate to get the laser down into my garage -- no loading dock at my house
OK finally got a call from the shipping company that the laser is on a truck and they need to schedule a time to deliver!
So I picked 2-5 PM Friday (tomorrow).
Not entirely sure how I will get this thing into the garage ... hopefully I can take the plywood box off of it and then it already has wheels and I can gently roll it in.
They should have a pallet jack on the truck and may be able to put it in your garage
Even if they don't, they're not that unwieldy to work with - I managed to get a 700*500 laser up two flights of stairs into my back bedroom with the help of a friend.
OK indeed they did have a pallet jack and were able to get it into the right corner of my garage!
On quick inspection so far everything looks good. The laser tube is intact, and has a paper on it showing it tested at ~120W. I've installed it physically but still have to plug in the two electrodes and the water inlet/outlet tubes.
The whole outside case was covered with a thin coat of lightweight oil, I guess to protect from rusting in storage and while traveling across the ocean.
The optics are all covered in plastic bags that I'll pull off when I'm ready to test.
I still need to confirm that I got both 2" and 4" focus lenses, and spare mirrors, and the right model chiller.
So far so good! I'm looking forward to my first burn
In hindsight the process of going through customs and being delivered to my house was wonderfully painless (except for the 25% tariff and other fees I had to pay).
I have managed to unpack the laser, and install the air pump, the water chiller (filled it with water first), the laser tube (physically, electrically and water-ly).
However, I can't seem to actually turn the laser cutter on...
I plugged it in, and I turned the key, and closed the top cover, and then pressed the switch on the right side that curiously says "Light" to 1 (vs 0), yet nothing happens on its display. Is there something else I'm supposed to do to turn it on? Shouldn't the LCD screen show that it's on, let me move the laser left/right/up/down?
Not sure what I'm missing yet ... also, the laser didn't seem to come with an installation guide, so I've been using this YouTube video with pleasant music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O29p6AAZGSM. I didn't install a ground rod -- my home has good ground already, and I confirmed the laser cutter does connect its ground input with the ground wire on the 3-prong AC inputs.
I plugged all the accessories into their own (separate) power strip (not the 3 AC plugs on the back of the laser) -- could that possibly matter? I thought that should be fine.
OK nevermind! I figured it out: the big red emergency stop button was engaged, and I didn't realize it. You must rotate it a little for it to pop up and disengage and allow the machine to turn on. Once I did that I was up and running, could move the head around, pulse the laser, etc. Fun!
So far the laser is working out very well. I already used it for a small project for the kids robotics team, and then also cut out a Hilbert curve from cardboard, and then this fun twirl from both foamboard and acrylic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:389075
I can see it will take some experience to learn the best speed/power for each material.
I have a few questions/observations, in case anyone knows the answers:
* I don't think I received any manual -- the CD seems to be just RDWorks; I've asked G Weike but likely won't hear back for a few days
* Does this laser (G Weike LG900N) support ethernet/wifi connectivity? So far I've been using the U-Disk only (USB thumb drive)
* The blower is crazy loud; I'd like to buy a quieter replacement. Does anyone have recommendations?
* The little control panel draws a nice picture of what's being cut, showing where the laser head is cutting in real time, etc., however mine is flipped (mirror image) on the X axis (left is right and right is left); is there some setting on the machine to flip it back?
* Cutting acrylic smells awful, even with the exhaust fan blowing out through a window; I'm wondering why I even smell anything, since the exhaust fan should be pulling all the smells outside
* There is a little label on the machine saying I should keep the laser current at <= 25 ma to preserve the laser tube's life, but accomplishing this is somewhat tricky -- I see the max/min power 1/2, and reduce that, but then the speed that the laser is moving somehow also affect the current consumed.
That's a nice design - I'm faintly tempted to run off a copy of that for myself.
Yup, that's part for the course. The software that goes with it (assuming you're using RDWorks or something similar) will allow you to save a library of settings, but I find it's best to write a hard copy, in case something goes bad with your software. That said, since you're using a RuiDa controller, I heartily recommend looking into Lightburn instead - it's a great software package that's regularly updated, and is very fairly priced, given the featureset.
TBH, this isn't abnormal in my experience. Spend time learning the software features - the software manual can be found here.
Ethernet yes, wifi no, unelss there's some weird extraneous hardware attached.
Not so much. BOFA kit is generally pretty quiet, but reeeeally expensive
I've never found a way of doing so, but to be honest, I've not really looked.
You'll be lucky to eliinate all smells. That's a pretty significant amount of air to be cycling out in a short space of time, especially when we're talking about vapour dispersal from superheating material.
To be honest, I wouldn't worry too much about it - that's largely there to stop people from using the thing at 100% power all the time. Use the machine at the power and speed settings that you need it to be at - the worst ting that can be done to a glass laser tube (aside from smasking it of course) is to leave it idle. They slowly outgas over time, so get the most you can out of it while it's still good. To allay your next concerns, I've had a few years out of some tubes (under heavy daily use), so I wouldn't worry too much about the lifespan of them.
Thank you @GerryG!
I am indeed already using Lightburn and loving it; I'll pay for it once the 30 day trial is over.
The laser came with a small WiFi router, and when I emailed G Weike they did say it supports WiFi, but I don't yet know how exactly I haven't found an ethernet jack. Would be nice to be able to send files to it over WiFi instead of sneaker-net.
Wow the BOFA blower/filters do look really nice (and pricey!). I will try a quieter blower and sound proofing from Amazon to see if I can reduce the decibels. Seems to be a large market for these 6" blowers thanks to grow tents
OK I won't worry so much about the 25 ma hard limit; the laser tube was rated at ~120 W which is plenty for what we are using it for so far, though I have yet to test it on thicker plywood.
Also, I tried using the "auto focus" from the Ruida control panel and it was a disaster! It punched straight through the foam board I was going to cut, and kept going. I had to push the big red emergency stop switch and carefully remove the head from the foam board. I suspect I'm missing the head mounted sensing device necessary for auto focus.
I also don't know which focal length lens is installed on the laser; I ordered both 2" and 4". If I take the laser head apart, is the focal length written on the lens?