[BlockerLaser]

Trying to get some feedback from owners of the Epilog Mini 24. I current own the blue/gray laser from eBay and it had worked well but am looking to upgrade to something better plus I want to get rid of the whole water aspect. A few things I have questions around and don't expect all questions to be answered but any feedback is appreciated.

1. Cutting - I do mostly engraving but trying to figure out if the Mini 24 30 watt could cut through 1/4" MDF in a single pass. My current 50w ebay cannot.

2. Software - I used Lightburn currently and has been very user friendly. I know Corel works with Epilog. Would that be the recommended software or is there a better one. Lightburn allows me to build templates and then just open that and send to machine. Not sure if the Epilog way is as simple.

3. Heatburn - with stuff I engrave I will use a med to high tack tape and I still manage to get heatburn or residue that I need to sand off. I don't expect that to go away but was wondering if I could assume to deal with it less frequent.

Outside of that I know it may be like night and day going from an eBay laser to Epilog. I wanted to stay away from the Zing's and not sure I want to hit the 20k mark for the Helix.

[grawley]

Trying to get some feedback from owners of the Epilog Mini 24. I current own the blue/gray laser from eBay and it had worked well but am looking to upgrade to something better plus I want to get rid of the whole water aspect. A few things I have questions around and don't expect all questions to be answered but any feedback is appreciated.

1. Cutting - I do mostly engraving but trying to figure out if the Mini 24 30 watt could cut through 1/4" MDF in a single pass. My current 50w ebay cannot.

2. Software - I used Lightburn currently and has been very user friendly. I know Corel works with Epilog. Would that be the recommended software or is there a better one. Lightburn allows me to build templates and then just open that and send to machine. Not sure if the Epilog way is as simple.

3. Heatburn - with stuff I engrave I will use a med to high tack tape and I still manage to get heatburn or residue that I need to sand off. I don't expect that to go away but was wondering if I could assume to deal with it less frequent.

Outside of that I know it may be like night and day going from an eBay laser to Epilog. I wanted to stay away from the Zing's and not sure I want to hit the 20k mark for the Helix.

The 30 watt metal tube lasers, installed in Epilog machines, generally cut about the same as your 50 watt, in my experience. In other words, a glass tube laser using high voltage and rated for 50 watts is about 25% less capable than a metal tube using radio frequency excitation. (I integrate both types of lasers into laser machines). For 1/4" MDF cutting, you really should get the nozzle add-on for the Epilog, with as small a hole as possible. The standard epilog is really an excellent engraving machine, with an air assist tube offset to the side. For cutting MDF, you want high pressure air pushing down at the cutting, to minimize side-wall burning, and maximum cut speed. The same high pressure nozzle system can reduce sticky fumes re-casting onto your laser engraved materials.