So cool seeing laser content on youtube. I run a 6kw tanaka co2 laser on a 10x53 ft table. Its slower than my granny but it does cut some fantastic parts up to 1 1/4" thick. seeing how fast this machine can cut is pretty eye opening. Now i dont understand why these guys would use a 6 pad suction to lift those small plates. wouldnt aplate clamp be more simple lmao
I am considering a plasma table like an StarLab/ArcLight/ShopSaber. These are in the $30-40k range. What should I budget for a Laser that could cut at least 1/2" plate. Would like 3/4" The nice thing about some of the plasmat tables is they have routers / scribes / oxy torch setups and even pipe cutters as well. Which in your opinion is the strongest buy for maximum versatility to get started?
In 2020 I bought a sidekick 10 from Shop Saber for about $35k. Came with a water table and a 105A Hypertherm plasma. I made my money back in about a year. Plasma is a great entry level machine but is not great at making holes. It gets the job done but 95% of the time I have to fix the holes and grind some sharp edges. At the end of the day cut quality is not as good as a laser or Water jet. Some jobs are easy, clean and accurate. But other jobs are just a pain in the butt because of the extra work you have to put on it. Now I'm looking into importing an Oree Laser from China. A 3kw seems to be the sweet spot between price and capabilities. Wish me luck importing the machine.
@@carlosrios3452 I'm impressed by lasers. Would like an all in one unit. Welder * Cutter * Rust-Cleanup * CNC. No one has that machine quite yet. That would put laser back on the menu for me if it got reasonable. 50k is reasonable. 350k is not for the home-guy. I've seen some pretty good used 5-axis water jets that I like as well, they seem to be running around 100k for a mitsubishi. I favor anything Japanese made over Chinese. But you need garnet and they cost more per hour to run. But you can cut through 9" of steel/stone and pretty much any other material that you want. I would have to get a 3-phase generator to run it. No toxic fumes, smoke, but there is some overspray mess and you will have to find a place to dump the garnet and metal that you are cutting, you just can't flush it down the drain.
@@KarasCyborg I found a company in Los Angeles, CA that imports waterjets from China. I just quote a 4'x8' for $38K they already have the machines in stock here in LA. You can import an Oree Laser 3Kw from China for about $28K . There are multiple options out there at lower cost. Of course you won't get the name brand machines or the technical support like flow or omax (waterjets) Mitsubishi or Mazak (lasers) But I have been amazed that a Chinese machine is performing as well as a brand machine. At a fraction of the price. Of course there is lots of self learning and self training involved when buying from China. But I'm willing to give it a try.
@@carlosrios3452 please post a link to a 3kw fiber laser for $28,000. The power supply alone on that is probably $200,000 so i don't know where you are getting that deep discount from LOL. My 1500w was $100,000 used....
