Great review and explanation. I love that I didn't need to bump up the speed to 1.5X to get the information without wasting my time, and I love that you organized your thoughts and didn't ramble, again, respecting the viewer's time. Thank you.
Great video. I've been working with lasers since 1992. But since my husband died I've had to catch up on the technical as no longer have staff or him. Your simple explanations are so helpful. Thanks Meg. x
Fun fact: the 2 lights for focus is the same concept that the Dam Busters used to get the correct attitude when flying over water before releasing the bouncing bomb.
I work with industrial grade flatbed lasers. Both fiber and c02. We can cut up to 3/4" thick steel. Everything we cut requires assist gas such as nitrogen or oxygen. We've played around with etching and finite cuts for delicate materials but they're just not well suited to operate on such low wattage.
You should differentiate the laser beam generation (fiber, disk, CO2, diode) and the beam steering (galvo, gantry) since they are different things and are not to be confused. Otherwise people will think a galvo can be only uses with fiber lasers which is wrong. It's probably more feasible to use this combination, since fiber lasers usually have a better beam quality than diode lasers (up to 1/100, with one beeing the best and going to inf) and 1/10th the wavelength of CO2. Both increase the ability to focus the beam.
In your new space, would you ever consider teaching or having someone teach "how to" lessons for each different machine? I just think that would be cool and an excellent opportunity to discover the machine that works best for me. I would totally pay for a class like that.
Which machine is more recommended for engraving plastic? I'll be making labels for control panels. These will vary in size but initial will be about 1-2mm thick with white foreground and black letters. Some will need to use a very small font (probably 4-8 if possible) while larger ones will be 24-28 font. For the smaller there will be up to 50 per sheet so it will also need to cut them out. TIA
Shop infrastructure vids would be cool. Talk about why you did what you did. What you are considering or planning to do. Shop layout. Might be cool to do. I'm thinking of Adam Savage, he's always thinking about something and improving this or changing that. You have a move in and have more room to play with. Do you do anything with the vertical space or build out any rooms or features?
I love the idea of fibre but have no use case at the moment (or space). I am more interested in getting a co2 galvo Congratulations on the new workshop that's a mega space and I can see it really helping!
too late already building a 4x8 bed. co2, also thinking dual set up. make money with co2 first. then convert to dual. since fiber is expensive. im talking 2000w.
I've read that you CAN laser leather with fiber. That true now? Also -- can it cut thru leather to slice out pieces for wallet assembling? i want a machine that can do both leather and metal.
what kind of laser i need to cut metal around 2mm thickness like steel or silver ? ... from google a lot point to fiber laser but from look at video a lot people use co2 for cutting .. that confused me
Thanks for the video And I ask if you need protective glasses with the fiber machine? I’m thinking of buying one but want to have it in my shop where customers come and go so thinking buying it with the protective cover or it’s not necessary? Thank you in advance
Loved the video on the fiber laser, actually looking at one now but not sure if I’ll use it like I hope or get customers to make it worth it(meaning convince the wife) but until then I’ll keep abusing my diode laser.
Great information as always! Congratulations on your new space. I am a photographer and I have a lab make prints of my work on aluminum. I would love to see how a MOPA or fiber laser would mark on the back of aluminum prints, and whether it would generate too much heat that would damage the image or coating on the reverse side. If you are willing to test it and make a video, I would be glad to send you some defective metal prints to practice on.
You ask what we like to see iam looking to get a laser to cut gaskets when needed in my shop as I know nothing about them seen a few people using them for gaskets but mostly for engraving wood metal like to hear what you have to say about this
I've seen some videos where the fiber lasers are able to cut carbon fibre. I'm currently thinking about a 50w fiber raycus laser. However, I'm also in need of some advice as the materials I'm most need to work with are aluminium and carbon fibre. If I need a MOPA laser to cut carbon fibres that is going to mean I need a bigger budget.
TLDR buy diode. I want a fiber for engraving metal tho… now that Roly made the lasermatic MK2, and working on the MK3, diode lasers are just as good as CO2. Co2 lasers are a thing of the past…
I am interested in engraving custom personalized ear tags. I would appreciate your input as to which machine would be the best to look into. I had a friend try her CO2 machine and she stated that it was very slow and time consuming to pump out the product. It did a fantastic job, however, the time was a "thumbs down" factor for me. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Would you please make a video on what woods can and cant be engraved if you have knowleague of this? laser ply is nuts expensive by me (1200 900 5mm is £90) and I do not know if the risk are normal ply is overblown or not or if the are normal plys I can use.
I'm looking at different lasers and I'm having a tough time figuring out which power machine I would need to use for deep laser engraving for firearms, such as a handgun slide? Also, which power is enough for doing stippling on polymer grips? My gut says to just go for the 60w JPT, since I've found a few other shops using that. At least, at a minimum, I'd know it is enough to do the job. If you can help me out here I'll use your affiliate link, I'm wanting to get one of these ASAP.
Great review. I just ordered a thunder laser. Hope to make my money back this year and order one of these at the end of the year. Unless of course you would like to donate yours to me :)
Fiber laser do ablate the material (vaporize it) but cutting anything very thick would take a very long time as to go very deep would require refocusing the laser often (every .5mm of depth approx depending on the power of the laser). They are good at doing deep engraving which is unique to fiber lasers, but if you want to be cutting parts out they are probably the wrong type to use.
Lightburn supports lots of lasers and will run on a Mac, Windows or Ubuntu (and some other Linux based os). If you purchase a fiber and it uses an EZCad2 type controller, it should work with Lightburn. An EZCad3 controller will not work with Lightburn. I have a similar issue with OS, I run Ubuntu and none of these factory supplied software packages will run natively on a Linux box. I have a few lasers ... led, co2 and a fiber... they all are running under Lightburn on a Linux box... It will run on your Mac. Lightburn is very robust, great support, here in the US. You'll be glad you tried it.. The trial version, in which nothing is restricted, is free... Good luck
Problem i have with Co2 is they’re expensive for the tubes, they have short life, and the tubes are massive in length if you want a powerful laser. A 150w C02 is 1600mm long and $1400 and cannot cut any metal. Life limited and overall a waste of money. A 1500w fiber laser head with a control for cutting metal 1/4 thickness and engraving only costs $2500 on Amazon. Sure you’ve got to provide your own gantry machine but any router table even a cheap $1000 4020 would work and you could even run the head on a separate rail on the backside of the router gantry so you have a 2 in 1 CNC. Why wouldn’t you, right! YAY, works for both.
ANY time you are lasing something that can do damage to material, you had better take precautions. Safety glasses are a must for any laser operation. For CO2, I ware my regular glasses, they are polycarbonate and are effective at the lasers frequency. For the fiber and led, I have glasses for them also.. Common sense says you should protect your eyes... You can find some Chinese videos of people operating various types of lasers with no eye protection.. :(
But CO2 lasers can cut metal - here for example ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XNcapGmzIOg.html , tube just has to be over 130W to be able to do this, right?
The cut quality shows it's not a good choice. Fiber lasers are for man made materials, and co2 are for natural materials... all lasers will encompass more materials than by that strict statement. CO2 does excellent with acrylic, but generally requires some type of mark coating for metals... Most metals reflect a high amount of energy, so there is a great loss of power in just the reflection. You also don't know if they were running that 140W RECI at 160W and after three parts the tube is wasted... People do that for videos... Not to mention I've never seen a hobby machine like the one in the photo... Using oxygen or other gasses can also enhance cutting steel, like oxy-acetylene torches. If you purchase a co2 laser that is a hobby laser, you'll be sadly disappointed by the results if this is what you are expecting. Even a fiber can engrave wood, looks cruddy, but it will. Everything on the Internet doesn't fall into the true category... watched any perpetual motion or free energy videos lately...?
