Contemplating buying a second hand laser engraver cutter

[Pauls321]

Hi,

I am away on holidays and today per chance come across a timber furniture shop where the owner made beautiful RedGum furniture. I noticed some of his products were engraved and asked him what did he use for the engraver. He showed me a very large laser engraver cutter, possibly about 600 to 700 mil wide/deep/high, said it weighed about 110kgs. During the conversation he said he wished he had bought a larger one for the work he does and wanted to sell his current one.

I really know nothing about these, but was curious and asked him the selling price. $2,000 all up including the software and the bench he made for it to stand on. He showed me a demo. He told me it is a chinese one (I didn't notice a brand on it). He has recently replaced the power supply unit on it and had it serviced. It is 3 to 4 years old.

Appears to work really good, from the demo he showed me. My hobby is making small timber jewellery boxes and the ideas that come to mind I could do is very tempting.

Any suggestions on pros and cons, what I should be looking for etc, would be appreciated.

Regards, Paul

[pippin88]

The major question is what tube it has in it.

Glass CO2 tubes are consumables. They have limited lifespan (1000 to 10000 hours depending on quality). However, they degrade even just sitting there. They can die in just a few months at times. Lucky if they last a few years.

I built a decent size laser but eventually gave up and dismantled it when the tube died. I often don't get a chance to use my tools for a while, and $600 for a new tube, potentially every 6-12 months, and not having used it for more than a few hours made the decision for me.

If you use it a fair bit and make some money with it, it may be worth it. Depending on the model / quality, $2000 could be a good or a bad deal.

[Pauls321]

Hi there Pippin,

Thanks for your advice. With that advice and happening to talk to another bloke today who has two laser engravers, I decided not to pursue this idea of buying it.

Thanks again,

Paul