Thread: Budget laser engraver for wood - any opinions or recommendations?

I cannot give a personal recommendation as I don’t have one.

however as with this gear you get what you pay for.

avoid the really cheap stuff, a lot of it isn’t safe and parts are hard to source.

I have been considering the ortur, or more likely a co2 laser on my existing cnc.


these guys always have a reasonable range they discuss and their cnc article was on the money.
https://all3dp.com/1/laser-engraver-engraving-machine/

Originally Posted by BoneInspector

avoid the really cheap stuff, a lot of it isn’t safe and parts are hard to source.

I have been considering the ortur, or more likely a co2 laser on my existing cnc.

With full understanding that "customer reviews" are only normally written by people with an axe to grind (positive or negative), I have noticed that a number of people comment about lack of reseller support and short life expectancy on the Ortur. The only other negative comments about it seem to revolve around it lacking sufficient power to cut effectively, although as it is being sold as an engraver that might be unfair!

With regard to local support, I came across this 15w CNC Laser engraver 65X50CM | CNC3D | Gold Coast | QLD | Australia from an Australian company. It looks similar in concept/spec to the Ortur and at the very least there's a door to bang on should it all go wrong!!

That site looks to me like it stocks reasonable equipment, at least the 3d printers are Creality and have a good rep.
Likely parts are rebranded Chinese, but as the importer they provide the warranty so you should be good.
I note that they recommend the unit for engraving, not cutting despite the larger laser.

Setup with custom software to drive it too so that is a plus.

CNC3D are good to deal with. Dave is easy to get on the phone if you have questions.

I have the 15W laser on one of their QueenBee CNCs. Does the job well. Just make sure you set up something to remove the smoke or do it in a well ventilated area. Also be careful with eye safety!!

Just to add to what I wrote yesterday, the CNC3D machines are good but definitely more towards the hobby grade end of things. I use a QueenBee for work (making templates, processing scraps into salable items) but the price defines the quality in terms of software and robustness. If I'd had more capital I would have bought a mature commercial offering (Axiom etc). The product is good but still not mature - software is not as user friendly as it could be, machines could be more robust... But that requires more $$$. Overall they are good products though, and they do the job well. The basic laser engraver should be great for hobby level stuff.

Yes, pretty much par for the course for the 1.5-2k price point.

I'd love an axiom or half sheet cnc but space, time and cost conspire to thwart me.

OK, all good information, thanks. I'm certainly not able to justify anything much above hobby grade products - I'm strictly a hobby grade user for the foreseeable future! As always, as soon as I start contemplating something the "just a bit better" options start to show up and have me wondering whether that "small step up" might be sensible. In this case, having started looking solely at engravers, I am now wondering if a kit capable of using a spindle might not be such a bad idea. The problem is that even the 1mx1m SharpCNC kit (with just a 15W laser and no spindle) is three times the price of the engraver I linked above (same supplier). Quite a jump up for a "whim"...!

Would I be right in think that the skills required for the engraver would be largely transferable, and that an engraver would have at least some value on the second hand market should I buy one and later find a requirement ("whim") to upgrade?

Originally Posted by Warb

Would I be right in think that the skills required for the engraver would be largely transferable, and that an engraver would have at least some value on the second hand market should I buy one and later find a requirement ("whim") to upgrade?

If you use Easel (free and works with the CNC3D machines) for spindle work then it's very user friendly. Not designed for 3D carving but great for cutting out shapes, doing recesses, holes etc.

For engraving, you can use pretty much any image or vector editor, then use that image within the engraver software.

All pretty straightforward if you're generally ok with basic computer usage.

I wouldn't have high expectations of resale value - sure you could get something for it but probably less than half? Not scientific, just my opinion from scanning through Marketplace when I was scoping out the options for myself.

Originally Posted by PFH

I wouldn't have high expectations of resale value - sure you could get something for it but probably less than half? Not scientific, just my opinion from scanning through Marketplace when I was scoping out the options for myself.

That's pretty much what I would expect - it's a complex bit of kit to buy with no warranty and no support, especially when it's at least possible (if not likely) that a few parts are missing, broken, "worn" etc.. I've actually been keeping an eye out for used equipment but there doesn't seem to be much around, other than the higher end stuff. I'm taking that to mean the low end stuff is either kept forever or simply breaks and gets thrown away...... I'm assuming mostly the latter!