Laser Engraving & Cutting Help Thread

[LaserJack]

Good Day all,

My name is Jack, I have been laser engraving and cutting a while now and I know when i first started out I had a million questions and to much info to try and absorb, since my time cutting and engraving I have gathered lots of knowledge on the subject and I am more than happy to help anyone here with questions you may have on the subject.

I'll say this now, I'm no expert, I'm still learning every day, new things, but that is one reason we love this industry, its non-stop

So please fire away any questions you might have or trouble you are having on a project, I'd be glad to help where i can

Jack

[David Mitchell]

Yes, I am interested in Laser engraving to put names on pens and pen boxes
What is the out lay for the equipment?
Regards
David

[LaserJack]

Yes, I am interested in Laser engraving to put names on pens and pen boxes
What is the out lay for the equipment?
Regards
David

Hi David,

Outlay for the equipment ranges drastically, there are 3 options really:
Chinese import direct from manufacture - Anywhere from $3000 to $30,000+
Chinese machine from local distributor - $5000 to $50,000+
USA/EU machine from local distributor - $12,000 to $150,000 upwards

There are benefits to each option:
The Chinese machines are a good way into the business but you are dealing with water cooled systems, low grade motors and low end software. If your on a serious budget and it is really the only option it is still a viable one, expect to put allot more effort into getting the machine running, working out software issues and overall maintenance of the machine will be higher

Chinese from a local distributor is essentially just like the above but you are being backed by a local agent so you are paying that bit more for local support, software support and backup parts in AU or on order when needed, it also gives you some security in your purchase

USA/EU machines from a local distributor, some examples would be Trotec, Epilog, Gravograph, these companies generally supply machines with higher quality components and ceramic or metal tubes, power including peak and sustained power is normally higher and focused allowing for cleaner work but in general cases you wont know the difference unless you look for it, support is great and software is top notch

[Bob Willson]

If all you want to do is engrave a few pens, then I would think that any of the smaller 50 watt lasers would do what you need them to do plus a lot more. They are sub $2000 delivered. They come complete with a rotary axis that will need some modification for use with pens, but it is all quite doable. You could also plug one of these in and it will do a much better job.

Do NOT buy a 40 watt laser. The operating system supplied with them is absolute cr@p.

I bought a 40 watt laser as a present for my daughter and son-in-law. I spent the next few months trying to make it work well before giving up and completely replacing all the control electronics and software. It now works OK, but cost me over $1400 in the end. Overall I would much rather have spent the extra and got the larger machine.

I also checked out the US machines before getting one of the Chinese 50 watt lasers, but the starting price of about $7000 was just too much. The quality of the US made machines is very high compared to the Chinese machines.

PS I wouldn't rely too heavily on support from the Oz based suppliers either.

[David Mitchell]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your reply,
Where do you get the $2000 engraver?
Regards
DaviD

[Bob Willson]

eBay50 w laser engraver | eBay

But remember what I said about the rotational axis.

[David Mitchell]

Hi Bob,
I had some pens engraved by Tim Butler Grampians Furniture Hall Gap and he never used a rotational axis
As the lettering is only 3.5 in height it does not need to be rotated.
Regards
David

[Bob Willson]

Hi David and that is true.
Engraving letters on a pen that are only one line high and lettering of such a small height could be quite acceptable; and the larger the diameter of the item being engraved the more acceptable the engraving as well.
However, if you want to do two or even three lines of print, the outer lines on a pen would get very tall unless you manually turn the item being engraved.

[Bob Willson]

Attached are a few of the only pictures I have left after losing my hard drive earlier.
They just happened to be on a stick.
There was actually another power supply in there as well.
One of 36V for the motors, one 24V for the RDC6442 controller and one laser PSU.
If I had to do it again then I would use a small converter to convert the 24v to 36v or the other way around rather than use the extra power supply.

A small confession: I was working on the K40 removing the main laser transport section and I accidentally contacted the light bulb connectors and discovered that I forgotten to disconnect the 240V power supply to the machine. This blew the house fuse. When I went to turn the machine on again it would not do so. I checked all the leads and all the internal connections. Everything seemed to be good except that there was no power. It took me about two hours to discover that the plug in the back of the machine had its own internal fuse and that fuse had also blown. Fused socket If I had known this was there, then I would not have bothered with the fuse in the control panel.

[rod1949]

I have a Redsail 100watt unit. I would like to be able to engrave aluminium, copper etc so far no luck. Is the unit not powerful enough for non ferrous metals? Thanks Rod

[Bob Willson]

Hi Rod
Using a C02 laser you will only be able to mark the surface of any metals and then only if you use a special coating on the surface beforehand.
You need a special type of laser to engrave/cut metals. It is called a fiber laser.
Here is a comparison between the two different types

[LaserJack]

Hi Rod

Got beaten to it Bob is correct, CO2 lasers operate at a frequency that is extremely inefficient to mark or cut metal, it can be done but you will want a 2000watt+ setup, I've seen a few commercial grade CO2 cutters do it but they were 3kw+

You will want a Fiber Laser to efficiently and cost effectively engrave metal surfaces, these come in two forms, rack type like most CO2 lasers and your Redsail, and Galvo type which uses high end mirrors to direct the laser to the surface in an extremely fast manner, normally used for metal marking in the industrial stagewhere items have an odd shape (bolts, machine tools etc)

The liquid Bob was noting too allows you to "mark" metal surfaces, these liquids are expensive and the application of it can be tricky at times, but the optimum result especially with a 100watt machine will be a dark black mark where the laser hits the surface, this mark is not 100% permanent but it is molecular bonded to the surface so its extremely hard to remove. Cermark and Thermark are the two biggest brands in this regard

[Bob Willson]

Thanks laserjack
I couldn't remember the names of the products for coating the surfaces.

PS these same products can also be used on glass and stone and even plastic. Your results may vary.

[LaserJack]

Hi All,

I will be attending the Ararat & District Woodies Club Skills and Knowledge Day on Sunday 28th August, I will bring some samples along as well as catalogs and information about laser engraving and cutting, if your in the area or will be attending the event please stop by my table and have a chat

Happy to chat to anyone about anything from purchasing a machine or advise on using there own to our own business and what we can do

Skills and Knowledge Day 28th August 2016_NEW(1).pdf