Suggestions for an in-office laser cutter

[Blair Neal]

Hey all - 

I thought about jumping on the thread from the other day about laser cutters, but figured it would be better to start my own. 

I'm looking to get a smallish laser cutter for my company's office in Dumbo, but I don't want to go to the cheapo Ebay cutters if I don't have to. I'm having trouble identifying a reputable vendor. I think we're thinking in the $10-15k range all in (excluding the regular yearly maintenance costs). Probably looking for 60-100W, and the biggest cutting surface we can get.

Heard many good things in the past about Epilog, but they seem to be on the high end of our price range and don't have a lot of add ons. I've also reached out to them a couple times and haven't gotten a response, so their customer service is already a turn off (i've heard it's gotten worse as they have gotten bigger).

Boss Laser seems like a winner for me in terms of cost/service/addons, but I'm not sure how their software compares and since they are a newer company, how well their stuff holds up.

We already passed on Glowforge since that seems like vaporware at this point, and haven't looked too closely at Voccell and Full Spectrum.

There's a chance we'd want to have built in filter for handling acrylic fumes since we're not sure if it's going to be able to be window adjacent.

If anyone has good suggestions, I'd appreciate it - thanks!

--Blair

[Matt Joyce]

We have routinely gone with epilog at resistor, almost entirely because of ease of use.  The drivers for epilog are second to none, and that makes usability on it incredibly easy by comparison to cheaper models.

We've also had a lot of luck buying refurb systems from epilog dealers.  More to the point, over the years epilog has generally done right by us.

So I would recommend them.

That being said... check the drivers.  Try to give the unit a test run if you can.  If it's a hassle to use a tool, you will use it less and dislike it more.

Also you'll need supporting gear for any laser cutter.  Such as over powered suction / filters.  Don't skimp on these.  And storage for materials.  And extra lenses.

Also you want to ensure that you build up some cash in a reserve budget for ongoing replacements.  Lots of the laser is consumable.  Lenses especially.  And tubes eventually.  Mainboards rarely.

-Matt

-Matt

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[Anders Nelson]

Noisebridge in San Francisco has a Kaitian laser and it's enormous:

https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Laser_Cutter/Kaitian_CM1309

IMHO it has great software, the physical machine is easy to use (focusing, etc) and it can punch through 3/4" acrylic.

Apparently it was donated by Kaitian less shipping which was $4000. I say that's a good deal!

=]

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Anders Nelson

+1 (517) 775-6129

www.erogear.com

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[Matt Joyce]

Sound insulation is a great point.  Lasers + ventilation gear == loud.

[Anders Nelson]

One could certainly make a plywood box with sound insulating tiles for the machine to sit in:

https://www.amazon.com/12-Pack-Acoustic-Panels-Studio/dp/B00TP7C9YY/

=]

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Anders Nelson

+1 (517) 775-6129

www.erogear.com

[astrida]

IMHO would purchase a used Universal or Epilog laser for the 10-15k range from Ebay.  Its likely you can find a cutter for around 8-10k and even Epiliog sells refurbs at a reduced price.  Spend your extra leftover $ on venting the machine properly.

The great thing about those two brands is that if they break, you can get replacement parts.  This is the main detracting reason NOT to get a chinese laser cutter: tough or impossible to get parts.

[astrida]

As for Noisebridge's machine.  Yep.  That's huge and awesome.  I assume they have a relationship with the vendor so they can get parts.  I would still not be excited by the transit time of those parts.

[astrida]

(But hey, us NYers-- we have no patience!)

[Doug Thistlewolf]

Ventilate to the outside! Do not try to use a charcoal air scrubber/fume soaker system. Sales people will say they can handle "normal use" which if you dig deeper means mostly Glass and Stone engraving. If you want to cut Wood or Plastic you will need to be changing your extremely expensive air filters and activate charcoal weekly.

As for the cutter, Epilog has great customer support (if you call them first thing in the morning).

- – -
Doug Thistlewolf 
this...@gmail.com
773-505-1533

On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 7:58 AM, astrida <vast...@gmail.com> wrote:

(But hey, us NYers-- we have no patience!)

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