Laser cutter
- Thread starter leach145
- Start date
Hope you have lots and lots of $$$$$$$.
They are NOT cheap.
At work, we run lasers from epiloglaser.com. They are all listed on
thier web site but you need to contact them for pricing. (That should
tell you something right there!). We have 3 of them in our shop.
Two are 75 watt floor model machines and one is a 60 watt floor model.
All three are about 6-7 years old. The newer models are designed better
now a days.
All three ran about $33,000.00 each. They now have table top models
they run about 16,000.00 to 18,000.00. I have seen used ones on eBay
but I am not sure if I would chance that. Even those are expensive and
will most likely need rebuilding.
They are cool as hell but the expense is up there.
Hope that helps a bit.
They are NOT cheap.
At work, we run lasers from epiloglaser.com. They are all listed on
thier web site but you need to contact them for pricing. (That should
tell you something right there!). We have 3 of them in our shop.
Two are 75 watt floor model machines and one is a 60 watt floor model.
All three are about 6-7 years old. The newer models are designed better
now a days.
All three ran about $33,000.00 each. They now have table top models
they run about 16,000.00 to 18,000.00. I have seen used ones on eBay
but I am not sure if I would chance that. Even those are expensive and
will most likely need rebuilding.
They are cool as hell but the expense is up there.
Hope that helps a bit.
Most laser companies in the US import them from China and then replace the low quality parts with better ones. So you could do the same. A decent laser cutter from China will cost 5k, and then you can spend another 2k in upgrade parts to make it as good as a US version. The only problem is the laser cutters need maintenance and tend to need to be fine tune adjusted from time to time, so if you don't want to deal with that you will miss having a warranty or on call service that typically is available from a US company.
In our hobby though, most people are pretty crafty to begin with so you may find it is not as difficult to handle the maintenance aspect.
Alibaba.com and ebay are good places to find China suppliers. There are also a few US resellers popping up for the china made cutters.
In our hobby though, most people are pretty crafty to begin with so you may find it is not as difficult to handle the maintenance aspect.
Alibaba.com and ebay are good places to find China suppliers. There are also a few US resellers popping up for the china made cutters.
TazMan2000
Master Member
I have heard that laser cutters do not work well with styrene.
TazMan2000
TazMan2000
joewhite
Sr Member
The one I use, I was told, cost around 3-4 grand...I can verify, though. It's a x-y axis only, has a workspace of 19x25 inches and has room for some accessories. It's actually a laser etcher, not a cutter....just have to make that clear as it's not entirely the same thing. I, however, have found ways to get what I need for some of my projects. I'm forced to have to breakdown 3-D shapes into flat planes but for the money, I think it's worth it.
The brand is Accuris...check em' out as an alternative. I've been thinking of getting myself one but not through the same supplier the one I use was bought through.
Styrene is tricky since it melts easily. I use a air cooled 60W C02 laser at 5% power, 45% speed and multiple passes...usually enough to allow a hobby knife to cut the rest of the way through with little effort. .060" usually takes about 20 passes to etch 75% of the way through with little to no corner melting. You just have to allow any given area on the cutting path to cool down before submitting it to another pass.
EDIT: I meant to say laser engraver instead of laser etcher.
The brand is Accuris...check em' out as an alternative. I've been thinking of getting myself one but not through the same supplier the one I use was bought through.
Styrene is tricky since it melts easily. I use a air cooled 60W C02 laser at 5% power, 45% speed and multiple passes...usually enough to allow a hobby knife to cut the rest of the way through with little effort. .060" usually takes about 20 passes to etch 75% of the way through with little to no corner melting. You just have to allow any given area on the cutting path to cool down before submitting it to another pass.
EDIT: I meant to say laser engraver instead of laser etcher.
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Pilot
Sr Member
Styrene is routinely cut on laser machines - it's PVC you want to avoid. Burning it releases chlorine gas, which then mixes with moisture in the environment and forms hydrochloric acid. Toxic and highly corrosive, very bad stuff.
VV I hope you're not referring to this post. VV
VV I hope you're not referring to this post. VV
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That's crap. Laser cutters can cut most plastics.The only one that laser cutters don't cut well(at all) is polycarbonate.However,if you think you are going to get a "routed" smooth finish from a laster cutter,think again.It won't be a smooth finish and all parts require "clean up" for a smooth cut finish unless you want the jagged,uneven finish.
Robot
Active Member
This is the best deal you will find for a small unit. The software program is great too.
www.fullspectrumengineering.com/co2laserv2-40w.html
My brother is going to be building one from a Lasersaur kit. You have to source some parts from McMaster Carr and get a 40 watt laser yourself (which is cheaper to do anyway), but they provide the software and a crap ton of specially machined parts. You basically get an industry sized laser cutter for a fraction of the cost...assuming you have some electronic building skills.
Here's the link:
Lasersaur
Here's the link:
Lasersaur
you want to invest in a nice machine, don't skimp on tools. Aside from that, I've run Epilog machines and find them to be very nice overall. I ran them in a school environment where they got lots of use, they got serviced yearly and over time, the area nearer the origin lost fidelity in terms of cut quality. A good machine adjusted and running at the right feed rate and power spec.s actually yields a very fine finish, I don't know what "jagged" edges people are talking about...
You do not want to cut PVC, as mentioned above. You can check power spec.s for cutting through the desired material and thickness you use commonly before picking a machine too.
I also don't know what others mean by having to break out a 3D model into planes? A laser cutter leaving jagged edges and running in 3 axis would be more like a plate steel cutting laser, industrial strength. For modelmaking, prototyping, and prop projects, working with common plastics and cutting polylines in 2D is all you'll need.
Believe me, once you have one, you'll never know how you got along without it! Creating jigs for registration, painting stencils and masks, and obviously creating whole parts.
You do not want to cut PVC, as mentioned above. You can check power spec.s for cutting through the desired material and thickness you use commonly before picking a machine too.
I also don't know what others mean by having to break out a 3D model into planes? A laser cutter leaving jagged edges and running in 3 axis would be more like a plate steel cutting laser, industrial strength. For modelmaking, prototyping, and prop projects, working with common plastics and cutting polylines in 2D is all you'll need.
Believe me, once you have one, you'll never know how you got along without it! Creating jigs for registration, painting stencils and masks, and obviously creating whole parts.
joewhite
Sr Member
What I was trying to describe was that the machine I use is only a two axis. I can't control depth or anything else that comes with 4 or more axes.
So what I guess I was trying to say was that I have to configure my subject as a flat drawing much like the way CAD flattens a 3-D image for printing. For example, if I want to make a 1 inch cube, I have to cut six seperate 1 inch squares and assemble...and of course take into account the thickness of the material being cut.
I hope this makes better sense....I'm no expert...I learned the program and machine on my own...no school or proper training for it.
Joe
Oh, well it's a little O/T but most laser cutters are two axis, like an etch a sketch. You adjust the power and feed rate to accomplish a clean, efficient cut in the thickness of material you desire. They are designed to cut or etch profile lines in material, or etch a raster image.
If you're talking about creating parts that are more than a profile cut in a set thickness of material, you may be talking about a 3D printer. There are three main types FDM (thermosoftening plastics), SLA (thermosetting plastics), and SLS which is Selective Laser Sintering:
YouTube - 3D Systems - Selective Laser Sintering
Those are the two major types of prototyping machines that use lasers (laser cutters and SLS printers), other prototyping machines use helical cutting tools similar to endmills used in machining.
