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View Full Version : Any experience with Logilase Laser Engravers?



Charles Gaudet
08-18-2009, 4:13 PM
Has anyone had any experience with Logilase Laser Engraving machines?
The company that sell them is called Logimation Technologies Inc.
Does any one know about their customer service?

They sell a 36"x24" 80W co2 Water cooled Laser machine on Ebay for 7500$ USD.

The price looks good to me. It includes : Exhaust fan, air exhaust duct, air blowing compressor, cooling water pump.

Their web site : http://logimation.ca

Mark Winlund
08-18-2009, 4:38 PM
Has anyone had any experience with Logilase Laser Engraving machines?
The company that sell them is called Logimation Technologies Inc.
Does any one know about their customer service?

They sell a 36"x24" 80W co2 Water cooled Laser machine on Ebay for 7500$ USD.

The price looks good to me. It includes : Exhaust fan, air exhaust duct, air blowing compressor, cooling water pump.




Is it chinese? The web site says "design manufacturing, and service"... does that mean designed in Canada and made in China? In any event, $7500 wont even come close to what it will sell for, if everything is on the up-and-up.

Mark

Charles Gaudet
08-18-2009, 4:47 PM
I'm not sure is it is a chinese machine or not. I wrote them asking for pricing info.

I'll post it here when I know more.

Dan Hintz
08-18-2009, 7:12 PM
Looks like a Chinese machine to me (and even the 40W units are water-cooled, so the tubes are definitely Chinese).

Dave Lock
08-18-2009, 7:59 PM
Definitely looks like Chinese. It has very similar flying optic to my Rabbit laser. The cabinet build is almost identical.

Looking at the specs, these seem to be the same as well and I would guess the LaserDraw software is rebranded Lasercut.

It looks very good value......

Charles Gaudet
08-18-2009, 10:34 PM
How do you like your Rabbit laser Dave?

The sales guy sent me the user manual.

Here it is : http://alfador.dynalias.net/manual/OPERATION%20MANUAL.pdf

If someone could have a look at it and tell me what they think (confirm that it is similar to a Rabbit), I would appreciate.

Thanks!

Dave Johnson29
08-19-2009, 9:55 AM
Looks like a Chinese machine to me (and even the 40W units are water-cooled, so the tubes are definitely Chinese).

Not necessarily so Dan, Synrad make water cooled tubes. Some of the Chinese laser makers offer Synrad tubes and they may be the water cooled ones. The price would reflect choosing the Synrad option though. :)

Peck Sidara
08-19-2009, 11:29 AM
This particular model *appears* to be an overseas laser as does their other laser product offerings.

You'll find that the majority of these overseas lasers look/feel/work similarly. Being an Asian American, I'm not fond of stereotypes but it's hard not to classify these types of laser systems as:

*Inferior in build quality, accuracy, reliability, software and laser control.
*Primarily uses cheap "water-cooled" *glass* laser tubes.
*Very much the same (Chassis, lid, display, laser source, belts, optic, motors etc) from one to another, just a different branding.

My trip to the Sign Asia Expo in Thailand last year proved my points above. There must have been a dozen *identical* laser systems being offered, all of which used a fish pump to cool their glass tubes down; large bed flatform (2'X3', 3'x3', 4'x4'), basic controls on the front panel w/ some sort of Amperage gauge, weak-sauce user interface & software. Did I mention you can get them in varying colors? two-tone grey to match the Epilog, red, blue or green to match ULS, red/white to match Trotec etc.

These lasers are offered at great price points and there are members of the creek who are very happy with their overseas laser. If distributed by a reputable company who offers the support/parts needed and if these lasers fit your basic needs for laser cutting & engraving then it's a steal, assuming you have more run time then downtime.

But as far as reliability, capabilities & for production use goes; my trust goes as far as I can throw one.

One would think that overtime, the overall quality (components/build/software) of these systems will improve but with improvements comes cost.

Both Synrad & Coherent offer water-cooled C02 laser sources but these are typically limited to their higher wattage lasers. Difference between Synrad/Coherent and Glass tubes are night & day as are the prices/reliability & quality.

Not trying to start a debate here as this has been discussed previously, nor am I knocking owners of these overseas lasers, just throwing out my two cents worth.

Scott Shepherd
08-19-2009, 11:39 AM
I have an engine lathe I bought new several years ago. I had a specific product I wanted to manufacturer. Tolerance needed was +/-.005". I spent many years running a large variety of engine lathes from junk to the top of the line. My lathe has no name on it, but at the IMTS show in Chicago, I saw my same lathe being sold by no less than 6 people. They all had their name on the name plate. They obviously all came from the same plant.

If I needed parts, I have no idea who I'd call. The company I bought it from is out of business.

It does an okay job. It's not a Hardinge tool maker lathe and it will never produce results on that level. Just because both are called lathes doesn't mean they are the same. You just have to know up front, the less expensive one is less expensive for a reason. Because it's not as capable as the more expensive one. That lack of capabilities might be speed or quality, or several other things. It's just something you have to know up front and accept or decline.

It's like comparing a screwdriver from the dollar store to a SnapOn screwdriver. Yeah, both will turn a screw. One is made to last a lifetime and has support and warranty behind it, and one gets thrown in the landfill when the tip breaks.

Dan Hintz
08-19-2009, 12:14 PM
Not necessarily so Dan, Synrad make water cooled tubes.
In 40W versions? I think Synrad has long since passed the need to water cool such a small driver.

Charles Gaudet
08-19-2009, 1:06 PM
The sales guy has been helpful so far. He confirmed to me that it is a chinese made laser.

These machines has been upgraded and redesigned by us and manufactured in China. Therefore we are importing them from China and the final quality controls and adjustments will be done by us again.
The tube life in average is 3000 hours but since the higher wattage will work faster than the lower wattage for a particular job, an 80 watts tube will work almost as twice work as a 40 watts within the life time.
The replacement cost for an 80 Watts tube will be USD.500 Ex. our workshop and we always keep the necessary spare parts in our stock and will be available within 2-3 working days.
We also provide you with the necessary technical information through our phone and email 24/7.

I'll be in toronto in 2 weeks so i'll probably give them a visit to try out their machine.

I need a machine that can handle pieces 24"x24". I was looking at Epilogs. The 36EXT
is a very nice machine, but very expensive. The LOGILASE 12080 48''x32'' is less than 10K$ !.

Dan Hintz
08-19-2009, 1:30 PM
The tube life in average is 3000 hours but since the higher wattage will work faster than the lower wattage for a particular job, an 80 watts tube will work almost as twice work as a 40 watts within the life time.
Already the salesman has either: 1) lied to you about double power equating to double the work (it rarely even comes close), 2) doesn't understand enough about his own product to realize how wrong that statement is. Even if it was true, that statement makes the huge assumption you would always be working with materials that need all the energy you can throw at it... quite a few of the items we all cut/engrave use a power of <100%. Either way, I would tread with some serious caution at this point.

Dave Johnson29
08-19-2009, 3:09 PM
In 40W versions? I think Synrad has long since passed the need to water cool such a small driver.

:) Hmmm????

http://www.synrad.com/vseries/v40.htm

Dan, it is not so much about being able to cool with air, the water is much quieter but they usually include a small chiller so it adds to the cost.

It might run OK on a water and radiator circulation system providing the ambient temps are not too high. All will be revealed soon as I intend to adapt my tube to water cooling to get rid of the LOUD 450cfm fans. :D

Scott Shepherd
08-19-2009, 3:11 PM
Charles, something being "10K" doesn't make it right or wrong. It would totally depend on what you plan to do with it. If you have 1000's of items to make, then it would pay to have a faster machine. If you plan to use this as a hobby, then that's another thing.

Without knowing what you plan to use it for, it's hard for anyone to tell you if this is a good deal or not.

Charles Gaudet
08-19-2009, 5:32 PM
I want to use it to make lightguides for backlights out of acrylic sheets. I'm planning to make about 100 per year.

But now that I think of it... Maybe someone here could make them for me.

Where Can I post job requests?

Dave Lock
08-19-2009, 6:31 PM
How do you like your Rabbit laser Dave?

The sales guy sent me the user manual.

Here it is : http://alfador.dynalias.net/manual/OPERATION%20MANUAL.pdf

If someone could have a look at it and tell me what they think (confirm that it is similar to a Rabbit), I would appreciate.

Thanks!


Unfortunately I can't get the page to load from the link you provided.

My Rabbit Laser suits my needs perfectly. Compared to Epilogs, ULS etc it's not particularly fast at 60,000mm/min (39"/sec) but I am not in a high volume production situation.
I haven't seen an Epilog in the flesh so I can't provide any comparisons, all I would say is if I could I would.

With this machine I can produce some great results both with engraving photo's and cutting acrylics etc. However, you only have to look through this forum to see what the American machines can do. I'd love to have a play with one. It would be a dream to own one.

As many have already stated, it really does depend on your needs. They are a good starting point and a cost effective way of into the word of laser engraving and cutting.

The build quality of the Rabbit is OK, but that's all. The steel used is lightweight as is the box section sub-frame. The flying optics are probably Chines made but the axis rails and bearings are Taiwanese.

The cooling pump is an aquarium pump in a water tank piped to the machine. It may be basic but it does the job and it runs quietly.

The Lasercut software is pretty basic but it does a good job. It has layering which allows both rastering with different powers and vector cutting in the same file. It is limited to a basic B&W 1-bit .bmp for photo engraving but you can still get a pretty good result. I use Coreldraw but convert all my vector files to .ai before importing to laser cut.
Lasercut is a stand alone program which drives the laser. You can't 'print' to the laser, everything needs to be imported. Having said that you are provided with an add-on for coreldraw (and autocad) which allows you to open up the driver in the program and operate the laser from there. However, I haven't used it this way as yet.

In a nutshell, great value for money, good to support an existing business as a sideline and a great toy for hobby use.

If you decide on a Chinese built machine I would personally avoid importing directly to make a little saving. You'll soon discover that a local distributor can be a big help. They would carry any spares you may need and you'll soon discover that the extra dollars was actually a saving!!

If your needs justify the investment, Epilog, ULS etc. win hands down.

Regards

Dave.

Scott Shepherd
08-19-2009, 7:21 PM
But now that I think of it... Maybe someone here could make them for me.

Where Can I post job requests?

Not sure where to post job requests, but if you tell us what part of the country you are in, I'm sure it'll be clear that there are several people in your area.

Where are you located? Roughly, if need be.

Charles Gaudet
08-19-2009, 11:59 PM
I'm in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. H4C 1G3.

I need to engrave a pattern on a 24"x24" acrylic sheet. The pattern takes about 45 minutes to engrave.

If someone could supply the acrylic at the same time, that would be great.

If any one is interested to take the job please contact me.

I want to do a prototype first, and then if all goes well, I'm gonna need maybe 50 to 100 units in the coming year.

I will try to post this request in another thread.

Peck Sidara
08-20-2009, 10:01 AM
I'm in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. H4C 1G3.

I need to engrave a pattern on a 24"x24" acrylic sheet. The pattern takes about 45 minutes to engrave.

If someone could supply the acrylic at the same time, that would be great.

If any one is interested to take the job please contact me.

I want to do a prototype first, and then if all goes well, I'm gonna need maybe 50 to 100 units in the coming year.

I will try to post this request in another thread.


If none of the members are nearby/close enough, you could also contact your local Epilog distributor Engravers Express for a referral.

Adam Orton
08-21-2009, 12:45 PM
:) Hmmm????

It might run OK on a water and radiator circulation system providing the ambient temps are not too high. All will be revealed soon as I intend to adapt my tube to water cooling to get rid of the LOUD 450cfm fans. :D

I am considering making a manifold for the top of my epilog, convert the fans to the 160mm fans that spin at 1200rpm (I think) but they are so much quieter.

Dave Johnson29
08-21-2009, 12:50 PM
I am considering making a manifold for the top of my epilog, convert the fans to the 160mm fans that spin at 1200rpm (I think) but they are so much quieter.

Hi Adam,

That should work providing you have the CFM equal to or above the noisy fans.

With my Synrad tube the grooves are already in the casing for the aluminum water tubes so it is a pretty straight forward conversion. Slop lotsa heatsink
paste around and squish the tubes into the grooves.

Dan Hintz
08-21-2009, 2:35 PM
Slop lotsa heatsink paste around and squish the tubes into the grooves.
Actually, you want to the bare minimum of paste to make a good thermal contact. Filling the area with paste and expecting the pressure to squeeze out the excess makes for a less-than-ideal contact scenario. Same goes for heatsinks and CPUs. Just and FYI, in case you go down that road...