Opinions wanted

[James Jaragosky]

As some of you may know, I laser engrave photos into wood for extra cash. The first year I did this It was done by word of mouth and traveling locally to various craft fairs; but orders were spotty at best.
I then rented space at a local craft market which was OK, I did not make enough there to cover the overhead every month. However, sales were always very good around any holidays.
This year I decided to stay local, and I do the same farmers market every Saturday. After the first two weeks, sales have been very steady, almost to the point where I cannot get them all done each week.
My system is to have the customer drop off a photo on one Saturday, and pick it up the next; that workload coupled with a full college load, is keeping me very busy.
I have been in many conversations with business people over the summer about how to incorporate my laser work into their business.
Two different people stopped by today to finalize the details on their projects.
The first is a onetime order for 5000 of the planetary gear cards, to be used as a giveaway at a convention.
The second is for a regular monthly order of 1000-5000 1” dia. wood parts to be cut and engraved by me.
I use a Chinese laser for my photo work; and it has served me well. However, it is lacking air assist for cutting and it is not a speedy process by any measure; an 8 x 10 photo takes me about 90 minutes.
Enough background:
What is the fastest laser that will fill my new expanded needs? I had considered another Chinese laser like a 60w rabbit. But after meeting Frank in England and seeing his epilog, I may just bite the bullet and get a local made machined for all the bells and whistles.
Will a local (U.S.A.) 40w machine dramatically increase the speed of my photo production output over the machine I am currently using?
If I go to a 60w machine, is the wattage going to significantly increase in speed.
What USA manufacture has the fastest X, Y, axis movement? Alternatively, is a machines speed only relative to power output, in relationship to the material being cut?
Am I missing any questions that I should be asking?
As always, any input or opinions are welcome.
I will never learn anything by only listening to people that agree with me.
Best Regards; Jim J.

[Scott Shepherd]

Congratulations Jim, for finding so much opportunity!

My guess is it would radically speed up your process. Is more power always faster? No. Is it faster in some cases? Yes. Not sure on your application. The two fastest machines I am aware of are the Trotec Speedy 300 (note the lesser models aren't as fast as the 300, someone correct me if I am wrong), and the Xenetech machines.

Both are very very fast machines. If you are vector cutting, then that speed isn't going to show up. Rastering, probably will. Will you pay $3,000-$5,000 more for that speed. Yes, you will. Will it pay for itself enough to justify that additional cost? Depends how busy you can keep it.

It's all a math problem. Run demos on every single machine that will let you and then crunch the numbers. The math won't lie.

Will an Epilog, Universal, or GCC do the trick? Probably. As fast? Nope.

Will 4 Chinese machines out produce the 1 brand name? Probably will.

There is a comparison chart on features of all the brands posted somewhere on here. I think Rodney posted a link to it. You might search his posts and find it. It's a good comparison of all the brands, speeds, etc.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do and keep us posted.

[Allen Isakson]

James i too have a chinese machine, not a rabbit tho. It is a 6ow machine and i can do a 8 by 10 in fourty min. I have done many wood photos.

[Mike Null]

James

I have a Trotec Speedy 300. It's fast! But if you really want to increase your speed, more power will get you there. Sometimes I have to slow my machine down to 50% speed because my 45 watts of power will not do the job at 100% speed.

[Keith Outten]

James,

My Opinion....

The Trotec machine with a 75 to 100 watt power supply would be the Cadillac, but the price is going to be a bit high.

The Xenetech 60 watt machine I run at CNU is incredibly fast but it has driver problems that Xenetech has not been able to correct in over two years. I would run from the Xenetech real fast, particularly when they are at the very high end of the price point and have software issues that make their machine nothing but frustrating to own.

Epilog and Universal both have some good machines, the quest is to identify the ones that would be the best for your application and weed out the models that have been problematic in the past.
.

[Bob Davis]

My opinion...
The major suppliers' machines are a step above the more basic Chinese machines in reliability, ease of use, design and support. For business use (as distinct from hobby/craft work) you have to place a high value on all of these factors. If you are doing serious business you should use serious tools that are appropriate for the job.
It would appear that monstrous cutting power is your prime consideration, so go with the maximum watts that you can justify; I'd guess somewhere around 60 watts would be good, but more would be better. The beam quality would also be a factor, but I'm not aware that any one manufacturer is able to claim a real advantage here.
Make of laser tube could influence a decision. In my experience the Synrad tubes are very good and extremely reliable.
Raster speed will be a factor in your position, but I doubt that there would be much in it. An inch or two per second extra speed is almost irrelevant given the extra ramp incurred. It may well be much more worthwhile to look at finding an optimum dpi setting. 300dpi takes half the time of 600dpi and is very similar to most viewers, and 200dpi can be nearly as good and quite acceptable for some substrates.
The machines from the big boys are basicly the same (= very good). I'd suggest that you decide on an acceptable wattage and see what sort of a package the reps can put together for you, and then make a decision based on that plus the available support.

[Stanley Waldrup]

James i too have a chinese machine, not a rabbit tho. It is a 6ow machine and i can do a 8 by 10 in fourty min. I have done many wood photos.

What is the DPI your are using?
Stanley

[James Jaragosky]

What is the DPI your are using?
Stanley
I use 300 dpi across all platforms when working with wood and 200 dpi when working in granite

[Phil Garcia]

Did I understand right, you are vector cutting 1" thick wood, if so this is going to highly effect what models will work for you. I would think you would me limited to 100 watt machine or more.
Also, would you mine posting a couple of your engraved photographs on wood, I would like to see a sample if possible.

[James Jaragosky]

Did I understand right, you are vector cutting 1" thick wood, if so this is going to highly effect what models will work for you. I would think you would me limited to 100 watt machine or more.
Also, would you mine posting a couple of your engraved photographs on wood, I would like to see a sample if possible.
.1875 thick x 1' diameter cherry and walnut.
These will be engraved with a company logo and a part #
They are tags placed in the clam shell boxes for a western style jewelry manufacture. Copper and sterling stuff mostly.

[Peter Meacham]

Jim

I think you meant 1 inch, not 1 foot, diameter, did you not?

Pete

[James Jaragosky]

Jim

I think you meant 1 inch, not 1 foot, diameter, did you not?

Pete yes you are correct.