10w $1000?

[Scott M Smith]

I called my distributor and the difference between a mini 24 30 and 40W is $1000. is that worth it?

[Joe Pelonio]

I would say so. I have 45 watts and I cut a lot of 1/4" material, that would be a bit slower with 40 but really slow with 30. If you plan to do only 1/16 engraving stock the the difference would affect you less but I still think you should get the most power you can afford.

[David Fairfield]

I'd say it depends what work you have in mind. I have a 35 watt, does everything I need and I rarely use full power. But I mostly work with fine material. Cutting thick stock, like 1/4" plywood is really slow, too slow for production work. I don't think I'd pay another 500 bucks to have a 40 watt machine.

[Kim Vellore]

I am not sure if Epilog still does this
I have a 24TT 45W but it is still has a 40W tube inside. I asked epilog about it and they told me they measure the output power and then sell the tube as a 45W. If that is something like that it is not worth it. Else in general for most applications higher power is always better for speed.

Kim

[Rodne Gold]

On paper , you would get a 1/3rd more power performance for a grand , in reality it might be closer to 15-20% more depending on application.
If the grand extra is a less than lets say 10-15% of the purchase price it might make good sense.
If you are a start up, The $1k would be better spent on marketing and making sure you have work for the laser rather than buying capacity you might not need.
Remember that replacing the 40 watt tube is also going to be more expensive then the 30.
Another point is that one can buy a cheap eastern 40w laser for about $1000 these days.... and they seem to work ok.

[Niklas Bjornestal]

Another point is that one can buy a cheap eastern 40w laser for about $1000 these days.... and they seem to work ok.
But a 40w chinese laser isnt the same as a 40w laser from a major brand.
I have had a 40W chinese laser, and my gcc mercury II (25W) is able to cut thicker materials and faster.

[Rodne Gold]

Did your 25w GCC cost you $1000?

[Richard Rumancik]

Did your 25w GCC cost you $1000?

Rodne, we all know the GCC cost much more - but I think the point that Niklas is trying to make is that the Chinese "40 watt" laser is outperformed by the GCC 25 watt. So if this is the case, then something is wrong - are the Chinese tubes mislabled? Has anyone else done power testing? Or is this an anomaly? As I understand it, the life of these glass tubes is much less than some of the North American brands, so it is possible that power starts dropping much sooner in its working life.

The Chinese tubes are inexpensive, but if they also are overrated as to power then it makes comparisons almost impossible.

As far as sorting tubes - I think this has always gone on in the industry. When you make a laser you can't be sure how well it will perform. The 30 watt tubes are really 25 watt tubes that performed especially well. Synrad sells 25 and 50 watt tubes - I don't think they actually show the 30 watt as a product. But if you go to them as an OEM and say that you want to buy only 30 watt tubes, I'm sure they will find some coming off the 25 watt line.

[Rodne Gold]

I was commenting on the fact that the $1000 might get his business a kick start if used for marketing or it could get him another 40 watt laser -
NOT that he should rather buy a $1000 cheap laser instead of the mainstream one - IE making a point that he could get a backup system or almost double his production for the money...

[Ross Moshinsky]

This really depends on what you are doing. On plaques for example, brass, steel, aluminum, acrylics all run at about 100sp 50pwr on a 35 watt machine. If you do that 90% of the time, you don't need the extra power as clearly you have plenty to spare. If you do a lot of vector cutting to create layers of material, I'd absolutely say the extra power is worth it.

Most days I'd take increased table space over power though.

[Viktor Voroncov]

I am not sure with Epilog, but with GCC laser initial power you have is 7-9 Wt BIGGER than mentioned in laser type. We always test lasers before installation and new 30 Wt laser show on table 38 Wt, and 40 Wt laser - 49-50 Wt. I think with Epilog schould be same - so buy 30 Wt and don't worry :)