Vytek or New Hermes Gravograph

[Rolan Talbott]

Hi everyone
I' am in the looking of the used equipment to start a laser engraved business in Honduras, and I found two machines with some pros and cons.
the market that I will target is the memorials, architectural ceramic and crystals, so the machine must be able to work in either way.

I found a 2005 Vytek FX/2 2436 and a 2007 New Hermes Gravograph LS800 with the honeycomb table and the tool for cylindrical objects; my perception is that the Vytek will work better on the memorial and ceramic works due to it's work area than the LS800, but the Gravograph will be well for crystals, glass.
I know that I can buy separately the tool for cylindrical objects in the Vytek, but I would like to hear from your experience before I made the purchase.

Can you help me to take the right decision.
I don't have so much experience on the CO2 lasers.

Thanks for your time.
Regards
RT

[Ross Moshinsky]

If that is your goal, buy a sandblasting setup. Glass/Crystal looks terrible with a laser compared to a sandblaster. Stone work is also much more efficient using a sandblasting setup than a laser.

[Rolan Talbott]

If that is your goal, buy a sandblasting setup. Glass/Crystal looks terrible with a laser compared to a sandblaster. Stone work is also much more efficient using a sandblasting setup than a laser.

Thanks for your advice Rose.
I did not know about this process, but what I am intended to engrave will be pictures of people, landscapes, and draws of up to 1200 DPI and I don´t know if there is a system besides lasers which can do that.

For that reason I asked about these two brands Vytek and the New Hermes Gravograph which one will be better.

Thanks
RT

[Scott Shepherd]

You're not going to get 1200 dpi out of a laser onto glass. Lasering glass creates tiny micro fractures to create the image. No way you'll get 1200dpi out of that process. If you're lucky, you'd get 250, I'd think.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Thanks for your advice Rose.
I did not know about this process, but what I am intended to engrave will be pictures of people, landscapes, and draws of up to 1200 DPI and I don´t know if there is a system besides lasers which can do that.

For that reason I asked about these two brands Vytek and the New Hermes Gravograph which one will be better.

Thanks
RT

You can sandblast images. It looks as good as a laser. It's not an issue at all. Just like the laser, you need to process the image properly so it will show the half tones properly.

Sandblasting is the way to go for glass and stone. Laser is terrible with glass. No one will convince me otherwise. Stone, laser is fine. It's just limiting because of the bed size and the weight of the stone.

[Hilton Lister]

I used to think that laser looks terrible on glass or crystal, as I have both systems.
However, I have found that applying straight dishwashing liquid before lasering allows me to obtain results very close to sandblasting. My method differs from others here in that I use the highest resolution and power available on my 25watt GCC Mercury.
I detest sandblasting even though I have been doing it for about 20 years. It's just too labour intensive for me to make a good profit. Perhaps there's something I doing wrong!!