Vincent de Klerk
12-25-2010, 1:10 AM
I am “new” to this forum in the sense that this is my first contribution. I have been reading and learning a lot from all the threads posted here since I decided to purchase a laser cutting machine about six months ago. It feels like I know some of the members personally!
My experience was so positive and painless that I feel I have to share it with whoever is in the same predicament of having to choose between all these Chinese laser machines and cannot distinguish between the offers.
After reading a couple of horror stories of people that imported Chinese laser machines I did feel very apprehensive in going that route myself but my budget did not allow any other route. I decided that I will have to ready myself for some modifications and setup time if I decided to import this machine myself.
I contacted about 20 Chinese laser machine suppliers/manufacturers and it took me about 3 months and 100s of e-mails to whittle it down to about 2 suppliers. Eventually I decided to go with Shandong Shenhui Laser Science and Technology R&D CO as the sales lady, called Blanca Yan, was the most responsive with sending photos, manuals and answering my questions honestly and precisely. No e-mails were left unanswered. As this company is a manufacturer their price was also the best.
I eventually ordered an 80watt machine with cutting bed of 1200mmx 800mm. I also asked for a spare laser tube, lenses, mirrors and a honeycomb cutting table to be added to the order as I was unsure of the service I would get after buying the machine. Other parts/features that was included in the order was an upgrade chiller(CW-5000), upgrade exhaust blower(from 330w to 550w), a spare laser power supply, blade type cutting table, through the mirrors red dot pointer and motorized Z- axis with two spare sets of drive belts for the entire machine. A total of 12 spare belts. Another factor swaying me was the software that could cut straight from CoreDRAW and the Chenglish in the manual was not completely impossible to decipher.
As soon as the order was placed Blanca contacted me with the shipping arrangements and Bill of lading was sent in double quick time.
After about 5 weeks the machine arrived in a big crate. I was really surprised by the sturdy construction of the machine and the quality of the assembly and parts. The electrical layout was very neat and well secured.
As I expected I had to set the levels and relative alignment of the mirror holders so it was all on one plane and perpendicular to one another. After that the beam alignment was really easy to set up. I had to grease the screw threads that operated the up/down of the table and made some modification to the way the cutting table is fine tuned to level so the focus will be the same all over the cutting area. Please contact me for detailed specs on this modification, if you need it. That was it.
The software was a breeze to install and really easy to work after I spent an hour or two on Skype to Blanca with all my questions on how this and how that. (all text and no talk as I doubt we will understand one another if we have to speak)
My experience of importing this machine was painless largely due to the fantastic service and care that I received from Blanca at Shenhui Laser CO. I am extremely satisfied with the way this machine operates and would encourage anybody that wants to go this route to contact this lady at the company mentioned above. The service I got from her was better than what I get from some local suppliers. And all of the above for USD4500.00! Import duties and handling was a further USD1500.00.
My experience was so positive and painless that I feel I have to share it with whoever is in the same predicament of having to choose between all these Chinese laser machines and cannot distinguish between the offers.
After reading a couple of horror stories of people that imported Chinese laser machines I did feel very apprehensive in going that route myself but my budget did not allow any other route. I decided that I will have to ready myself for some modifications and setup time if I decided to import this machine myself.
I contacted about 20 Chinese laser machine suppliers/manufacturers and it took me about 3 months and 100s of e-mails to whittle it down to about 2 suppliers. Eventually I decided to go with Shandong Shenhui Laser Science and Technology R&D CO as the sales lady, called Blanca Yan, was the most responsive with sending photos, manuals and answering my questions honestly and precisely. No e-mails were left unanswered. As this company is a manufacturer their price was also the best.
I eventually ordered an 80watt machine with cutting bed of 1200mmx 800mm. I also asked for a spare laser tube, lenses, mirrors and a honeycomb cutting table to be added to the order as I was unsure of the service I would get after buying the machine. Other parts/features that was included in the order was an upgrade chiller(CW-5000), upgrade exhaust blower(from 330w to 550w), a spare laser power supply, blade type cutting table, through the mirrors red dot pointer and motorized Z- axis with two spare sets of drive belts for the entire machine. A total of 12 spare belts. Another factor swaying me was the software that could cut straight from CoreDRAW and the Chenglish in the manual was not completely impossible to decipher.
As soon as the order was placed Blanca contacted me with the shipping arrangements and Bill of lading was sent in double quick time.
After about 5 weeks the machine arrived in a big crate. I was really surprised by the sturdy construction of the machine and the quality of the assembly and parts. The electrical layout was very neat and well secured.
As I expected I had to set the levels and relative alignment of the mirror holders so it was all on one plane and perpendicular to one another. After that the beam alignment was really easy to set up. I had to grease the screw threads that operated the up/down of the table and made some modification to the way the cutting table is fine tuned to level so the focus will be the same all over the cutting area. Please contact me for detailed specs on this modification, if you need it. That was it.
The software was a breeze to install and really easy to work after I spent an hour or two on Skype to Blanca with all my questions on how this and how that. (all text and no talk as I doubt we will understand one another if we have to speak)
My experience of importing this machine was painless largely due to the fantastic service and care that I received from Blanca at Shenhui Laser CO. I am extremely satisfied with the way this machine operates and would encourage anybody that wants to go this route to contact this lady at the company mentioned above. The service I got from her was better than what I get from some local suppliers. And all of the above for USD4500.00! Import duties and handling was a further USD1500.00.