Introduccion to the Forum

[Bruno Piancatelli]

hello, I live in Argentina, have been reading the forum for a while and decided to register and say hello.
Im planing on buying a Laser and starting a shop. so im trying to learn a bit about the activity before jumping into it.
I am a carpenter and I was looking for some altenative activity some how related to wood working but with no work at houses and such, like I usually do know.

I live in a small city, about 45 thousand inhabitants, and there is no laser service here. so there are people that send there jobs to be done to the capital 200km away. and many people that doesnt know about the kind of work and services that a laser can offer. so I think its a good opportunity.

the laser im considering buying is a chinese CO2 50W, with a bed of 40cm * 60cm. it costs little less than 10k and they include the instruction classes for it.
here is the link. altough the specs are on spanish.
rynk.com.ar/portfolio/rkl4060/

well, thanks for your time!
Bruno

[Rodne Gold]

Welcome
IMO , That is extremely expensive for that laser , it should be 1/3rd of that cost ex China.
I was last in Argentina in 1974 or 5 or sometime then , wonderful place, was in BA, Barilloche and went to the Igazu falls.
Im coming back in Dec 2012 , going from rio to chile via antarctica *cruise*...

[Bruno Piancatelli]

Welcome
IMO , That is extremely expensive for that laser , it should be 1/3rd of that cost ex China.
I was last in Argentina in 1974 or 5 or sometime then , wonderful place, was in BA, Barilloche and went to the Igazu falls.
Im coming back in Dec 2012 , going from rio to chile via antarctica *cruise*...

thanks!
yes it is expensive, I´ve searched around and it seems to be the going price for a machine like that in my country.
there arent many importers and/or options on this items and apparently they take advantage on that, and overprice them. maybe customs taxes are higher here too.
Im leaning towards this one, because they have the shop closer to my home town and they include the instruction curse. which is and advantage.

well thats sounds like a very nice trip. you might be able to see some austral whales on the south coast of the county by december.

EDIT: its a 60W laser.

[Uros Sovilj]

Hi
Check your custom and tax office for rate they charge for laser. Find the biggest forwarding agency and check for shipping costs for FOB/city. Sales guys from China will give you all info on packaging and weight/dimension so you can calculate your price in Argentina. Dont forget domestic transport from port to you and you have your price. As for service and lessons is that you rep will skype same tech guy in China and give you same reply as you can get direct from their tech support and on this forum you can learn much more. I
I was newer operate with laser before i got it so i take 3 month laseru training just to get basics. Beside i was reading this forum and do all kind of tests on machine.
My 60w 900x600 with bunch of spare parts and lenses cost 3844 usd.
Shipping in EU port Koper was 195 usd.
Port taxes was 132 usd
Duties was 227 usd
On all that i had to pay taxes in amount of 804 usd and trasport to my home was 40 usd (120km)
So total cost was 5242 usd.
I am not trying to sold you nothing but for 100% difference it's worth a shot.
Regards

[Uros Sovilj]

Just a thought. With prices on your market better open laser import buissiness than engraving shop:)

[Rodne Gold]

For the $5000 you will save with a direct import with all spares , you can fly to china , spend a week at the factory to get trained and come back with $2000 change....

[Bruno Piancatelli]

thanks again for the replies.
Uros, I can�t say your suggestion isnt tempting. I will check all aspects on that matter.
but for a start I know that the customs charges 50% of all imports. and its not so easy to get things trhu. I would have to hire an "custom dealers" i think they call it. who takes car of doing all the teddious paper work.
maybe the saving is still worth it.
on the other hand I might have a chance to buy it through my uncle who has a tires, and parts factory and he is able to withdraw something like 20% on taxes from buys like that.
as a beginner I think I preffer the easy/more expensive way. there is also a 1 year warranty and the avaibility of replacement parts.

[Uros Sovilj]

Hi

somtimes saying "don't have enough money to by cheap" did save me a lot of money so i can understand your wiew on matter. Best thing is to check all possibilities and then chose one that fulfill most of your wishes.BTW custom in Slovenia hold for duties all import with value more that 22 eur. You will find forwarding agents on every port or airport so just ask them for quotation.

[Bruno Piancatelli]

hello again.
yesterday I went to the capital to see the machine I mentioned before.
I saw it working, cutting MDF and they showed me some other stuff made with it: etched wine cups, fotos on wood, and metal plaques marked with the use of some product (similar to what you call Cermark I believe)
they looked fine to me.

they also showed me the 2 types of rotary devices they have for it, one is the convencional with the wheels for the objets to lay on top of them and there was this other device with "chucks" (looked much like this one http://www.uslasercorp.com/images/rotary02.jpg )

the guy told me that one of his clients who does exclusively glass cups engravings uses this one with some advantages.
such as being able to make 2 passes without the cup changing position, or the possibility of holding smaller lighter objects.
with the use of some rubber pads on the steps of the chucks to hold the cup firmly and without breaking it.

they both cost the same but im not sure which one I should go for.
have you guys used this one to have an opinion about it?

thanks !

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Bruno,

Welcome to SMC! I have the rotary device with the wheels from Epilog, and it works alright for me... but! From posts I've read I would get the one with the chucks if they are the same price. It seems there is a lot less slipping and it is easier to hold different objects in place with the chuck design.

cheers, dee

[David Fairfield]

Ditto what Dee said.

[Rodne Gold]

I bought both for my Shenui laser, the total cost for both was under $350 and at that price , it was a no brainer to get both. Problem is , I still have to try em out...
Personally , I think a rotary is a waste of time , we have 2 GCC ones and even tho we a busy shop with 8 lasers (well 6 now , 2 of my explorers are dead) we hardly EVER use em , really only good for wine glasses which are mostly a pain in the butt to engrave.
But if you have to get a rotary attachment , the lkathe type one is the better choice

[Bruno Piancatelli]

thanks all for the answers.
im still considering the whole thing and I will be doing some research on the shops and people that might want to use my service as a starting base of work.
but if I go for the rotary I know my choice now.
thanks!