New Trotec Speedy 300 80 watt in the shop

[Keith Outten]

Friday evening my new Trotec laser engraver was delivered. It was a bit late but I got it unloaded without a problem with the help of John Deere.

In the first picture you can see that it was not installed on the stand, this could be a problem for some because the machine weighs in the neighborhood of 700 pounds. The sun had already gone down so I had to wait for John Deere to wake up Saturday morning so he could help me lift the laser off the pallet while I installed the stand.

The second picture is obviously the new laser setting close to its new home in the shop. This one is way too large to make it through any of the personnel doors not to mention up the stairs to my shop office.

The third picture is a shot of the back wall of my shop from the left to right. The Trotec will share the same computer system I use to run my CAMaster Stinger II.

In the fourth picture you can see how I dialed in the speed and power settings to engrave Corian ADA signs. It took me six attempts to get the settings I need to get a perfect 0.032" deep engraving which is the depth necessary for braille and text for ADA work. The install time was just a few minutes, it went quick because it was just about ten days ago that I installed the same machine in the sign shop at CNU.

Sometime this morning I will start engraving the first door signs, I only have a few left to finish on my current project before I can start experimenting with other materials.

This is an incredible machine, I already know what to expect based on the time I have spent already with the CNU Speedy 300, the difference will be I have the opportunity to work with a wider variety of materials in my shop and to experiment with some new techniques. Eighty watts of power is a long way from my old 35 watt Epilog :)
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[Mike Null]

Keith

I'm already drooling. I can't believe you're putting that in the same room as all that dust making stuff you've got.

Congratulations and good luck with your new baby.

[Dee Gallo]

Wow and wow! And you are just the man to make the most out of it! Congrats on the new laser!

[Keith Outten]

Mike,

The Trotec tech rep told me that their machines will function perfectly in a shop as long as I keep the fans clean which means just a bit more maintenance over having the laser in an office. I plan to purchase a barbeque grill cover to keep on the machine when its not in use.

[Keith Outten]

Wow and wow! And you are just the man to make the most out of it! Congrats on the new laser!

Thanks Dee,

I changed my mind about purchasing a rotary attachment for the Trotec and ordered one a couple days ago. The reason for my change of heart is based on some of the pictures I saw when viewing the file attachments here that were uploaded in 2011. Aaron burned me a DVD with last years pictures so we can add it to our Creek Store. The engraving photographs included some stuff that is amazing, some of the rotary work gave me some ideas that might help me add some features to my signs in the future.
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[Bruce Volden]

Dear Keith,

Please don't kick me off the forum, but I must say---you suck! Not only is this gloat worthy but you had pictures to prove it...good for you.

Bruce

[Rodne Gold]

Congratulations on all your new toy Keith , always exciting to get something bright and shiney in the box that will increase production and productivity. Couple that with a "new beginning" in terms of workshop layout and so forth , it looks like 2012 is gonna be a busy year for you.

[TAMI WILSON]

what dust. Do you see any dust? My living room has more dust.


tami

[Braden Todd]

Congrats! Looks like a great addition and good call on the rotary, I couldn't survive without mine! I hope some day to get a Trotec, but still having a lot of troubles getting the quote :/

Congrats again, enjoy the new toy/tool.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Keith,
Please look at your laser's front panel and then look at this thread's title. I know you are probably 1/2 as excited as I was when I go mine, only because mine was my 1st and you have a few lasers already under your belt, but I think your fingers can't keep up with your thoughts.:confused:


Just kidding. Glad to see you have it up and running and look forward to hearing about your new adventures as you write your next chapter.

[Scott Shepherd]

Keith, I think you are going to hate this machine. I loved it the first week. Now I hate it. The darn thing is working me to death. Every time I get a spare minute, I hear "more please" in a Austrian accent coming from the machine. I am just astounded by the volume of work this thing will put out. I think I'm losing weight from running it...........or is it running me??????

[Roger Leiva]

Congratulations Keith Outten. Many success with your new machine. I decided on Epilog Helix 24, 60 watt and this is coming to my office - workshop.
Roger (CR)

[Keith Outten]

Oh Yeah!

This one is definitely a keeper :) I was engraving another batch of door signs for Saint Mary School yesterday and the time went from 16 minutes (on my Epilog Legend 35 watt machine) to just over 3 minutes per plaque . Steve is right on the money on this one it will work you continuously, there is barely enough time to edit the Corel Draw file and send it to the laser before it is time to change the sign blank.

Michael, I must have been typing without my glasses on......or maybe I was a bit more excited about the new laser than I realized. Thanks for pointing out my error, I made the correction :)

Bruce I am real proud of the new Trotec, when I contacted them initially I wasn't sure that I would be able to purchase one of their machines. Kinda like wanting to go to Disneyland but you are pretty sure the budget will limit you to the local theme park.

Tami, there are times when my shop becomes a dust bowl but I have to say that they are less frequent these days than in the past. I rarely ever use my table saw anymore so it hasn't contributed to dust in the shop lately but there is a panel saw just to the left of the Trotec that I use all the time to break down large sheets for the CNC Router and the laser engraver. The panel saw is a major contributor to dust in the shop and there isn't much you can do to collect the sawdust on this machine.

Braden if you need help contacting Trotec I can get the Sales Director to call you if you send me your phone number. If necessary I can get a quote for you if that would be helpful. When i was looking at the 2011 engraving pictures here I found some rotary work that absolutely convinced me that I needed the rotary attachment. I recently handed off a glass engraving job to Steve because I had already packed my Epilog in a shipping crate. I wouldn't have taken the job anyway because I stopped doing engraving work several years ago, I only engrave my own signs now. The rotary will be used to make some very special gifts for some very special people :)

Roger I know that you will be pleased with your new Epilog. A 60 watt machine can do some serious work, we have a 60 watt Xenetech at CNU in the sign shop that works hard all day long but it has a terrible print driver that makes me crazy. Welcome to The Creek, there are people here who are incredibly talented and generous with their time. One of them is Rodne Gold who volunteers his time here and shares his business expertise on a daily basis, I try not to miss reading any of his posts.

I have a couple more pictures that I will post later this evening that some of you might enjoy, these are taken of the Fruits of the Trotec's labor.
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[Jiten Patel]

Not jealous at all! Amazing machines to work with. If I had the budget, I would be getting one of those!!! Enjoy and I look forward to seeing what magic you can come up with using it.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks Keith. Feeew...Now I can get some sleep tonight knowing that the little "t" that could is where it belongs now.

[Gary Hair]

Braden if you need help contacting Trotec I can get the Sales Director to call you if you send me your phone number. If necessary I can get a quote for you if that would be helpful.

That's kind of a funny sales model - make it hard for new customers to contact you unless they happen to know the sales director... Makes you wonder how many sales they miss because someone doesn't know the secret handshake?

[Keith Outten]

The bottom line is all about the finished product.

In the picture below the first stack is blank plaques the second stack is plaques that have been engraved and the last is one that is complete. The insert in the finished door sign took only a few seconds to engrave with the new Trotec.

I like the new Trotec :)
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[Keith Outten]

That's kind of a funny sales model - make it hard for new customers to contact you unless they happen to know the sales director... Makes you wonder how many sales they miss because someone doesn't know the secret handshake?

Gary,

I'm not informed about the sales model but I got the magic phone number from Mike Null and it worked perfectly for me. I've received great service from the very first phone call to delivery of my machine.

The engineering involved in producing a Trotec is pretty impressive stuff. They are fast machines but that is not really the big news, you have to look under the hood to see the really good stuff.

The first time I called they only had one laser in their warehouse, I guess they sell them as fast as they get them in the door. I bought the one they had in stock for the sign shop at CNU and I had to wait in line to get mine.

The finished door sign in the picture above has less than 3.5 minutes of engraving time. Last week it took me almost 17 minutes each on my Epilog Legend including the time to engrave the insert. Laser engraving used to be the bottleneck in my door sign production schedule, now I can engrave door signs faster than I can cut the plaques on my router.

I'm grinnin like onto a possum :)
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