Dual head laser or not and what else to order?

[Bruce Dorworth]

I sold my old laser to my daughter and I am going to order a new one. I will be trying to buy some of the things I missed on my first purchase.

I did not get USB support on my first one, so I will correct that. I will also get the lcd panel display.

Will be getting the Reci laser tube plus an extra one. Is there different grades of Reci tubes???

Last and far from least is Dual Head... Is this option worth the extra money? I use this machine as a hobby and the extra speed is not a huge benifit. What other benifit it the dual head?

Any other extras I should get?????

Thanks for the help guys and gals. This forum invaluable to all the new laser out there. I would be lost without it....

Bruce

[Richard Rumancik]

Bruce, if you don't already "know" that you need a dual head, then I would suggest that you don't. The applications for dual head in my opinion are few and far between. It is meant for mass-production when you are making multiples of the same item and need the throughput. Even so, I question as to whether it ends up being a big time-saver. I can imagine lots of issues such as:

aligning two sets of optics instead of one
ensuring identical lenses in both paths (focal length must be exactly identical)
ensuring that the power delivered to the second set of optics is the same (true 50-50 split of power)
ensuring that the beam position of optic two is precisely located relative to beam 1 (required when using fixturing)

I cannot imagine an application for dual head for a hobby machine. Even in production shops I think the use is limited. Keep in mind that for vectoring you are splitting beam power in half for each head. In you are planning on an 80 watt this could be viable, but it probably does not make sense for lower power machines. (If you had a 40 watt and split it 20-20 then you are limited as to what could be cut. Yes, you can slow it down - but then what would be the point?)

I can imagine a lot of cases where the left side cuts and engraves fine and the right side is all rejects. In my opinion, dual head will enable you to ruin your material and parts twice as fast as a single head.

[Rich Harman]

Dual head will increase the mass of your X axis making for slower max acceleration, of course it also increases the y axis mass but that is not so consequential. Dual head will also decrease your working area by the separation between the heads. Unless you have a need for it, I would stick with the single tube.

Dual head can mean dual tube. One laser tube shoots left, the other to the right. They each have their own first, second and third mirrors. The Shenhui's (others too I am sure) software has separate settings for each tube. You can independently adjust the power. The main board has separate outputs to drive two laser power supplies.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Richard, I have to disagree bigtime-your basic premise is faulty. I had assumed Bruce is talking about a dual head machine-with two tubes-no beam splitting/power sharing/etc. I have a dual head two tube Shenhui and love it-can make two things in the same time-yea, two sets of optics to keep clean, but the extra 3 minutes a day has not really affected production. Can also use as a big bed single head machine by moving the heads together and resetting the table width in software-5 minute job and easy. True. the real benefit is in production jobs where you can double the thruput. yea- sometimes small differences between the tubes' power but easily adjusted in software.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Bruce Dorworth]

Thanks guys for the information. George, you new machine has the new RECI tubes correct? Is there different grades numbers or something? I think it has something to do with a series number.

Bruce

[Rodne Gold]

There is an alternative to RECI that I posted a little while back , ask em about these tubes . http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?185562-Alternative-glass-tube-supplier-RECI-and-conventional-cheapy-supplier

I would take the RECI for the main initial tubes and maybe buy the alternative with its PS as my backup tubes.

There is actually a trim pot on the motherboard that allows equalising power between 2 tubes.

If I were going for twin head , I would take a 1500 x 1200 machine configured to 2 x 1200 x 750 or a 1200 x 1500 (less headspace) if you wanted to run one beam. You also get built in redundancy with twin tubes. BUT if you not production oriented or do onesies and don't get a lot of high volume jobs , I think you are complicating life with a twin head ,you could most likely get a 1200 x 800/900 AND a 600x900 60/80w for the same price or just as LITTLE more. I would maybe get a potent tube on the bigger machine and use it for heavy duty engraving and cutting and use the smaller machine for more delicate work , that's the way I did it and it works out well , spares mostly will cover BOTH machines , so you need to only get one set (apart from belts and tube)

[George M. Perzel]

Bruce;
Not sure if these are NEW RECI tubes or not-have them for about 8 months. Checkout Rodne's suggestion-may be better as understand projected tube life is better.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Richard Rumancik]

. . . I have to disagree bigtime-your basic premise is faulty. I had assumed Bruce is talking about a dual head machine-with two tubes-no beam splitting/power sharing/etc. . . .

Well, I guess I haven't kept up to speed on the latest technology from China - I did not realize that the dual-head meant dual-tubes. I had in my mind the "non-China" kind of implementation where there are two carriages that share the same beam. So I guess it is a bit of a different situation where there are two independent systems running.

Having said that I don't think I would change my mind on my recommendations for Bruce or anyone else looking at dual head. I certainly can't see the need for dual head on a hobby machine regardless of implementation.


. . . BUT if you not production oriented or do onesies and don't get a lot of high volume jobs , I think you are complicating life with a twin head ,you could most likely get a 1200 x 800/900 AND a 600x900 60/80w for the same price or just as LITTLE more. . . .

I agree with Rodne that dual head can make life complicated . . if it was a hobby machine I think I would just buy one high power machine and if I wanted to turn it into a business later then I'd go for a second machine. Then at least I'd have a backup machine. Glad the dual-head worked for you, George, but I doubt it is the right solution for most members here (and I'd say it is even less favorable for the split-beam implementation of dual head of small NA and Eurpoean lasers). Keep in mind only a small fraction of laser users here have Chinese lasers.