100 watt laser - what is the best bang for the buck

[Ken Maxwell]

I have a 45 watts Epilog Helix and I'm thinking about going bigger. I would like to have at least 75 watts but 100 watt would be where I would like to get to. What is the best bang for my buck on a bigger laser? I have been looking around on the internet and I want some input from people who have them and are using different ones. The web sites don't share prices and I would also like cost comparisions if anyone has ballpark prices that would be great too. Thanks for any input I get.

[Craig Matheny]

Ken one thing to remember part of what you pay for is the customer service for life of the machine what is the price tag for that? You will see alot of people talk about the chinese lasers and they have some great stories but wait 4 years down the road when they need a part tommarrow and it is got to go via over seas and then via customs be ready to pay top dollar. You own an Epilog you know what I am talking about on the service side my opinion is buy state side.

[john banks]

Many of the parts in Chinese lasers are off the shelf items which are available locally (or equivalent substitutes) or can be anticipated and stocked.

I keep spare optics, bearings, belts, stepper motors, laser tube and power supply.

I don't keep spare 24V and 36V power supplies, stepper motor drivers (one failed and was replaced from China in 2 working days but this was not 4 years down the road as Craig points out), motherboard.

If you want English as a first language then technical support (if you need it - Chinese machines are simple) might be what you miss more than parts availability.

Our 100W machine is a fantastic hardwood cutter which is mainly what we wanted it for. With 3 or 4" lens and 29 PSI of air assist it cuts 1/2" hardwood at 1/3" per second with straight kerfs and hardly any clean up/sanding needed afterwards even with no masking. 1/5-1/4" hardwood cuts at 1/2-4/5" per second depending on density. 1/8" laser ply cuts at up to 2" per second. Price of the machine was $6000 to the manufacturer with spares, landed price was about 50% more including shipping/taxes//duty/fees etc.

Engraving quality is good quality (I would say almost as good as our Epilog demo) with a 2" lens in particular, but certainly slower than an Epilog and if you push the 100W tube on/off from to more than about 20-30% power at the fastest scan rates the steppers can handle (about 31.5" per second) on a sensitive material like slate or acrylic then the laser turns off with a little after-fire leaving a ragged edge, so you can't push on with the advantage in engraving speed you might hope for with a more powerful tube sometimes because the steppers and tube response time just aren't fast enough. My 100W RECI has now been superceded and the new one might be better, and users on here don't report this issue with the 80W which is still a good cutter.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Ken;
I'm sure you are gonna get a bunch of opinions on both sides of the mainstream vs Chinese laser controversy. I own three mainstream machines and one Chinese so believe I can at least be a bit more objective than some who own one or the other. Interesting- we got hit by a humungous lightning strike which entered the house via our internet/phone/cable modem-took out all the dvrs, cable and phone modem-one computer, a router, two flat panel tv's, a printer- and my GCC mercury and Shenhui laser mainboards among other stuff. The LPT and serial ports on the Mercury board were deamaged and the USB port on the Shenhui got hit.
Long story short-had an extra Shenhui mainboard-back up in one hour with most of the time spent moving the machine to get at the board. Also Skyped tech service at Shenhui, Paypaled them $240 plus $40 for air shipping band had another board in 36 hours.
After much dialog, got a new mainboard for the Mercury from a GCC source-took a week at cost of $975 plus $75 expedite fee.
To be honest, Shenhui support has been outstanding and GCC just OK-but quite a difference in price. Besides, echoing John's comments, Chinese machines are pretty simple to understand and repair and service has been great.
Bottom line- I don't see any more mainstream lasers in my future-much more bang for the buck with the Chinese machines and getting better daily.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Ken Maxwell]

So where do you buy or get a price of a Shenhui Laser?