Laser Ordered Now What?

[michael reimer]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to everyone here I ordered my new 80W Shenhui Laser this past week. I have a question for the users here. With the unit taking about 30 days or so to reach South Florida via container is there anything I can be doing to prepare for its arrival. I specified that the unit run on US Voltage, so I am thinking of running lines for that, vent lines, air line. Any tips or an I missing anything????? Any info would be appreciated. I also an kinda new to Corel Draw do will be doing some computer time to get up to speed on that as well.

Mike

[Bill Cunningham]

If you can drive your new laser with coreldraw, that's where you need the most training. I've been using corel since version 2 and hardly a week goes by where I don't say hmmmm I didn't know it would do that!.. All the rest is 'push the button'.. well almost!!

[Chuck Jarrett]

Mike, Spend the next 30 days getting as educated on Corel Draw as you can. Imagine some of the products you may be doing, and create those on Corel like you would be doing for a customer etc. There are some good videos on you tube that will help you. Best of luck with your machine.

Bill you are so right about "I didn't know it would do that"

[Roy Nielsen]

Congratulations!

Make sure you have a CO2 fire extinguisher on hand (and hope you never have to use it).

Start collecting scrap materials for testing. I often run new designs on cardboard, from 3-ply boxes to cereal boxes. Find suppliers for the materials/items you wish to use.

Be aware that at least some of the Chinese lasers can't use the latest versions of Corel Draw, at least not directly. You can find older versions for sale if that's what you need.

Have fun!!!

[Glen Monaghan]

I agree on the CO2 fire extinguisher, but I also suggest having a small kitchen spray bottle with about a cup or so of water in it. I've had two small fires when cutting finely detailed designs in acrylic which gave me the unwanted opportunity to verify my previous tests that indicated a couple of squirts of water should readily extinguish small acrylic fires. In the worst case, it appears that about 4 square inches were burning before I notice the bubbling of the acrylic and was able to react (when acrylic burns, the flames can be very hard to see) and the fire was out with 3 or 4 squirts in a second or two.

The spray bottle is about the size of a coffee cup and sits on the stand at the bottom front corner of the laser, immediately at hand. The considerably larger (and more expensive to use) CO2 unit is an arm's length away and would take a bit longer to grab, pull the pin, heft into place, grab the nozzle, aim, and squeeze, but is there in case it becomes obvious that a couple of squirts from the bottle won't do the trick.

The spray bottle is also convenient for the occasional job that benefits from moistening application tape and such.

[michael reimer]

Guys,

Thank you very much for the ideas. Here is the plan then:

1. Collect stuff for testing / playing around with.

2. Acquire a C02 extinguisher. THANK YOU!!!!!!

3. Water bottle for small flare ups.

4. I am on a Mac so buy a PC to run Corel Draw???? Can I run what I need on parallels?

Mike

[George M. Perzel]

Michael;
Congrats on your purchase.
Do not assume because they said they would wire it for US Power that it will be so. Most likely not. They may send a bulky 110 to 220vac transformer which will be two wire-very nice boat anchor. The system will not be totally grounded. Be prepared to drive a separate ground rod. Be prepared to manually ground every metal part of the laser. Cases are made in parts, separately painted, and then bolted together-paint prevents good ground between caseparts. Ground metal parts of water flow sensor. Ground case of power supply.
Get distilled water and propylene glycol for chiller. Mix 4 to 1 and add some color food dye to water to make flow visible-also nice in laser tube when lit. Get good accurate digital level and prepare to level table. Do NOT touch the mirrors-they should be aligned from factory. Adjust only if necessary.
Do NOT touch leveling screws on laser tube holders-only later if any alignment problems.
Cycle Z axis up and down to limits and insure smooth travel all the way and cutoff at limits.
Use small good quality airbrush compressor-adjustable output iff possibe. Do not use normal air compressor. Use in- line water trap/filter.
Fire preventive ideas from guys are all good-as careful as you think you are-it will happen.
Get a separate vac/dust collector to keep laser clean and keep it closeby-separate from exhaust system.
Setup plastic box to identify and store spare lenses and mirrors.
Other than that-have fun and good luck.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Mike Troncalli]

Guys,

Thank you very much for the ideas. Here is the plan then:

1. Collect stuff for testing / playing around with.

2. Acquire a C02 extinguisher. THANK YOU!!!!!!

3. Water bottle for small flare ups.

4. I am on a Mac so buy a PC to run Corel Draw???? Can I run what I need on parallels?

Mike

A Mac running parallels will work.. BUT... I am not sure if Corel is fully compatible with Windows 8 (somebody correct me if I am wrong please)So if you have or can get Windows 7 you will be better off. If your Mac is your main computer running email, and any other programs you might want to think about getting a dedicated PC for your laser.

My setup is a Mac for my main business programs, etc.. A dedicated PC that just has Corel Draw and Laser software installed. I use Dropbox on both computers as I sometimes do my drawing on my mac instead of the smaller screen on the laser computer.

[Rodne Gold]

Be careful with Corel and the shenui , it is not a what you see is what you get system and doesnt quite work the same was as on those lasers that drive straight out of Corel.
If you are starting new on a design package , for the shenui I would use Adobe illustrator
RDCAM , the driver that comes with the Shenui , converts to an AI format and imports that.
Watch out for lines with thickness , shenhui will not engrave them with thickness.

[Alexa Ristow]

Congrats...Start sourcing a supplier list for consumables and substrates. Think acrylic, MDF, beermat, Cardstock, thin ply, transfer tape. think tools such as craft knives, scissors. Long metal rulers, scrapers, tweezers. think of DNA, acetone, crud cutters. Think of shelving systems for storing sheets of substrates. Spend time downloading sample projects for playing with. Regards, Norman and Alexa.

[Khalid Nazim]

I would just add just couple of points to everything said earlier:

If you are using Corel as your drawing package, then export out a DXF of your design and then import in RDCAM. This is the way I have been using the machine since last 2 years and has worked for me in all situations.
If you are using AI as your drawing package, then make sure that you save your file as AI ver 8.0 - RDCAM will only accept this version or below

Finally, please feel free to reach out to us anytime you need assistance. The first few weeks will be a roller coaster ride....enjoy And CONGRATULATIONS... you are going to love having this new member for your family :)

Regards
Khalid

[Joe Hillmann]

You need an exhaust blower and you need to get it all hooked up and vented outside.

Get a couple rolls of blue painters tape. When you are working on a new job you can cover it with blue tape and engrave at a very low power and the laser will just bleach the color out of the tape so you can make sure everything is aligned. Once everything looks like it is in the right place you can peal the tape off and engrave or just turn the power up and engrave right through the tape.

Does you laser have air assist? Will it be coming with it's own compressor? You may need or want an air compressor.

Learn what ever drawing program you will be using. There are lots of videos on youtube that show how to use CorelDraw. Engraving concepts 1 has lots of good videos.

Have lots of items to engrave on to practice.

[Frank barry]

Hi I do think any spare time you have should be spent doing you somedesign work as there is more to it than you may think also an older version ofdesign software may work better and be cheaper
Good luck with your laser
Frank

[michael reimer]

Thank you all again for the help.

1. I asume......... that the Shenhui comes with both the exhaust blower (if not no big deal).

2. I also assume that the Shenhui comes wight he air assist. I have shop air where this is going so I will plumb it in direct.

3. Power, George mentioned that they are using a transformer. Is there a way that I eliminate that? Can I run 220Volt? Can it be 110Volt?

4. I am pretty good with the adobe creative suite so the software stuff should not be that hard for me. I do a lot if graphic design so I am hopeful that this won't be too bad.

5. I will start stockpiling on stuff to engrave.

6. I recently attended the SGIA sign show in Orlando and I am all set with the suppliers. There were so many there that sold so much of that stuff I am overloaded.

THANK U!!!

Mike

[AL Ursich]

I don't want to create any hard feelings but I had a question about adding a Ground Rod for the Laser. I have heard that before but the Electronic/Electrical guy in me wondered about Ground Loop?

I had always thought that the best ground was to tie into the home or shop electrical ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)

In my Sony days making picture tubes I saw first hand a new equipment from Japan Ground Loop problem where the metal case of the equipment was a few volts above the building power ground. It had caused a problem with the Automation, the network connection for the Programmable Logic Controllers. PLC.

Good Luck with your new laser.

This picture was posted a few weeks ago. The Lacking of the Ground Wire on the 220 volt power strip. Invite a Qualified Electrician to look over the Electrical. 220 Volts can KILL you....

AL

[Dan Hintz]

But Al, at least they didn't expect you to cut off the grounding lug on your cord. :D

[michael reimer]

Got an email from Shenhui today. They are saying they are having trouble with the machine. They told me that the up / down only goes 25mm. Not sure really what to do. I guess I will require detailed pictures before it is shipped. And make sure they did not put a band aid on the machine. Any other thoughts from the pros here?

Mike

[Joe Hillmann]

1. I asume......... that the Shenhui comes with both the exhaust blower (if not no big deal).




Even if it comes with a blower you still need to plumb it in so it exhausts the gasses outside or through a filter. And you need to get electric to it.

[Mark Sipes]

Why would the manufacture tell me that the machine they are building is not working to specs even before they send it ????...

[michael reimer]

I was thinking the same thing. I appreciate the fact that they at least told me. Now I guess I can ask for some video of the unit working prior to shipping. Not sure of the cause. Here is what he sent me this morning.......

there is some thing wrong with the up&down ,it is 25cm ,so we changed one ,so maybe delay

I ask the worker make a new and right again.

It is because of the size of up&down ,not the motor.


I will do my best to offer the best machine to you .

[Kevin Groenke]

We have "First Alert" "Tundra" (http://www.firstalert.com/fire-extinguishing/tundra-spray/tundra-fire-extinguishing-spray/TUNDRA) extinguishers at each of our laser cutters. They've been used all too often (2x just last week!) but they do work and they leave much less of a mess in the laser than an ABC extinguisher. (a slightly sticky residue, that readily wipes off with warm water.)


http://youtu.be/IBfo-MoeFpg?t=31s



If they will ship a machine that is knowingly disfuntional, I would start looking for a different vendor. I've always been leary of "chinese lasers", this basically confirms speculation and anecdotes that I've read. If the table doesn't move throughout it's designed z range, there is something wrong with it. This problem will get worse over time, not better, DO NOT LET THEM SHIP THAT MACHINE TO YOU!

CorelDraw is not the only fish in the sea. It seems widely used in the awards/engraving field, but Illustrator will do everything Corel will. We laser cut out of Rhino and AutoCad more than any other applications (also Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, etc...) I would imagine you can also run a laser out of Inkscape, or similar. If you don't already own/use CorelDraw, don't discount tools that you're already using. I've laser cut right out of Microsoft Word.

[George M. Perzel]

Michael;
There are many ways around the power issue once you know what you have-will have to wait unfortunately . Do not uswe "shop air" unless you have a separate regulator/filter/water trap-much easier to have a small controllable air brush compressor.
Your questions give me the feeling that you have not read every thread on this forum related to Shenhui and Chinese lasers. Do it and then read them again. Rodne alone has provided a ton of information/suggestions/tips on the Shenhui as has Dave Sheldrake and Jon Banks. I don't buy it that they can only get your machine to go 25mm on the Z axis. They are not that dumb-something else is going on, perhaps waiting for the tube or some part.
One other thing-get a set of metric Allen sockets to fit a 1/4 or 3/8 drive socket set-also a set of metric taps would be useful.
Best Regards,Ge
orge
Laserarts

[George M. Perzel]

Michael;
Al is right-best way is to have a fully grounded system connected to a unified system power ground. I am, however, not convinced that many homes have adequate ground systems to start with. A while ago our cable TV/internet/phone provider went through our system and installed new grounds from their equipment to our home electrical ground point after an electrical strike on the cable blew two cable receivers and a mess of TV's , laser motherboards, computers, modems, etc- all in all about $4500 worth of stuff.
The two wire 220vac power strip shown in Al's photo is very common and in wide use in China-they don't have grounds as we know them in many places and who knows how many unexplained deaths over there are blamed on "unknown causes". That's why you have to go thru the whole system and insure all surface metal points and signal grounds are physically linked together.
An example-the Shenhui has a water flow monitor switch which sends a closed-switch signal to the control board when the water is flowing from the chiller to the tube. The body of this sensor is metal (bronze). If it is not grounded, it may allow the laser to fire constanly when the LASER button is pushed, even momentarily. Normally it should fire when pushed but cease when released.
Jia you
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[David Somers]

George,

Just a thought. When we first moved in our house 2 years ago I had some 220V circuits put in, and since I was donating a kidney to pay for the electrician anyway I also had him install a whole house surge suppressor (not expensive) and also check our grounding. It is a relatively new house, but I figured he was here, so just make sure things were OK. I still use separate suppressors on anything that is expensive, but figure this will help protect my lathe and fridge and stove and what not as well.

When I lived and worked at Crater Lake National Park we had a snow plow operator who got a bit over zealous cleaning up a parking lot after a prolonged bout of heavy snow. He was using a front end loader to break up some ice and one section really proved stubborn. He finally really reefed on it and got it loose, only to find it was actually the concrete base of the power company's 3 phase primary vault serving our small community. it had not been marked with snow poles to warn the snow plow folks it was there. Ooops! Aside from actually melting the copper bus bars completely, it sent a surge of power through our houses (25 of us lived there) that actually blew up tungsten light bulbs along with TV's and Fridge motors, etc. Even melted the windings on one of the motors on my salt water aquarium. I was impressed. The park installed whole house surge suppressors after that, and when it happened again (different operator...same vault....power company was some kind of pissed!) nothing happened in the houses other than losing our power for a while until the vault was replaced. Sold me on those units.

Cheers!

Dave

[Rodne Gold]

I wouldn't be worried about the Z-motor thing , at least they are communicating with you re a delay and are putting the build through its paces (some QC at least)

We had problems initially with the machine doing all sorts of unexpected things , like the laser firing by itself. Tech support said it was a grounding issue , I was sceptical but drove a copper pipe into the ground near the machines and grounded all components (not just the ground bolt provided) to it , and the machine behaved.
Our factory is pretty old and the wiring is a rats nest - could be that our normal ground wasnt that good...

[michael reimer]

George,

I have read each and every thread here before I even thought of buying one of these machines. I also took a trip to Orlando for the SGIA Show to speak with manufacturers and suppliers or raw materials. I just like to get feedback from those who have been there don that kinda thing. As far as the ground, this machine will be located in one of my warehouses. We already have shop air there, and will run a separate feed with drain and valve. In addition I was thinking we would group the machine to a large I Beam that is part of the structure.

Rodne, thank you for the comments, I think you are correct these guys would not risk sending a machine out the door with only 25mm of travel. The think I am oping is it just doe snot get a band aid type fix and is down the correct way.

Mike

PS Thank you all again for the feedback. One day I may be able to help others.

[Patrick Fallacaro]

Hi Mike, Good luck if you dont mind me asking what will you be doing with the new Laser i am down in PSL Fl. if you have any ??s please feel free to ask

Pat

[michael reimer]

Guys,

I wanted to give you an update. Shenhui emailed me today and are making a brand new case for the laser. They are planing on shipping next week. Sounds like a reasonable fix to me.

Patrick, we are doing reversed laser engraved switch panels for boats and related fishing type stuff such as reels.

Mike

[John Bion]

Hi Mike,
One of the irks of my laser life is that the Z on my machines are belt driven as opposed to chain. Since they are working on this on your machine at present, perhaps you may like to check what system they are using and try specify chains. Beds going out of level is somewhat annoying.
Kind Regards,
John

[michael reimer]

Not sure who told me here but I specified chain instead of belts. Thanks for the suggestion for sure.

Mike

[George M. Perzel]

Yep- making a new case will always fix the Z axis issue....................................????????? ???????????????
Will bet three grandchildren something else was the issue.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[michael reimer]

George

What makes you say that? They are saying the cabinet was the cause if the issue. Is that not possible?

Mike

[Dave Sheldrake]

Yup it is possible Mike but very unusual, if the bottom bearing mounts on the Z screws are out of line the tables will jam as they move. (It would be like moving a fixed series of holes over a gradually widening set of supports) The "Ball screws" used in Chinese lasers are very rarely ball screws as such, they tend to be ACME threads that do have some play but not enough to deal with a miss-aligned cabinet. In the screw support has been punched incorrectly it's not one of those "fixable" things without swapping out entire sheets or sections.

Quality wise Chinese companies tend to throw very little away, anything that can be fixed, IS usually fixed and on occasion not to a very high standard. That said if Shen's are swapping out the cabinet hence the delay I wouldn't be too worried about it. The machine cabinet or chassis is likely the cheapest large component so replacing that will have limited bought in financial impact on them so I would have no concerns about them being happy to do it.

cheers

Dave

[George M. Perzel]

Mike;
CMON MAN!! Let me put it this way:
1. They have made many of these cabinets
2. Throw one away? Sooner give up their firstborn
3. There are no grinders or shims in China
4. Their only level is on loan to the guys building the bridge down the street
Mike-pardon my sarcasm and cynical nature. As Dave said, I wouldn't worry about it but will bet a barrel of kaolin that a rush job or something similar got your cabinet.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[michael reimer]

Dave, thank you for the explanation. I got it.

George, you crack me up.

Mike

[Dave Sheldrake]

I wouldn't worry about it but will bet a barrel of kaolin that a rush job or something similar got your cabinet.

That kinda got my vote as well ;)

cheers

Dave

[Rich Harman]

One of the irks of my laser life is that the Z on my machines are belt driven as opposed to chain. Since they are working on this on your machine at present, perhaps you may like to check what system they are using and try specify chains. Beds going out of level is somewhat annoying.

I have nothing against chains but I must say that I have not had any problems with my belt drive table which gets used many times a day. When leveling the table* I loosen the motor mount slightly to slacken the belt, then use pliers to turn the jackscrew by hand - forcing the pulley to skip teeth on the belt. I can't get the belt to slip without loosening it, I wish I could because it is a pain to loosen the motor mount and then retighten it. Not sure how I would go about leveling the table with chains - it would be awfully hard to turn the sprocket without removing the chain. With a belt I can be sure that the other three jackscrews are held in place while turning the fourth.

* I just did this recently, not because the table drifted out of level but because I didn't get it perfect the first time - I had been using a shim under the near right corner, which worked fine but I finally decided to do away with it.

[Dave Sheldrake]

to turn the sprocket without removing the chain.

Hi Rich,

You don't, you unlock the sprocket then rotate the threaded shaft until the table is level then re-tighten the sprocket. It keeps the chain tension correct (although many machines have spring tensioners). Jumping teeth or sprocket teeth will only move the screw by a division equal to the sprocket/belt pitch. Usually only has to be done once but worth the extra work. Some screws have a flat on the shaft for the cap screw to sit in that can make it awkward so that can be a pain.

cheers

Dave

[Rodne Gold]

The chinese will lose major face if they have to tell you your machine wasn't ready in time , so will invent an excuse.
Never had an issue with the blet drives or the tables on my almost 3 yr old Shenui's
Im sure the machine you get will work well.

[michael reimer]

Rodne,

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated. I am sure they will deliver a product that will work fine as well. Let me ask you a question. It seems like you speak to them pretty often. Is there a way to give them feedback on what you guys like and the shortfalls of the machines? If we do this the right way in the future everyone will get a better product and still have a price tag that is reasonable. Is this not possible? I was thinking some type of a formal user committee.

Mike

[Dan Hintz]

The chinese will lose major face if they have to tell you your machine wasn't ready in time , so will invent an excuse.

Yeah, funny that... "I'd lose face if an item is late, but it's perfectly acceptable to lie about it. You don't lose face by lying." :rolleyes:

[michael reimer]

Dan

I sent you a PM. Let me know if u get it.

Mike

[George M. Perzel]

Michael;
Great idea and very logical. However, Rodne and I and many others have been making suggestions to them for at least three years. How many have been implemented is unknown as any acknowledgment implies they didn't do it correctly to begin with and carries with a extreme loss of face. To start with, the best you can do is insist they furnish you a checklist verifying all items are in the shipping box plus pics if you can and ask the salesman who you are dealing with to personally verify contents. Will PM you with another suggestion.
Good Luck
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Frank barry]

Hi just my 2cents worth
When I ordered my laser from them I was very clear as towhat I wanted and any suggestions I had they were more than happy to discusswith me and implement at a cost of course
They supplied me with pictures of the machine being packedand put on the truck for shipping (none of which I asked for) they had todispatch the machine before they had some extra lenses I had ordered (as I hadspace booked in a container and need the laser to get to the port in time ) andmailed me to tell me the lenses arrived 2 hours after the machine went I had noproblem with this as they could include them with the paper work but they werevery disappointed not to have them go with the machine
When my laser came they were in contact with me to be sureeverything was ok and I was happy with it and every few weeks I get a mail tocheck everything is ok and I am happy with my laser
To me that is customer service at its best
Good luck with your laser
Frank

[michael reimer]

Thank you all of the help and positive suggestions that I will use for sure. I started a stockpile of stuff to engrave / manufacture already. LOL

[Rodne Gold]

I have suggested to them to offer a "westernised" version of their machines using premium parts at a higher cost. They are petrified of increasing pricing and losing sales to other company's despite me telling them that it would not be the case.
The biggie in what they should , but do not offer , is a WYSIWG driver for Coreldraw (and perhaps a better manual)

Not sure they have a the capability of writing one , the control boards are outsourced and thus the software that comes with it is not in their hands.
They do implement any changes needed and do not do the "lowest bidder" thing with respect of sourcing.

The service , even almost 3 years on I get in respect of stuff I need like a tube and some lenses etc is legendary. Better and faster than local suppliers.
The tech guy I dealt with , Yarde feng , has moved on to a new mnfgr , he recons his lasers are even better as he has implemented some changes.
I know for a fact he has helped those with shenhui's that know him with any machine issues or software stuff , despite him no longer working there.

At any rate , my machines have come thru our "season" , 3 months where all hell breaks loose here and turnover triple's , with total reliability and sterling work
The load on these machines is serious at this time , 10-12 hour continuous operation , 6 days a week in a pretty abusive environment , minimal maintenance and being operated by less than technical staff.

We do not really treat a laser at this price as an investment , rather a consumable. I would have been quite happy to get 2 years production out of them and then dump them if they proved costly .. but this is not the case and all indications are that I will still get a good few years out of them.
I have yet to use any of the bigger spares I bought , I have used one 60w tube and many lenses. That's about it,

The lasers do what they say on the tin , no , they aren't as good as the best western machines and require a few workarounds and ergonomically they may be compromised a little , but the low cost and simple systems and ease of diagnosing problems and repair more than compensate.

[michael reimer]

Rodne,

I would defiantly pay more for a little better machine. Software interface would be number 1 for me. I would pay quite a few thousand more for better components..... Just my 2 cents worth and koine is not even here yet. I am with you I am looking at this machine as a consumable. I want to work it to pay for itself and then get another.....

[Rich Harman]

Hi Rich,

You don't, you unlock the sprocket then rotate the threaded shaft until the table is level then re-tighten the sprocket.

If they attach the sprocket in the same manner as the pulley, that won't work. It is bolted through, meaning only two possible orientations of the pulley to the shaft.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Engravelab came out with some sort of program/driver for Leetro run Chinese lasers. Can't tell you anything more than that but it might be worth looking at.

If it isn't WYSIWYG, I probably wouldn't buy it.

[michael reimer]

Received news that laser was close to being shipped. Let them know that I needed pictures of everything that was going to be shipped before it was shipped out (thank you guys who PM me). They said no problem. I have to tell you they are very easy to deal with.

They also sent me a picture with the up / down issue fixed. It now does 50 cm up / Down.

http://i1296.photobucket.com/albums/ag18/safety2589/Laser_zpsb55309fb.jpg (http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/safety2589/media/Laser_zpsb55309fb.jpg.html)

[Bill George]

I don't want to create any hard feelings but I had a question about adding a Ground Rod for the Laser. I have heard that before but the Electronic/Electrical guy in me wondered about Ground Loop?

I had always thought that the best ground was to tie into the home or shop electrical ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_loop_(electricity)

In my Sony days making picture tubes I saw first hand a new equipment from Japan Ground Loop problem where the metal case of the equipment was a few volts above the building power ground. It had caused a problem with the Automation, the network connection for the Programmable Logic Controllers. PLC.

Good Luck with your new laser.

This picture was posted a few weeks ago. The Lacking of the Ground Wire on the 220 volt power strip. Invite a Qualified Electrician to look over the Electrical. 220 Volts can KILL you....

AL

Yes I know this is a OLD thread but came across with a Search. If the machine is not grounded and it appears its not in the information I've read the Chinese assume you can just go outside and drive a ground rod next to the barn or shed to connect to the machine. In the US that's not really the way it is, all ground rods driven must be bonded together and back to the main power panel to the Green equipment grounding bar. All the building grounds come from that source. To not have a ground wire to the machine from that source is not legal in any NEC area nor is it safe.

[John Calhoun]

All the suggestions here are good.

I would make sure you have everything you need regarding import. Make sure all the import paperwork is complete so you don't have hassles once it arrives in port.

As a Mac guy as well, I've tried Illustrator, Omni Graffle, iDraw, and Sketch — all on the Mac. Using the last three, I export the work as PDF and bring into Illustrator — from there export as Illustrator 8 as has been said above. This imports into LaswerWorks software for the Shenhui.

I should have mentioned that I do have an old PC running the Shenhui. DropBox running on all my platforms makes it easy to move the finished files over to be lasered.

[Bill Reibelt]

I am running Windows 8 with Corel X6 it is doing fine. If you have to load other programs, Apps you may have to allow the system to accept certified programs for the printer. Found out this when I tried to load the printer drivers for my Vinyl cutter with Windows 8. Lots of luck. Best to go for the best that you can afford when buying materials or equipment. Have fun.