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View Full Version : Noobie just bought a Rayjet 50 via crowdfunding!



Dan Kozakewycz
05-08-2014, 5:22 AM
Right, lets try this again, as it seems posting a link to a crowdfunding project still breaks the rules even if the project is completed.

So, no mention of what I make sadly, but I managed to raise enough money on Kickstarter by taking pre-orders of my products that I've managed to fund the purchase of my first laser, a Rayjet 50 from Trotec.

I visited the showroom in Guildford on Tuesday for a lengthy demonstration, including getting one of my sample pieces made on the next machine up, the Speedy 100. I was concerned initially that the Speedy would turn out to be the better machine and that I couldn't really stretch my budget to that, but fortunately for what I am doing, the benefits of JobControl, servo motors and more power were of no real advantage to me, so it turned out that the little Rayjet and it's RayJet Commander printer driver software was actually the perfect tool!

Negotiated a fantastic deal with Andrew and will be taking delivery in a few weeks, I know there's not much info here about the entry level system from Trotec so I'll be happy to document how I get on with it!

Andy did mention that I may well have been the first person to have purchased one of their machines via crowdfunding too. :D

Jiten Patel
05-08-2014, 5:37 AM
Andy is a good man! Very knowledgeable and a genuinely nice guy!

If you ever need to do larger pieces - I have a 400 which I would be happy to use if you want to outsource the large pieces. Max bed size is 1000mm x 608mm.

Dan Kozakewycz
05-08-2014, 6:25 AM
Thanks Jit, I may well take you up on that at some point, already had a few enquiries about larger pieces though after quoting a price, the customers didn't reply!

It was interesting to see that using less power resulted in a brighter mark on the anodised aluminium, the results created by the Rayjet were significantly better than the work I had created on the Speedy 500 previously, though Andy knew of the machine in question and thinks it has a 200w tube in it, considering we were only using 50% on the 30w Rayjet, the 500 was completely over the top for what am doing!

I had read previously on this forum that using higher power actually destroys the anodised layer revealing the metal underneath which is a dull silver colour, but using less power bleaches out the dye leaving the anodised layer bright white. The pieces done on the 500 do have a noticeable texture over the markings which is much less obvious on the samples done on the Rayjet so I guess that is what has happened here.

Jiten Patel
05-08-2014, 6:36 AM
200w is massive overkill for engraving. 80w is probably the most you want to go to to get decent results. 200w is a cutting machine.

That will happen all the time - customer wants the word, but cannot afford it. Don't get disheartened. We must get around 10 enquiries a day asking for the most lavish pieces we offer and when they get a quote, never hear back...but there are ways to convert them to order something else. They are obviously interested, so when you present prices for what they want, offer them smaller/cheaper alternatives and you may convert 20-50% of them.