I think I have it narrowed down...

[joe alcathie]

I would love to be able to swing a western machine but I just can't get the budget there. I am thinking now either Rabbit or Boss and probably leaning towards Boss. Any feedback that could help me make the final decision would be greatly appreciated. The Boss machine has a few more bells and whistles and they have a smaller machine that is really all that I need. Any recommendations on "must have" upgrades? I am thinking that the engravelab software and the 3000 chiller make a lot of sense... Most of my production will be engraving on wood.


Thanks in advance

Joe Alcathie

[Pete James]

I have never seen any negative comments about Ray Scott with Rabbit. I did not buy from Rabbit, but I now wish I had (who would have thought that a Hurricane in Las Vegas would blow away my vendor?). Ray has been very helpful to me regardless of the fact that I purchased my machine elsewhere. I would consider the service to be worth any small difference in price - go with Rabbit.

[Bert Kemp]

I just ordered one from Ray and they are so far very accommodating they've bent over backward to help me get a laser.
A couple things to take into consideration is the support, your location for another. think sxh for your laser. who are you closer to . The 3000 chiller in my opinion and I've never had one , but from what I read it does nothing more then keep your water at ambient temp, so I would think that your laser needs to be kept and operated in a fairly cool room. I've read that they run best with a constant temp somewhere around 62 to 70 f. If you live in a cool part of the country maybe a 3000 would be ok. Maybe some other people that have a 3000 can chime in on this.
As Far as engravelab is concerned I'm not totally sure what it does, if its just design software that you will use to design your projects and then transfer them to the laser I think you'll find most people here use coreldraw and you can get a lot of help here with that.

[Mike Null]

I wouldn't buy Engravlab again if it were half the price--make that 1/4 the price. If you do buy it, good luck on getting support.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
The 3000 "chiller" is nothing more than an overrated aquarium pump-recommend you stay away from it.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[joe alcathie]

If the 3000 chiller isn't any good what would you recommend?

Joe Alcathie

[Ken Shea]

Joe,
The 5000 series is a true chiller.

[David Somers]

Joe,

If you search in the Forum you will also find a number of recommendations to order the CW5200 rather than the CW5000 because of some corrosion issues caused by incompatible metals in contact in the CW5000. They are both actual chillers as Ken said above. Meaning they have a refrigerator system in them to actively cool the water.

There was also a thread about using a drinking water cooler unit as a chiller. I think the poster had used a Walmart purchased water cooler and ran his hoses into that. He seemed to feel it worked well and was cheap. Just FYI. Not sure if I trust that or not, but a chiller is a chiller.

Dave

[Kev Williams]

The 5000's use around 800w of electricity vs around 100 watts for the 3000. I have a 3000 chiller cooling my 80 watt tube, with a small window mounted swamp cooler aimed at it. Works like a charm, and keeps the garage cool. The swamp cooler uses about 170 watts I believe.

To be fair, I haven't done a LOT of constant cutting, but when I have, say 1/2 hour constant at full power, the water temp hasn't risen but only slightly.

[David Somers]

Kev,

Just for reference, where are you located? That might help Joe decide if it will work similarly for him?

Dave
PS....I noticed you don't show your location. If you would rather not say, perhaps you could give us an idea of your daily temps that you are experiencing.

[joe alcathie]

I am in Daphne Alabama, but was planning on using the unit in my home office and ducting out a window so the temperature in the house usually stays between 72 and 74 degrees

[Dan Hintz]

I am in Daphne Alabama, but was planning on using the unit in my home office and ducting out a window so the temperature in the house usually stays between 72 and 74 degrees

Just be aware, any air that goes out has to be made up by air coming back in from the outside... hot, damp air that you'll have to cool back down again.

[Dennis Watson]

I love my Rabbit that Ray installed.

If you dont have a way for air to enter that office it will be really ineffective. The blower that came with mine makes it hard to open the door if I dont have a window open..