Good low cost 2015 Laser Engraver?

[Antonio Robbins]

As many others I'm looking to get a laser engraver and like them I don't have much in the way of funding to afford a big name brand.
To start I used a Universal Laser System engraver about 8(?) years ago and loved the simplicity of the interface. I am also proficient with CorelDraw.

Currently I'm looking at one of the $500 USD Chinese lasers with the new control panel and limiter switch that, supposedly, works better with CorelDraw through CorelLaser output and LaserDRW. Most of what I hear about these types are on the older version (Which, by what I understand, has a different control board on them, not just a new control panel.)
Does anyone have one of these to be able to give some info on how well they work?

Beyond the above Chinese brand what is the best available, lowest cost Laser Engraver on the market?
(My budget is "How long can I survive on Ramon Noodles.")


Thanks for any info available!

[Chuck Stone]

Not to be snarky, but do you want 'good' or 'low cost' ?
I don't think you can get both.. you'll need to settle, somewhere.

Look at it this way .. if someone offered you a brand new car for 97% off,
you would expect some really REALLY important parts to be missing.

Lasers are no different.

[Antonio Robbins]

I know.
Perhaps I should have said "better than this Chinese laser"?

I would absolutely LOVE to get my hands on a ULS Laser Engraver but there's no way I can afford one at this time, so I'm looking to see what options are out there that I CAN afford. I thought there were some non-Chinese brands in the $1k-$2k range but can't find them or what brand they are.


The main thing I'm wanting to use this for is cutting/engraving acrylic and wood sheets so I don't need a powerhouse.

[Gary Hair]

I thought there were some non-Chinese brands in the $1k-$2k range but can't find them or what brand they are.

I don't think that there is anything less than $10k-$15k that isn't Chinese, let alone $1-$2. To be brutally honest, for less than $1,000 you will be lucky to find one that will take a bit longer to turn into a doorstop.

[Mike Troncalli]

To get anything even remotely considered decent your going to spend around 3 - 5k..

I don't think I could put it any better than what Gary Hair said. "To be brutally honest, for less than $1,000 you will be lucky to find one that will take a bit longer to turn into a doorstop."

[Roy Sanders]

Hi Antonio

I was in the same situation and I was afraid of the eBay laser engravers. They offer them for a low cost and FREE shipping. Common sense, to me, indicated that the machine would be deficient; I am more hobbiest than business. So I began researching. After a couple of months of chasing leads and responses from various representatives, who can be quite persistent, I settled on the Nice-Cut.

If you are a business that will be using this machine 8 hours a day/12 days a week, as many of the members of this forum then I cannot say if my laser is soon to be a door stop.

If on the other hand, you will be using this as a smaller part of the business, or hobby I can offer this machine. Now your money responses are important because you are not prepared to pay the import fees. I spent 1900 for the complete journey. $950 for the laser and $800 for the shipping. Then there was a small cost to get it out of customs.

I am well aware that my numbers are bigger than yours. Have you considered a Kickstarter campaign to offset your cost? If you use the machine to make product then you have something to award contributions.

Goodluck
Roy

[Bill George]

As many others I'm looking to get a laser engraver and like them I don't have much in the way of funding to afford a big name brand.
To start I used a Universal Laser System engraver about 8(?) years ago and loved the simplicity of the interface. I am also proficient with CorelDraw.

Currently I'm looking at one of the $500 USD Chinese lasers with the new control panel and limiter switch that, supposedly, works better with CorelDraw through CorelLaser output and LaserDRW. Most of what I hear about these types are on the older version (Which, by what I understand, has a different control board on them, not just a new control panel.)
Does anyone have one of these to be able to give some info on how well they work?

Beyond the above Chinese brand what is the best available, lowest cost Laser Engraver on the market?
(My budget is "How long can I survive on Ramon Noodles.")

Thanks for any info available!

You have received some very good advice. We had another "new" user just pop in here with lots of questions about his eBay $500 laser. We were not much help. It even came with a pirated version of Corel Draw that the Chinese seem to include with every eBay laser. It had a working area of 12x8 inches and used MosiDraw and NewlyDraw for software drivers and not one word of documentation in English.
There are some really decent Chinese lasers, but they start at about $3000 USD. I had one and it served me well. But to purchase one of those $500 machines and then expect people here to help you out with even the basics is asking a lot.

I sold mine on here and it was also listed on the local Craigslist. You might even find a Epilog, ULS or Trotec used at a decent price. That way if its local you can see it running before you buy, which is very important.

If you truly think you have a money making business lined up, then credit cards can be used to help finance.

[Dave Sheldrake]

There is a Weike/Shenhui 3040 series that runs Lasercut on HiWin rails at around $1,600 (Plus the usual import fee's etc)

The cheap machines (and in some cases expensive machines) that use roller rails and LaserDraw/NewleySeal/LaserSeal/CorelLaser etc etc are junk...sorry to be brutally honest but they are. I understand that people can't always rush out and chuck money at a machine but there is a baseline that it is unwise to go below else you risk spending more time swearing at the machine rather than using it.

[Keith Winter]

I don't think that there is anything less than $10k-$15k that isn't Chinese, let alone $1-$2. To be brutally honest, for less than $1,000 you will be lucky to find one that will take a bit longer to turn into a doorstop.

Gary said it perfectly. Agreed.

[Chuck Stone]

I think you'd do well to watch the used market. Every month I see a few systems on
CraigsList and some pretty decent prices. If you can get info from the manufacturer
based on the serial number and find out what kind of issues it may have had, you
can make a more informed decision about buying. But you can probably get a lot more
machine for your money that way.

Keep in mind that after you spend the $500 for the Ebay machine, you'll likely spend
at least twice that much more trying to make it do things you want it to do.

The best thing I can think of is to find someone near you who has that machine and
go see it. Talk to the owner. (but keep in mind that they spent good money on it.. they
really WANT to like their machine) See if you can spend some time in another shop that
has other brands. Doesn't have to be US machines, but at least a machine with a decent
bed size and some metal in the cabinet. Check things like the carriage rails, the sheet
metal the cabinet is made of, the laser bed, the lens housing, fans, air supply etc.. not that
you need to have the same things, but that you can see what kind of thought went into
the process of designing a 'good' machine. Then look at the Ebay machine again.

I think you'll come to the conclusion that the manufacturer used the least amount of
material they could legally get away with and still be able to call it a laser. That's really
not something you want to put money into unless you can afford to lose it.

I view that laser the same way I view the "X-Ray Specs" in the back of the comic books.
Granted, I'm biased and I got spoiled by the deal I got for my machine. (also asian import)
But some hands-on time couldn't hurt. And then if you still decide to buy that machine, at
least you will do so having done some research and have a better idea of the limitations
you'll need to work with.

[Bill George]

Actually that GWeike Storm 500 I had was pretty decent and worked great when a true 40 watt tube was installed. I think I had $2800 or perhaps a bit more invested.

[Junior hall]

Try Bosslaser they have some real nice ones cheap As you can get the cheapest smallest one and do good with it . I got a 1620 and it is serving me well. I am still learning the software as i know how to cut and engrave and use the rotary But with the software engravelab it has all kinds of things such a making a picture look like it is in motion and all kinds of other things.

Try bosslaser they are out of Florida very helpful tech support

[Scott Marquez]

I recently purchased my first laser and went the Chinese route through an American supplier, the machine was delivered, set up and tuned up. I was also given training on the software, which is very important if you want to hit the ground running. From the research I have done, the supplied software is not nearly as easy to navigate as the big named brands, but with a little but of training I have no problems bringing a project in, resizing it, making multiple copies and making cuts.
Looking at a "low budget" Chinese machine is big mistake, because besides getting a POS machine with no support, you will have to learn the software in Chinese, there are some "off brands" out there on these low dollar machines, not generally Lasercut, from some of the YouTube Rants I've seen.
I would suggest working on your designs with Corel Draw then finding a Makerspace with a Laser to burn your designs out. When you do that you will have interactions with people that are familiar with lasers, and can give you more advice based on the products that you are cutting.
Scott

[William Adams]

Are kits / DIY such as the Lasersaur or Buildlog.net 2.x Laser kit an option?

[Bill George]

Are kits / DIY such as the Lasersaur or Buildlog.net 2.x Laser kit an option?
I was going to build my own Spring of 2014, had gathered a lot of the needed materials and started adding up the price of what I had yet to buy.... It was darn close to $3K. I started reading on this Forum and learning a lot. I decided to stop and either return or sell off what I already had purchased. Short answer, its cheaper to buy a decent Chinese machine or used ULS, Epilog or Trotec .

[Clark Pace]

I was going to build my own Spring of 2014, had gathered a lot of the needed materials and started adding up the price of what I had yet to buy.... It was darn close to $3K. I started reading on this Forum and learning a lot. I decided to stop and either return or sell off what I already had purchased. Short answer, its cheaper to buy a decent Chinese machine or used ULS, Epilog or Trotec .
e lase
My first china laser was a cheap ebay one. At the time around $800.00. I had to tinker a bit with it, but I am glad I got it. I did little things with it, and it worked out of the box. I could not engrave very big images due to laser memory issues, but cutting was ok. I could cut 1/8 acrylic at decent speed, 3/16" if I can the beam twice.

Now for all my success I have heard people getting their china ebay lasers and having a bad experience. So it's kind of a risk. I did a few videos. Now keep in mind this is a few years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf-MY2yZZxA


Good luck.

[Bill George]

Here is the problem Clark. I could build my own as I have retro fitted a milling machine with new controls and owned a couple other CNC machines. Perhaps you have also. I fixed my own Chinese laser and it ran pretty darn well. But not everyone has the know how to troubleshoot or fix problems. These new folks find the $500 machines and see people using them successfully not knowing the work they may need. So they purchase those machines and then have problems. No support, no local distributor or US Vender. So they come here looking for help. Some get a simple problem fixed and they are off and running, some never get the machine working, regardless of help.

[Bert Kemp]

Best advice is to save a little more money and get a decent machine, you'll never be happy with a cheap ebay money pit

[Glen Monaghan]

You'd be much better off getting a good, used ULS or Epilog (I'd include Trotec, but I've never seen anyone who's had one long enough to have reason to sell it off). I seem to recall someone :rolleyes: posting a well-kept, really good condition, used Epilog TT for sale in the classified section a couple of weeks ago, asking something like $4600 for it. You could check the classified section (oh, wait, here it is: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?233062-Epilog-LegendTT-for-sale-Dayton-OH about 350 miles from you... :D)

[Keith Winter]

You'd be much better off getting a good, used ULS or Epilog (I'd include Trotec, but I've never seen anyone who's had one long enough to have reason to sell it off). I seem to recall someone :rolleyes: posting a well-kept, really good condition, used Epilog TT for sale in the classified section a couple of weeks ago, asking something like $4600 for it. You could check the classified section (oh, wait, here it is: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?233062-Epilog-LegendTT-for-sale-Dayton-OH about 350 miles from you... :D)

LOL Glen, shameless! Seriously though Bert, Glen and the many others posting about getting a decent machine are right, best to get a decent machine vs crippling yourself from the get-go with sub-par machine. If you go used be sure to take whatever you will be working with, with you, and have the guy run it while you're there so you can make sure it will do what you want it to, and that it's in good working order.

[Jeff Body]

Nothing against this group but this isn't the forum to be asking about a cheap ebay laser.
If you're interested in doing some research I'd suggest checking out a FB group called Laser engraving and cutting. There are alot of hobby guys that tinker around with the cheaper ebay lasers in that group. (Key word TINKER)

Keep in mind EVERYTHING people have posted here is 100% correct. Ebay lasers are a PAIN to deal with. Nothing is as easy as the examples make it out to be.
With that,I currently have the higher end ebay laser close to the SH-350. Runs about $2000 It has a decent controller running RDworks software. Over all It's been a good laser. I've spend alot more money upgrading things like the exhasut and air assist but over all it's not a bad laser. It's gotten my feet wet and I'm stocking away profits to pay for a laser upgrade in the future.

[Steve Clarkson]

I can't believe that no one has recommended the Glowforge laser........

[Clark Pace]

Hi Bill,

You are right. I would not suggest a cheap china laser unless you like to tinker a bit. Mine worked right out of the box, but as I mentioned many did not have the good fortune I did. I also owned an sgh 350, and that is about the cheapest I would go if I was serious at all about making money. But if you are a tinker it's worth looking into, but beware.

[Dan Hintz]

I can't believe that no one has recommended the Glowforge laser........


The beatings will begin at 7:00, Steve... ;)

[Keith Winter]

The beatings will begin at 7:00, Steve... ;)

LOL! Too funny!

[Steve Clarkson]

Hehehehe.......

[Chad Keller]

Hi Guys,

I am starting my own manufacturing business and I am trying to decide between a rabbit laser 60 watt or if i should look into an epilog or trotech? The one thing that is scaring me about the rabbit is the speed? i am going to be doing a lot of mass production and cutting/engraving thin wood veneer. I was wondering if you had to discuss your thoughts on this with me?

Thank you for your time!
Chad

[Bert Kemp]

Hi Chad,
You didn't say your location and the bed size your looking at.
If your going into business your sure going to want the best you can afford. Trotec is the king of engraving speed wise and of course its the most expensive.Lately I've seen a few complaints about Trotec and that their support has been lacking lately too.Remember their based in Australia and I'm not sure what they have in the US for supplies and stuff.
Epilog is also a good machine and very pricey also. US company with good support. Machines are pretty fast.
Now the Rabbit is a co2 glass tube laser and requires a c5000 chiller or better is not as fast as the other 2 and is not know for its engraving but it gets the job done. The machine is built solid and has good support here in the USA and parts are in Ohio so you get them quick if you need them. Glass tubes are cheap and easy to replace compared to the air cooled tubes but they don't last as long either.
What some do is they start their business with a cheaper Chinese laser and then as they grow they buy the better and faster machines. Also you can send each company your considering a sample file and the material you intend to use and they will run the file and send you back the finished samples with all the info on settings and speed and how long they took to run.
I personally don't run my machine to its full potential since I use it for hobby and to make free stuff for the vets but if you want to send a file i'll run it for you and tell you how long it takes .
If theirs anything else don't hesitate to ask .

[Scott Marquez]

Hi Guys,

I am starting my own manufacturing business and I am trying to decide between a rabbit laser 60 watt or if i should look into an epilog or trotech? The one thing that is scaring me about the rabbit is the speed? i am going to be doing a lot of mass production and cutting/engraving thin wood veneer. I was wondering if you had to discuss your thoughts on this with me?

Thank you for your time!
Chad
Chad,
Welcome aboard,
You are at the right forum and if you spend a few hours reading these pages you will be empowered to make a decision based on what you believe you will be doing with your new machine, or at the very least have much more focused questions.
Scott

[David Somers]

Antonio,

Are you looking at using this for a business or fun? If for a business how about holding off on a purchase while you save your $$ for at least a decent imported Chinese machine, or a Rabbit USA or Boss above that in price. And in the meantime either farm your laser work out or rent time on a laser in a maker shop of some sort. Many mid sized towns have them now, especially if there is a college or university nearby. Their rates are pretty reasonable, especially if you join the shop as a member. A last thought....got any friends also interested in a laser for business or fun? If yes, perhaps you can share the cost of a unit with them. Obviously this could be touchy and might ruin a friendship if you aren't careful about how you do it. But that might be another way to get this going. Or perhaps a loan?

Just brainstorming

Main

[Kev Williams]

Laser speed---

IF-- your main focus is VECTOR CUTTING, pretty much any chinese machine will keep up with any western machine of the same wattage - and lots of chinese watts are lots cheaper than western watts!

but IF-- your main focus is RASTER ENGRAVING, and you NEED speed, then save your money and buy a Western machine. Or buy 2 or 3 chinese machines... ;)