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View Full Version : Need more speed cutting 1/4" and 1/8" acrylic



Roger Rittenhouse
09-05-2015, 9:32 PM
I have been cutting acrylic with an Epilog 40 watt Zing for several years now and it has been a good machine but I am to the point I need to get thru my jobs a lot faster. I would like to add a 60 Watt Epilog Mini or to a 60 watt Zing. Does any body know if a Mini 60W would be faster than a Zing 60 Watt? Thanks

Jack Clague
09-05-2015, 9:58 PM
If all you will be doing is vector line cutting on acrylic the higher end machines may not yield the benifits you need. If you are doing more than just that though the mini is superior in every way to the zing. Servo motors. Better rail system. Better optics and features like memory buffer which significantly reduce repeat work time.

Rich Harman
09-05-2015, 10:00 PM
I have been cutting acrylic with an Epilog 40 watt Zing for several years now and it has been a good machine but I am to the point I need to get thru my jobs a lot faster. I would like to add a 60 Watt Epilog Mini or to a 60 watt Zing. Does any body know if a Mini 60W would be faster than a Zing 60 Watt? Thanks

I doubt there would be any significant difference in cutting speed. If those are your choices, I would go for the mini - it uses servo motors and a linear encoder for positioning, the engraving will be faster but cutting speed is limited by power. If all you need to do is cut then I would look at getting a larger, at least 80W, Chinese machine.

Roger Rittenhouse
09-05-2015, 10:21 PM
thanks for the info!

Roger Rittenhouse
09-05-2015, 10:22 PM
Thank you for the input!

Braden Todd
09-06-2015, 12:00 AM
I would suggest looking at a Kern laser if there is enough cutting to warrant the purchase. You can get full sheets and pending edge quality desire you can cut through the acrylic very fast!

Rodne Gold
09-06-2015, 4:20 AM
You can add 2 x 900 x600 glass tubed 80-100w machines for under $10k for both ..they will triple+ your thruput if cutting acrylic.
All you really need is power.. speeds are slow and just about any machine will do

Glen Monaghan
09-06-2015, 10:44 AM
In terms of cutting, going from a 40W to a 60W won't make enough of a difference in speed to justify the cost. You will need to step up to at least 80W or 100W to see a significant improvement in cutting speed.

Jerome Stanek
09-06-2015, 11:35 AM
how fast are you cutting now

Ross Moshinsky
09-06-2015, 2:57 PM
If all you do is cut, the Chinese lasers are definitely something to look at. I would trust the judgement of others with more experience but I believe the 80-90W EFR tubed machines are a very solid choice.