20 Watt Fiber from Ray Fine or Bodor?

[Bill George]

I think I have some industrial accounts lined up for metal laser work. I think the 20 watt portable one will work for a starter machine. I am assuming if the mark is not deep enough for a customer you can just make two passes.

I have two decent quotes from well known Chinese manufacturers and with direct import I will need to factor in brokerage fees and shipping from West coast port. The Bodor was a lot more money but I kind of suspect most of these are made about the same.

The Bodor uses a Maxphotonics and the Ray Fine uses Raycus source and I am not sure which is better. Both software is EZCAD. Advice, yes I know I should purchase from a USA vender and pay 3x as much for the same Made in China machine, but I am experienced enough to fix just about any properly designed CNC.

[Gary Hair]

I have no opinion on either of the machines you mentioned, but I would highly suggest you talk to Jim Earman at Jimani. He has put together a machine that is the best of both worlds - Chinese parts and USA software and support. His software is worth the extra bit alone and when you add in the support you'll receive it is worth several times the extra cost. My next machine(s) will be from him without a doubt! Here is a link to his machine: https://www.jimani-inc.com/low-cost-hybrid-fiber-laser-marking-system

As for marking depth and multiple passes - you are not likely to find many metals that you can mark to any depth with a single pass, you should always plan on multiple passes. The good news is that a galvo fiber is so fast that multiple passes take very little time. Plus, it's almost always going to give you a cleaner mark when you go fast/low power/high frequency vs slow/high power/low frequency.

[Kristian Matz]

I just talked to Jim at Jimani. Overall I like what I heard from him, the biggest issue that I found was they have a rotary, but it will not slice and engrave around an object.

[Gary Hair]

I just talked to Jim at Jimani. Overall I like what I heard from him, the biggest issue that I found was they have a rotary, but it will not slice and engrave around an object.

Yep,that's a software limitation. Jim and I talked at length about this and his stance was, in essence, if he couldn't get it to work well then he's not going to include it. There are so many factors involved with rotary on a fiber that the difficulty factor is extremely high. If it worked like a co2 then it would be a different story, but given how it works with a fiber it's a real pain! With all the trouble I have had getting mine to work I understand completely. He does, however, have phenomenal rotary capabilities in his higher end systems and they appear to perform flawlessly. This is definitely a case of "you get what you pay for."

[Darren Wilson]

Maxphotonics market their own portable fiber laser marker. It is not quite as "Apple MAC" looking as the Bodor System but still quite nice. The model number is MFS-20 with Q-switched laser and while not listed on their site they offer a MOPA smart laser MPS-20. Search youtube "Maxphotonics" to see vids. I am currently looking at getting the MOPA version.

[Bill George]

Maxphotonics market their own portable fiber laser marker. It is not quite as "Apple MAC" looking as the Bodor System but still quite nice. The model number is MFS-20 with Q-switched laser and while not listed on their site they offer a MOPA smart laser MPS-20. Search youtube "Maxphotonics" to see vids. I am currently looking at getting the MOPA version.

Every time I see the MOPA I think Mopar you Dodge fans can relate. Thanks for the tip, everyone seems to think Ezcad sucks, but the Jimani suggested alternative the price was over 2x the one with Ezcad. I do see the Maxphotonics unit used a lot.

[Scott Anders]

I bought a Bodor 30 watt, Great machine, BUT I've made 3 requests for support and each time they have knocked it back.

The first was because they send the wrong bed, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing they told me to drill and tap my own holes in the bed or get someone local to do it.
The second is that the collar that the lenses screw into is very loose on the lens end and makes screwing a different lens on a pretty difficult task, they told me you are not supposed to swap out lenses even though they happily sold me 3 of them so no they will not send me a new one with tighter tolerances.
The 3rd is I would like to add a safety light to the machine. Nope.

This has soured my idea of dealing with chinese companies and I expect my warranty isn't even worth the piece of paper it's written on.

I recommend using your local guy.

[Bill George]

Second bad news about Bodor, and they are now off my list. This is Des Moines Iowa not Chicago. We have no local guy and the other ones online are 2x to 3x the price and most of the time its the same machine. Or at least Made in China.

[Kev Williams]

My NH rep came by the other day, watched my little Triumph at work. He told me he's giving thought to checking into being a US distributor for Chinese fibers. He'd probably do pretty good. He's having a hard time selling the Gravograph galvo's at $65k a pop... eeek...!

As for buying from China, while Yolanda and her crew at Triumph have been good to me, I've never held on to any fantasy that if my machine needs a new tube or power supply, that they would come put it in for me... ;)

[Bill George]

And the only reason the other machine is priced at $65k is because they can. I am sure its much better quality and you do have support. But for 5x as much?
The Chinese are learning how to build and market to not only US but the rest of the world. Who needs Walmart?

Got info this morning in email from Maxphotonics, almost overwhelming... working Demo of the software and its not EZcad, specifications brochure, and confirmation of what I am inquiring about for a price quote. Very impressive.

[Darren Wilson]

Who is our contact Bill? I'm dealing with Catherine at he moment. Took me a bit to get her to offer up the MOPA machine but the were very keen to sell q-switched unit and kept pushing it. Triump is the other vendor by Max has their price beat by about 1k

[Darren Wilson]

Sorry... Triumph...damn auto correct

[Bill George]

So far no unit or shipping via DHL price. Apparently they can go via Air Freight door to door.

Zoe Zhong

Sales Manager

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/_Foxmail.1@e9b7dffc-5f87-7fc1-4d81-53e7b406aa63Maxphotonics Co.,Ltd

Just got the quote, very good price and with 2 year warranty. These are the same folks that make the base unit used in many Chinese fibers. Shipping weight 45 Kilo (100 lbs) so door to door air DHL is just $500 USD.
Now I need to check out the software.

[Darren Wilson]

45kg which unit are you looking at?

[Bill George]

45kg which unit are you looking at? The 20 Watt portable one.

Now trying to do research on which is the better source Raycus or Maxphotonics.

I also wonder how much improvement is in the newer version of EZCAD and if the MaxMarking software is better or just another name for marginal software ;)

[Darren Wilson]

346919
This one MFS-20?
From what I have found so are the Raycus unit is better. But MAX is improving and found in alot of Asian fiber systems.

[Bill George]

And I may end up with the Raycus from Ray Fine. I have not found any proof yet but supposedly the Max has had issues.

[Gary Hair]

And I may end up with the Raycus from Ray Fine. I have not found any proof yet but supposedly the Max has had issues.

This is only 2 machines out of who knows how many, but both of mine have Raycus sources and they are working fine so far. One is almost 2 years old and the other is less than a year. It's my understanding that there is almost nothing to wear out in these machines, if they work from the start then they'll pretty much work for a long time.

[Bill George]

I ended up ordering the Ray Fine RF-F-20W
with Raycus power source (thanks Gary and all) with Rotary and extra lens 150x150. Very good price and so far good service.

[Darren Wilson]

Congrats Bill!

[David Somers]

Congrats Bill! Be sure to let us know how this goes and what you think of Blanca and Ray Fine.

Dave

[Bill George]

So I have a DHL tracking number, thanks Blanca and it should be here Thursday the 17th. Big big learning curve ahead.

[Don Fey]

I think I have some industrial accounts lined up for metal laser work. I think the 20 watt portable one will work for a starter machine. I am assuming if the mark is not deep enough for a customer you can just make two passes.

I have two decent quotes from well known Chinese manufacturers and with direct import I will need to factor in brokerage fees and shipping from West coast port. The Bodor was a lot more money but I kind of suspect most of these are made about the same.

The Bodor uses a Maxphotonics and the Ray Fine uses Raycus source and I am not sure which is better. Both software is EZCAD. Advice, yes I know I should purchase from a USA vender and pay 3x as much for the same Made in China machine, but I am experienced enough to fix just about any properly designed CNC.

If you have not made a purchase yet, I can give you some advice. First- the failure rate of the Max is clearly higher than Raycus, and the basic standards are lower. If you buy a 30W Max, it will pass their test if it makes 25.1W or more.

MOST importantly, when you buy direct from China- be aware that the risk of fraud is very high, and the options to protect yourself are few. The only way is to demand a method of financial safety that can't be corrupted. A third-party escrow that allows you to inspect what you received before the funds are released to the seller is ideal. All sellers want full payment in advance, leaving you no leverage at all. If you are adamant enough, you will find some that will eventually agree to escrow.

There is a story online about a China laser maker, Ocean Link Technologies, where an order with detailed specifications and Raycus laser arrived- and had a factory reject Max laser in place that had been painted over with a spray can to hide the Max brand. It failed the factory test with output only 21W. Seller refused to correct, and even though he admitted the parts switch (all key parts were below spec) the Trade Assurance program at Alibaba refused to acknowledge there was a quality issue, and left buyer out of luck. That story and evidence is at laserscams.com.

[Bill George]

Don, that is why this Forum exists, If you take the time to Search before posting you will find this has been discussed in depth.