Ray Fine Cyclops 30W MOPA fiber laser

[James Walker]

Hi, First time post here. A year ago at age 53 I sold a successful CNC machining business to spend more time with my family. I was working 80+ hours a week and could not balance out the obligations of both so I sold and am now looking for a home based business so that I can combine both work and home life. I have a 5 year non compete in machining so with manufacturing being the only thing that I know I have gravitated to the idea of engraving medical tags and bracelets from my home. I have a few questions that I hope some are willing to help with. When I was involved in machining I used Mastercam to program and helped many on machining and programming forums so I hope some of that can come back to me so here goes.

I am planning on starting this from inside my home office and once proven I will build a separate building but for now my concern is fumes from a fiber laser inside my house and the effect it would have on my children. I am right now only planning on engraving 316 and 304 stainless steel. I am planning on a fiber laser that has an open platform. Will I kill myself and family by doing this for a few months?

I have been looking at a 3D dynamic 30W MOPA laser www.rayfinetech.com/product/product65.html (http://www.rayfinetech.com/product/product65.html). Has anyone purchased this laser from Ray Fine and what has their experience been with this?

Even though I live in the country on 100 acres my township prohibits home based business so I will not have a customer accessible store and therefore all of my business will be internet based. I will create a website and sell on Amazon, Ebay, etc. until I can generate enough traffic to my site. Has anyone had success doing something similar without having a brick and mortar site. This is all new as in my machining business I never even had a website and my sales were in person or on the phone.

As I said my life experience has been machining so I don't think that the learning process will be that difficult for me. Has anyone come from a machining background and ventured into laser engraving with success?

I thank all who have taken the time to read this and than you in advance for any replies.

Jim Walker

[Gary Hair]

Congrats on making it a priority to enjoy your life instead of working yourself to death! I honestly think, however, that your current plan would just be trading one job for another one with the same obligations. If you do a quick search on Amazon, you'll find medic alert bracelets engraved for $6.00. They probably cost $1.00 wholesale if you buy them by the 1,000's. How many of those would you have to engrave every day to make a decent wage? Even though you might want to focus on higher end products, the vast majority of customers that will find you on the internet will skip over you for the next guy that sells for $0.01 cheaper than you do.

I don't think there are any harmful byproducts generated by lasering stainless but it would be extremely easy to setup an exhaust system and remove any doubt.

The machine you are looking at is way overkill for what you are considering and although I'm usually in the "Tim Taylor" camp, this is one time I'm not. MOPA would be a big benefit for lasering stainless, but dynamic 3D and Cyclops would do almost nothing to help you engrave your products. Once you make a fixture for the tags/bracelets you are selling, you would never need Cyclops and unless they have extremely curved surfaces then 3D isn't needed either - and you would have to create an stl file for the 3D to work anyway.

I think you'll find that the vast majority of the engraving businesses that failed, failed because they either tried to "hug the world", or were too narrow focused. I don't think engraving medical tags and bracelets exclusively would ever end up being a viable business, it's too narrow of a market.

With your background it would be fairly easy to learn how to use the laser, I just think you need to expand your horizons a bit.

[James Walker]

Thank you for the honest and straightforward input Gary. I agree with your assessment on Amazon but the cheap $6.00 engraving comes from China. Yes I would be buying my blanks from China as well but my intent would be to do a very high quality engrave and work my product line up to higher quality such a silver and bracelets that are more stylish. I did extremely precision machining with tolerences down to .000010" for a lot of my parts. My parts were for the viscosity measuring industry and extremely critical. My goal would be to use Amazon only to produce some early easy work and hopefully be able to find a way to get enough traffic to a web site with higher end products. I thought that I would need a 3D dynamic head to be able to engrave curved bracelets without fixturing up a rotary head. How much depth variation will a fiber laser accept before the engrave quality degrades?

you would have to create an stl file for the 3D to work anyway This is where I am hindered compared to my machining days. When I programmed to engrave on any curved surface in Mastercam I could tell the software to cut at a specified depth around an axis or to project a tool path onto a surface and the software would calculate the XYZ moves. I had $20,000. + in the software for full 3D machining. I assumed that with a 3D dynamic laser I could lay out the text in a flat plane and the laser would project it onto the surface at the correct focus.

I recognize the risk of being narrowly focused but I need to start somewhere. When I started the machine shop I had no business and started taking on any work I could find. I eventually built a reputation and developed a niche for doing extremely precision work with zero defect. The products that I made for customers were sold and still are around the world used by refineries to measure oil viscosity.

Thank You for your input. That kind of input is exactly what I am looking for in helping me decide if this will work or not. Jim

[John Lifer]

One other member here has just recently purchased a Ray Fine machine with the Cyclops camera system. I bought a 20W mid range MOPA, recently and I know it wouldn't do a curved surface.
I think Gary brings up a point on this being an narrow focus, But if you can hit a nitch, you might be able to make some cash. There's a couple on Etsy selling luggage tags that have sold a boat load, but I have no idea as to time frame.
I'd make sure the laser will mark the width you want it to without moving. I'm not sure how much focus distance you can get. That is a manually adjusted head and there would be only a small amount of adjustment inside the head if any at all.
I'm betting that 0.08mm is max...... Just say'n get them to do a sample and a video of it doing it.

[James Walker]

Thanks for your reply John.

I'd make sure the laser will mark the width you want it to without moving. I'm not sure how much focus distance you can get. One vendor claims 28 degrees in any direction.

I'm betting that 0.08mm is max. Are you saying that if the surface varies that much the quality of the engrave would degrade?

I don't want to buy more machine than I need but I felt that a dynamic focus would give me perfect results inside the engraving range. Not being familiar with this field I was concerned that if I fixture up a curved bracelet on a fixture mounted to a rotary, the bracelet would be out of concentricity or perfect focus over some portion of the engraved area. When I machined parts on a rotary were of perfect concentricity as we would turn the of in the same setup as milling. I had a mill turn lathe that would serve that purpose. In the machining centers (milling) the rotary was perfectly true and the parts were also. If I had a bracelet that had a drop of .100" from the peak to the lowest point, would the engraver still work if the part was placed flat onto the table? Or if I fixture up a rotary and the part varied say .010" from true focus would it still engrave with good results? One vendor told me that a .002" variation would not work.

[Kristian Matz]

I have the cyclops system on my machine. So far I have not found a lot of use for it, but then again I have not found a lot of use for the fiber laser. I am still trying to figure it all out. :)

[Scott Shepherd]

There are a number of machinists/CNC programmers on here, self included. I agree with Gary 100%. My input would be that you're talking about going from a top tier software package and machinery to Chinese machines and knocked off software. Set your expectations accordingly. EZCAM isn't MasterCam. I feel wrong for even using them in same sentence. EZCAM is truly knocked off software of some western program and it literally has no support. If there's a bug, that bug will likely stay in it for a long, long time.

I don't have any strategy advice, but I'd go back to the drawing board if my income depended on it. There are far more profitable things than ID bracelets.

These were done on a fiber recently. Just for reference, we did 15 of them at $15 each, all the same.

357748

[John Lifer]

28degrees is probably about the same angle the galvo mirrors move. I haven't researched as it is kink of irelevant to me as a user. I do know that you can do some minor curved surface, but effect might not be what you are looking for. Just an engraved surface maybe, darkened engraving, you are most likely out of luck. Focus really matters there. And yes, software stinks. Better in some ways over my Chinese CO2 software, some ways worse.

But, I hear you, I'm in some ways in similar position, bit older, kid finishing second degree that will actually give her very good career opportunity. Only owe on my home. Just need to feed us and the dogs. I think the fiber is a great machine, you aren't really a machining, you can probably find industrial customers to build your business.

[Gary Hair]

I'm not sure how much focus distance you can get. That is a manually adjusted head and there would be only a small amount of adjustment inside the head if any at all.
I'm betting that 0.08mm is max......

A fiber will have a lot more depth of focus than that. I haven't measured mine but I would bet it is in the range of 1/4" or so, not sure where you could possibly get .08mm - that's .003"!

[James Walker]

Scott I agree EZCAD and Mastercam don't even compare. I downloaded a demo version of EZCad and it is very crude. My Mastercam was capable of 5 axis milling and I also had full mill/turn and solid modeling and also had Solid works for real solid modeling.

Did you do the bracelet engraving on a rotary? It looks like I would do better to start without the auto focus and use a 3D printer to make fixtures for a rotary. I chose a path of having a product to sell because I do not want to have a store front and then need to be able to do a multiple line of services. Too much to learn to be able to do it all like some of you guys do and I am not talented in art. I would think that most of you that are running a real engraving business that serves the public would need to have multiple lines of service and not be exclusive to engraving only. Even in my machine shop we were well diversified and had access to EDM, anodizing, power painting, plating, waterjet, etc. Right now at my age and where I am financially I don't see myself going into the full service engraving shop. With what I am thinking of doing a lot of my time would also be spent in promoting traffic to my web site. If I am successful at doing that I would see engraving becoming only a small portion of my revenue. The resale of additional products that would be sold along side of the medical tags would hopefully become the real profit generator.

John even though I have great contacts in the B2B industrial world, most of the companies that I machined for were large enough that they did there own product marking or had their components come in with all marking and engraving done. I did a lot of engraving on my milling machines and had larger runs of panels etc. sent out to be screen printed.

Thank You both for your input and comments.

[James Walker]

Gary I discussed that with a seller (LIT Laser) here in the US. He suggested that for deep engraving he would put a Z axis servo on the machine and that I could take multiple passes. Its my understanding that EZCAD will not accommodate a Z axis move for refocus. He sells Laser Studio Professional 3D that will create Z axis moves so that may be a better option for me.

[Gary Hair]

How deep are you trying to engrave James? I have engraved up to about 1/32" with no problem. One thing you'll find with refocusing is that due to the way a galvo fiber works, your image will be distorted or move if you change focus. The parts I mark are small, some less than .375", and the image is within a few thou of the edge. If I'm off focus by a mm or more then the image will not be aligned to where it should be.

[James Walker]

Gary, I don't think that I would need to go more than .005" deep. Will a 30W MOPA fiber engrave that deep using EZCAD with just multiple passes? I could see a need to cut though a .010 thick piece of Stainless. I never considered that a refocus would change the image but it makes sense due to the change in angle created by a Z axis move. The rep claims that I can not do deep engraving without a refocus. I am not sure that some of these sales reps are as well versed as they should be and will rely on people that actually use the machines in a real world environment. Much like in machining a guy that runs a CNC every day is a much better source of information than most sales reps.

[Gary Hair]

I would find a new source for your purchase... There is a big difference between a rep not knowing everything and one that gives out completely wrong information. I have two 30 watt fibers, not MOPA, and I engrave everything from surface marking to 1/32", or more, with no problem. Cutting .010 stainless is not something you want to do with these machines, they aren't powerful enough and it would take almost forever. I cut some fixtures from .020 aluminum and it took 110 passes at high power and slow speed, and they were no more than .5 x .5 rectangles in size. I can't imagine cutting anything larger in stainless.
Mopa will give you the ability to stain much easier and more reliably than non-mopa, but I'm not sure if it will give you any advantage in deep engraving or cutting.
I would recommend you contact Ray Fine and Beijing JCZ, both in China. Even though there is a language barrier, you'll probably get better info from them than it seems you are getting now. You could import it yourself and probably save a bit and get pretty much identical equipment. I'm sure LIT is importing from someone like Ray Fine or BJJCZ.
Lots of us here have gone that route and with very few exceptions, they have been pretty positive experiences.

[Scott Shepherd]

Did you do the bracelet engraving on a rotary?

Nope, that's engraved on a fiber laser. It had the red medical symbol on it, I just engraved the medical information. It's deep enough to color fill with paint. I've been in machining since 1983, been in engraving since 2007. I've been asked to do medical ID tags twice in 10 years. Something to think about.

[Kev Williams]

I would think a 50w fiber fitted with a 300-something-mm lens would be the kitty's butt for depth-of-field issues on small-arc items like med bracelets. And since a galvo fires from a single point and flares outward in all directions, the slightest Z movement is going to shrink or enlarge the bounding box. Close to the center/small engraving can take some Z movement, but if you're engraving near the lens's boundaries, a little Z movement means a lot of mis-alignment at the far edges... You CAN adjust focus for 'out of range' engraving, but everything must be engraved separately. I've found out the hard way that I can't engrave all of something, then refocus to re-engrave out-of-range items, you end up with 2 separate engravings...

And James, during your machining career, in most cases: did you search out work, or did work find you? :)

[John Lifer]

A fiber will have a lot more depth of focus than that. I haven't measured mine but I would bet it is in the range of 1/4" or so, not sure where you could possibly get .08mm - that's .003"!

From the original link...

[James Walker]

Kev in my machining career early on I had to look for work and took on the work that other shops could not do. I established a reputation for being able to do the difficult work and being able to do it with the highest of quality. I also helped design some of my clients equipment with an focus on function and cost effectiveness. So in developing a niche I had the fortune of some very high margin work. I could not compete and did not want to with the shops that were willing to work for a 1/4 of the rate that I was charging.

It sounds like I could lay a curved bracelet on a table and mark it as it were a flat surface and the laser would not be enough out of focus to be of concern? I am assuming that you would make the best focal point to be in the middle of the highest point of the arc and the lowest and be able to engrave successfully. Is that correct? If that is true then the rep is deceiving me or has little application skills. I would rather put more money towards a higher watt laser such as a 50W.

[Gary Hair]

It sounds like I could lay a curved bracelet on a table and mark it as it were a flat surface and the laser would not be enough out of focus to be of concern? I am assuming that you would make the best focal point to be in the middle of the highest point of the arc and the lowest and be able to engrave successfully. Is that correct? If that is true then the rep is deceiving me or has little application skills. I would rather put more money towards a higher watt laser such as a 50W.

That is exactly how it's done, and it's the same for any type of lasering on a curved surface. 50 watts vs 30 watts won't get the engraving done much faster, and if you want more throughput then your money would be better spent on two 30 watt machines than a single 50 - I guarantee you'll get double the throughput on two 30's and you have a backup machine in case one has any problems.

I'll say it again - find a new source for your purchase, it seems like this one is going to lead you down the path that makes them the most money, not to the machine you need.

[Gary Hair]

From the original link...

That link lists "Marking depth" - that is very different than depth of focus or depth of field, which is what we were talking about. Plus, I can tell you from experience that I can get much more depth than .08mm and in a reasonable amount of time.

[James Walker]

Thank You Gary. Your post has been very helpful. I put a request in to Ray Fine and told them what I wanted to do and they suggested a 30W MOPA with a 150 x 150w optic lens. They provided pictures of samples of just what I proposed to do. They quoted only $8200.00 with rotary, 2 year warranty, delivery to my door excluding customs. The other guy pushing for the 3D had me at $32,000.00. For that much difference in price I think I will buy the Ray Fine and add on a 110 x 110mm lens to experiment with. I will also then have the benefit of rotary with this where as the USA guy was not including a rotary in his quote. Again Thank You for your help.

[Scott Shepherd]

If you were considering a $32,000 machine, you might want to look at a Western option, like Trotec. Their Speedmarker FL would fit your needs well and the software is first class with full support and updates. It would be much more like what you're used to in your previous career.

However, if you're in the $8,200 range, your options are limited to Chinese.

The things they are doing with the Speedmarker FL MOPA are fascinating.

[John Lifer]

Sorry Gary, wasn't paying attention, and James this should be good machines full MOPA not my limited, (so far I can't see much change in using the MOPA settings, but I haven't done much to plastic nor titanium. ) And btw, customs on these is way less than the co2 coming by boat. DHL handles a lot at no extra charge. External to gov duty that is. Ask for the paperwork for the FDA forms once they say machine has shipped and before it gets here you need Ascension number to complete form... Good luck!

[Bill George]

James, One other thought. You do 3D CAD work and in the 3D printer world there is a need for talented people to do and sell designs that can be printed.

[Gary Hair]

Thank You Gary. Your post has been very helpful. I put a request in to Ray Fine and told them what I wanted to do and they suggested a 30W MOPA with a 150 x 150w optic lens. They provided pictures of samples of just what I proposed to do. They quoted only $8200.00 with rotary, 2 year warranty, delivery to my door excluding customs. The other guy pushing for the 3D had me at $32,000.00. For that much difference in price I think I will buy the Ray Fine and add on a 110 x 110mm lens to experiment with. I will also then have the benefit of rotary with this where as the USA guy was not including a rotary in his quote. Again Thank You for your help.

I would skip the 110x110 and the 150x150 and get a 175x175 instead. I have a 110 and 175 and with the exception of testing the 110 when I first bought the machine, I haven't used it since. The 110 didn't seem to give me anything that the 175 couldn't do and with the 175 I have a working area that is almost 7". For the curved surfaces you want to mark, the 175 will give you more depth of focus along with the larger area. You'll be limited a bit on power out to the extreme edges, but you can still mark out there but depth will take longer.

edit: I have no idea if the 175x175 will be ok with MOPA, ask them before you make a decision.

[Gary Hair]

If you were considering a $32,000 machine, you might want to look at a Western option, like Trotec. Their Speedmarker FL would fit your needs well and the software is first class with full support and updates. It would be much more like what you're used to in your previous career.

However, if you're in the $8,200 range, your options are limited to Chinese.

The things they are doing with the Speedmarker FL MOPA are fascinating.

I would also suggest jimani for a higher-end machine. Their prices will be a bit higher than some but their support is worth the price! Not sure if they are selling MOPA but it would be worth an inquiry.

[James Walker]

Hi Bill. Thank yuo for the reply. Most of my work in 3D has been functional and industrial. I feel that I am not talented artwise or coming up with aesthetically pleasing designs. I am kind of a boxy guy that can model surfaces with a structural or purposeful use like vanes for a propeller.

[Scott Shepherd]

I would also suggest jimani for a higher-end machine. Their prices will be a bit higher than some but their support is worth the price! Not sure if they are selling MOPA but it would be worth an inquiry.

True. The real problem with Chinese Fibers is the support/software. There are some really good software packages out there for Galvo Fibers, but in my experience in contacting them, none of them were supporting the most commonly used Chinese fiber sources, meaning everyone was stuck with EZCAD.

Jimani overcame that problem, if I recall correctly and has a source that works with better software. He's certainly one of the top shelf guys in the market with his experience and support in the USA.

I think when people see what Trotec is doing with the MOPA it's going to get some attention.

The fiber market has been neglected by all manufactures which has created this vacuum that's pulling all the Chinese machines in. I'd love to see a Western Galvo Fiber in the mid $20K range.

[Gary Hair]

I'd love to see a Western Galvo Fiber in the mid $20K range.

I think they missed the boat on that one, China has been filling that need and has probably taken the bulk of the possible sales already.

[James Walker]

Thanks Gary. I will ask about the 175 x 175. I have a few requests out to China manufacturers. I just sent one to XT Laser and they had a very quick response and as with all of the China manufactures they did not recommend 3D. Most have recommended a 50W Raycus as apposed to 30W MOPA for black marking. I sent XT a photo file and they offered to post a video of it being lasered on Stainless with a 50W Raycus. The Chinese go out of their way to make a sale. I am 99% sure that I will go with a China made laser, I just need to decide what type and from which manufacture. I will probably give more weight to the Ray Fine because of their reputation with those here at SawMill Creek. Would you purchase a backup power supply or any other parts to have on hand to get the machine back up and running should something fail?

[Gary Hair]

I'd be curious to see how the 50w compares to a 30w MOPA for dark marking stainless. I can get nice black marks with my 30w but for anything besides small text it's just not cost effective. It takes less time to deep mark than it takes to get a dark black mark. I would really like to see a graphic about 1" x 2" dark marked with a 50w and a 30w MOPA to see how they compare - time wise and quality of mark.

The nice thing about fiber machines is that they have unbelievably long mtbf numbers. You wouldn't really need to have any spare parts on hand, anything that fails would be a fluke and Murphy's Law would ensure you bought the wrong spares anyway... I have had one machine just over two years and the other just over one and have had zero problems with either one and have done no maintenance besides cleaning the dust that settles on them.

[Gary Hair]

Just curious James - what part of the world are you from? In one of your posts you mentioned your township - that makes me think Northeast US?

[James Walker]

Gary, I am from State College Pennsylvania. Right in the middle of the state and home to PSU. All of the townships here are very strict on home based businesses. I spent so much time away from my family running my machining business and tried to find without success acreage that would allow a residence as well as a business. We have horses as my wife's passion and needed at least 50 acres. All parcels that size would be zoned Agricultural and would not allow any other uses. I made enough money that I could sell and never need to work again but I really miss manufacturing. That's why I am pursuing this. The sale of the business required me to sign a 5 year non compete so any kind of machining is out with the exception unless I were to machine for the sale of my own products only. It would cost way to much to start another shop ( I had well over 1.5M in equipment and tooling in the old shop) and I want to be here at home anyway where my wife and kids are. I am 54 but my kids are 9 & 12. I was much of them growing up. I was really lost for a while because that shop was my life for 30 years so I think that this is just some form of replacement.

[Anthony Nguyen]

James,
Visit thingsremembered.com You can get idea of what you can engrave and sell as personalized gift items. I have a similar business and I sell keychains, money clips, business card holders, zippos, knives etc... I do get alot of multi quantities order because I target weddings. Marketing towards groomsmen gifts, church group gifts etc.

[Anthony Nguyen]

Thank You Gary. Your post has been very helpful. I put a request in to Ray Fine and told them what I wanted to do and they suggested a 30W MOPA with a 150 x 150w optic lens. They provided pictures of samples of just what I proposed to do. They quoted only $8200.00 with rotary, 2 year warranty, delivery to my door excluding customs. The other guy pushing for the 3D had me at $32,000.00. For that much difference in price I think I will buy the Ray Fine and add on a 110 x 110mm lens to experiment with. I will also then have the benefit of rotary with this where as the USA guy was not including a rotary in his quote. Again Thank You for your help. was the quote for 30W M1+ or M6+? I got a quote today 30W M6+ JPT source, galvotech scanhead, rotary, DHL Express $9850

[James Walker]

Anthony that quote was for the JPT 30W M1 with rotary shipped to my door DHL. I added autofocus and cyclops camera which brought the quote up.

[Anthony Nguyen]

I just asked more questions and found out M1 vs M6 will not be worth the $1500 different. Basically, the M6 has more narrow pulse for sensitive materials like plastic. I dont mark plastic so I won't be needing that. How do you like your autofocus and cyclops camera? The only concern here is the JPT laser source. I've heard of all western sources, raycus and maxphotonics in China but never heard of JPT. Raycus is stable, maxphotonics is not as good. That's about it.

Someone mentioned marking on curved surfaces like bracelet tags, etc. The way I do that is "split text" and "mark selected" so I would get a line of text in and then split text. After that I select the middle letters..focus..mark...select 2 letters out..refocus..mark. It takes longer but I get them perfect everytime. Now that's with text. I haven't figured out a way to split image or vector files. If I mark image I would set parameters to a bit lower than I need, then run a few passes, then refocus for the outer area (the inner area will then be out of focus) and run a few more passes.

[James Walker]

Anthony I do not have the machine yet. I am paying the deposit today. I chose the M1 for the same reason that you did.

[Jacob John]

I just asked more questions and found out M1 vs M6 will not be worth the $1500 different. Basically, the M6 has more narrow pulse for sensitive materials like plastic. I dont mark plastic so I won't be needing that. How do you like your autofocus and cyclops camera? The only concern here is the JPT laser source. I've heard of all western sources, raycus and maxphotonics in China but never heard of JPT. Raycus is stable, maxphotonics is not as good. That's about it.

Someone mentioned marking on curved surfaces like bracelet tags, etc. The way I do that is "split text" and "mark selected" so I would get a line of text in and then split text. After that I select the middle letters..focus..mark...select 2 letters out..refocus..mark. It takes longer but I get them perfect everytime. Now that's with text. I haven't figured out a way to split image or vector files. If I mark image I would set parameters to a bit lower than I need, then run a few passes, then refocus for the outer area (the inner area will then be out of focus) and run a few more passes.


BUMP. I am about to purchase through Rayfine as well, and their laser source is JPT, which I have never heard of.

Also, could someone write up a quick post on what forms I need to import this thing into the U.S.? I have absolutely no idea about the process, and any help is appreciated. Matter of fact, beyond the forms, anything else?

[John Lifer]

For a fiber being air freight delivered,, FedEx, DHL, you don't have much to do. Pay for machine, usually bank transfer to the Maker's bank via wire transfer. Once machine is shipping, you need the ascension number that is assigned to the manufacturer by US FDA. And you will be asked by DHL or FedEx to complete the form. Model number and ascension number are main things on it. Pay the shipper once they invoice you for the fees and the US customs duty and FDA inspection fee. Laser delivered and then you are ready to work!

[Jacob John]

To MOPA or Q-Switched, that is the question! I'm having a tough time with this decision and it's costing me time! There's a $3,000 difference between the two 30 watt lasers, and I simply can't make the decision. Bottom line guys, is the MOPA worth it?

[Tim Bateson]

I have the MaxPhotonics and am so far VERY happy with it. As to your choices, from my research I would lean to the Q-switch, but what I'm doing with it and what you plan to may be very different.

[Kev Williams]

everything I've read (which ain't a whole lot and not exactly English so take this FWIW) about Q-switching refers to YAG lasers-- even in the EZcad parameters, anything to do with Q-switching is grayed-out until you choose to edit YAG settings... So I'm not exactly sure if these machines are Q-switched or not...?