Joe Holden
06-22-2017, 10:47 AM
Hi all,
I cut 3mm ply, and am looking to upgrade to a decent laser from the Chinese ones I use at the moment (currently have 2 x 150w Bodor 1812x lasers and a 3 x 3050 40w HPC lasers). The Bodor ones have been ok, but I'm trying to create art pieces, and they seem to be more geared up for cutting materials quickly and well for sign makers etc rather than creating really clean, high detail engravings and cuts.
I'm thinking about getting either a Kern HSE 50 or a Trotec SP1500. But I'm having trouble choosing which would be better and how many watts I would need.
Currently the fact that you can load and unload from all 4 sides of the Kern makes it seem like the best choice for me... often my work is very intricate and can break if not carefully picked up, so the 'faff' of having to carefully get in and out the doors of the SP1500 does make me think this would be a worse option. So I guess my first question to all you pro's is - do you agree with me and is either really better than the other in a head to head or are they as similar in price as they are in quality?
The only thing that swings me back towards the Trotec is that I am UK based, and there are loads of dealers nearby if there is an issue. I'm not sure of how good the Kern support network is this side of the pond?
My final question is simply - is the difference between a 100w HSE 50 and a 50w HSE 50 simply the tube itself or is there more to it than that? Reason I ask is that when I bought the Bodor lasers I got a spare 150w tube with them for around $1000 US, but the difference in the list price between a 50w and a 100w laser is a hell of a lot more than this... so I'm thinking it would be best to by buy the 50w and then just buy a 100w tube for it separately and save some cash if the 50w was not powerful enough...
Ultimately I've been advised by both Kern and Trotec that 50w will cut 3mm ply adequately, I just wonder if the speed of the cut would be a lot quicker with double the power as I'm hoping to sell a lot of pieces so speed could be a factor in the future. Ultimately I want to get the most out of this investment, so is it worth stumping up the extra for the 100w of power?
Would appreciate any advice, notes or reviews on either company or anyone you think I should speak to.
Thanks
I cut 3mm ply, and am looking to upgrade to a decent laser from the Chinese ones I use at the moment (currently have 2 x 150w Bodor 1812x lasers and a 3 x 3050 40w HPC lasers). The Bodor ones have been ok, but I'm trying to create art pieces, and they seem to be more geared up for cutting materials quickly and well for sign makers etc rather than creating really clean, high detail engravings and cuts.
I'm thinking about getting either a Kern HSE 50 or a Trotec SP1500. But I'm having trouble choosing which would be better and how many watts I would need.
Currently the fact that you can load and unload from all 4 sides of the Kern makes it seem like the best choice for me... often my work is very intricate and can break if not carefully picked up, so the 'faff' of having to carefully get in and out the doors of the SP1500 does make me think this would be a worse option. So I guess my first question to all you pro's is - do you agree with me and is either really better than the other in a head to head or are they as similar in price as they are in quality?
The only thing that swings me back towards the Trotec is that I am UK based, and there are loads of dealers nearby if there is an issue. I'm not sure of how good the Kern support network is this side of the pond?
My final question is simply - is the difference between a 100w HSE 50 and a 50w HSE 50 simply the tube itself or is there more to it than that? Reason I ask is that when I bought the Bodor lasers I got a spare 150w tube with them for around $1000 US, but the difference in the list price between a 50w and a 100w laser is a hell of a lot more than this... so I'm thinking it would be best to by buy the 50w and then just buy a 100w tube for it separately and save some cash if the 50w was not powerful enough...
Ultimately I've been advised by both Kern and Trotec that 50w will cut 3mm ply adequately, I just wonder if the speed of the cut would be a lot quicker with double the power as I'm hoping to sell a lot of pieces so speed could be a factor in the future. Ultimately I want to get the most out of this investment, so is it worth stumping up the extra for the 100w of power?
Would appreciate any advice, notes or reviews on either company or anyone you think I should speak to.
Thanks