Laser Bed Size verses Power

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

I was just wondering if you, knowing what’s you know now, after having your lasers for a while, would you advise going for a bigger bed or a stronger watt laser?


Zelma

[Jacob Meged]

Definitely more power. There really hasn't been a need for a larger table than the 12 x 24 that I currently have.

[Gary Hair]

Both. Never, ever, has anyone said "my laser is too big and too powerful"!

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Both. Never, ever, has anyone said "my laser is too big and too powerful"!

True, but if you absolutely had to choose one or the other?

Zelma

[vic casware]

If i was to add my 2c worth, Depending on what brand machine you get
bigger machine first! you can always upgrade your power

[Gary Hair]

I would do whatever it took to do both. I financed the GCC because I didn't have that much cash sitting around and I financed my Trotec because it made more sense to take a very low interest loan and keep the $40K in my bank account. I can tell you from experience that both features have been worth many times the premium I paid for them. If you are buying a machine for hobby use then it's always tricky to justify the expense but if it's for a business then you just need to decide if you are going to make money with whatever feature you are buying and how much not having that feature, and losing that money, might cost you in lost revenue. Lasers for a business are an investment, not an expense! The GCC Explorer I had, and sold to Kev, was 30 watts and had a pass-thru feature and the largest bed for the money at the time I bought it. I think it cost me $2K-$3K more than the nearest competitor with a smaller bed and no pass-thru. I had at least $80K in work that I would have had to turn down without the large bed and pass-thru feature. That's a pretty nice return on investment - 17-25 times the investment!


True, but if you absolutely had to choose one or the other?

Zelma

[Rich Harman]

There is no way that I could get by with a small machine. 24 x 48 would be the minimum I could manage with. As for power I can get by with 80W.

If you get a DC tube machine then you need to take into account the fact that more power means longer tubes. If you think you might be cutting larger things then prioritize bed size over power. You can upgrade power, you can't upgrade bed size.

[Kev Williams]

I have 4 machines in completely different sizes- 18x12" LS100 IQ, 24x24" LS900, the 38x20 GCC Gary mentioned above, and my 51x35-ish/1390 Triumph. I love all of 'em, and have specific uses for each one. Each has its Pro's and Con's. But the variety allows me a great many options to get the work out...

To expound on Gary's '...do whatever it takes to get both'-- for someone seriously wanting or needing both, there's 2 machines that I would chose from:
1- The Gravograph LS1000XP-
2- The Trotec Speedy 400-

The LS1000XP has a 48x24" table, has pass-thru doors on all 4 sides, runs at 157" per second, with available power from 60 to 150 watts-

The Speedy 400 has a 39x24" table, has front/back pass thru, runs at 175" per second, with available power from 60 to 120 watts-

Either of these machines can do almost anything a C02 laser CAN do, and fast as hell to boot!

Me, since 15 of my 19 machines are Gravograph/New Hermes machines, all of which have given me stellar service over MANY years, AND because it's a bit larger, can be had with a bit more power, I would take the 1000 in a heartbeat. (Also because my rep would sell me one at barely above cost :D )

--But a great many here have and love their Trotec's, and for good reason, they're top-quality no BS machines that WORK.

That all said-- if your needs lean more towards CUTTING than ENGRAVING, cutting being a slow process no matter the machine, then a big, powerful Chinese machine can offer a lot of bang for the buck. But if the signage jobs start coming in, you WILL need another, or FASTER machine... Lots to consider for sure :)

[Trey Tull]

I don't do enough cutting to justify going over 60w but I would love to have a larger work envelope. My Universal is 18x32 and is pretty quick.

[Mike Null]

Power would be my choice if I only had one choice. After 22 years in the business I haven't had to turn away much because of table size.

[Jerome Stanek]

I say table size as I have had to turn down work because I only had a 12 x 24 table and they needed 20 x 20 cuts. I now have a 24 x 40 table with a 130 watt tube. I still use the 12 x 20 for small jobs but most of my work is on the bigger table.

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Consider that the higher the power you go, the more useful for cutting, and less useful for fine accurate engraving, it will become.
I started with a ULS M-300. 40watt + roraty, and secondhand . Fantastic learning curve- dead easy if you have competence with Corel Draw.
Brilliant for engraving, But small, and slow if you want a lot of cutting of things thicker than 4.5mm.
Then we got a 2nd hand Goldenlaser, 130 watt, 700x1300 bed with passthrough. Really great, and we used the pass through for big 4 ft x 8 ft sheets.
But poor at engraving, in comparison with the Universal.

Then we had a 2-head, 2 tube 100 & 180w custom-made flatbed unit, 2500 x 1300 mm, with adjustable height bed for the front 3 ft.
The others get hardly used now that this can accommodate most work- BUT there are times when I'll have all three running at once.

If I had to get rid of 2, and keep one, it would be the 2-tube big one we'd keep.
I had the ULS regassed and upgraded to 55w. It is still a lovely machine, albeit ancient.

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Thanks everyone for your input. We have a limited amount we can spend. We will be traveling about 3 hours today to see what the Trotec has to offer. We are still not sure if we are going for more power or bigger bed size, as your answers were divided, which makes sense that it depends on what you are going to do with it. I am just hoping they give us a good price : )

Wish us luck!

Zelma

[Clark Pace]

Everyone's situation is different.

1. Do you have the space?
2. Even if you have the space now, will you be getting other equipment.
3. On Chinese lasers anyways a machine with too much power won't engrave as well as in some ways as a lower 50-60wattage machine.
4. It also depends on what you business your in. I have a 29" x 18", and 99% of what I do fits into that size.



Also cost. Larger machines can cost thousands or tens of thousands more. So there really is no one size fits all.

[Mike Null]

For what it's worth I did this job with my first laser, a 24x12 Universal 25 watt.

421044

The job was to engrave the Washington University logo on the ends of the church pews. The mfr. of the pews assisted by sending just the end supports for the pews.

I work out of my basement so logistics issues sometimes dictate what I can do more than the laser size. This "little job" paid well but I managed to inflict a hernia in the process.

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Hey thank you all for your words of wisdom and encouragement. We will soon be the proud new owners of a Trotec 360, 80 watt. Our laser has been down and out for about three weeks now. We are very excited and anxious to get started . . . again.

[Mike Null]

Congratulations! You are going to love it.

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Thank you Mike! We are still learning it but you are right, LOVE it!

[Clark Pace]

So in my opinion there is not one specific answer. First do you have room for a bigger laser? 2nd, and in my case 2 lasers which are smaller work better for my situation. Twice as fast!

3rd. One of the reasons I have 2 laser is a just in case. I use both, but what if one goes down. At least I can still process orders while the other is being fixed. Even one day hurts me!

4th. Who do you plan selling to? If you plan on doing large items from the start then of course get a big laser.

5th. Every product I do right now fits in my smaller lasers. (27" x 18"). Until I find a need for a larger laser I would not use the extra space anyways. I am busy enough with what I am doing. If you find a need for a laser laser I may get one.

So you see every situation is different. But of course you don't always know what you will need until you need it.

Do a lot of research.