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Craig Hogarth
05-04-2007, 1:15 AM
Would a dual head be beneficial on a 35w laser?

Since the power is essentially reduced, wouldn't it take about the same amount of time since you'd have to slow it down?

Rodne Gold
05-04-2007, 2:34 AM
Short answer: dont go dual head unless you have a huge order of all the same thing that would keep your machine occupied for months. Even that might not be a great option cos even if you had a project or a sustained run that would even make you think of a dual head , another smaller complete machine makes far more sense in terms of that if one fails , you still have another. If a dual head machine fails , production is stopped comepletely
It also halves your engraving area and adds to the mass of the flying optics and you cant get max speed. Alignment is critical as well.
For a large format/high power laser , a dual head might be a reasonable option .

James Stokes
05-04-2007, 6:11 AM
I have the dual head set-up for my 100 watt laser but in 2 years I have never used it.

Mike Null
05-04-2007, 7:47 AM
Rodne is 100% right. I used a dual head 100 watt machine in a fairly high volume awards operation and neither the dual head nor the 100 watts justified the cost.

Joe Pelonio
05-04-2007, 10:27 AM
I also know a guy that has a dual head, he took off the second head because he never used it.

Craig Hogarth
05-04-2007, 3:10 PM
I've been marketing to various professionals in the real estate industry and have accepted 3 jobs making a total of 2400 business cards. Total job time should be about 50 hours and I have cards priced at about $41/hr net.

I still have several requests on the table that I have not accepted as of yet. They range anywhere between 100 cards up to 5000 (although, not sure of the legitimacy of that one yet) but I'm limiting orders to 1000 cards or less.

The reason for the dual head is geared more towards being able to take on larger orders. Of course, reduced job time is a bonus.

I'm just wondering how a dual head works on my wattage (35). I'm game if I can increase production by at least 75%, but if my wattage is slowing it down to the point where it washes out, what's the point?

Mike Null
05-04-2007, 5:11 PM
I'm sorry my memory isn't clear but it seems as though the dual head on the old Epilog reduced the power by 50% on each head.

Mike Mackenzie
05-04-2007, 5:26 PM
Dual heads will split the power as well as the table.

example 12x24 35 watt with dual head will give you two 12x12 work areas with 17.5 watts per head.

If your system runs lets say 60ips and you are using 100% power then you will be running the same job at 30 ips. The difference here is you only travel over 12" instead of 24" everything within the 12" area is what the second head will produce so even slowing down the system to get the depth it should still save time on larger orders.

Craig Hogarth
05-04-2007, 6:31 PM
Mike,

With the material I have on hand, I'm getting awesome contrast at 80 power 60 speed. Am I safe to assume that with dual heads, it would be something more like 100 power, 45 speed? Or would I still have to go with 80 power, 30 speed?

BTW, is speed proportional? Like 60 speed is exactly double of 30?

Mike Mackenzie
05-04-2007, 11:18 PM
Craig,

It would most likely be 100 power and 40 speed to try and match your other settings using a dual head.

The speed should be proportional the power won't. If the systems max speed is 60 ips and you are using 100% speed then if you use 50% speed it should be 30 ips.

It will also make a difference on the ramping speeds (start and stop) but I don't think it will make that big of a difference using a 12" area.