I finally ordered a new system...

[Robert Ray]

After months of research, weighing size and available space, laser power, software features, price, available options, servo vs stepper, and more, I finally settled on the Laserpro C180.

It's a new entry level offering from Laserpro with a 12" x 18" table, but I think it has what I need.

I chose the 30 watt, (firestar v30 laser) over the 40 watt because the beam diameter is just a bit smaller than a 40 watt, and I am looking to keep the cutting kerf as thin as possible. I also chose the 1.5" focus lens in both keeping the optical power density higher, het giving the finest kerf possible.

There are some new features that I did not have with the Venus that are exciting. One is Smart Center (http://www.gccworld.com/images/smartCENTER.gif) that makes it easy to engrave a laptop or cell phone. You just hand drag the laser nozzle to the top left of the engraving area and press a botton, do the same for the bottom right, then start and the center is calculated, and engraving is centered from that point.

Another feature I like is Trueimage, which is a new laser firing algorithm designed to eliminate banding when rastering.

Also there is an LED Light Bar inside, so the work is liiuminates, a nice feature that is missing from many engravers, and should be standard.

That's about all the really new stuff with this model, although it states in the PDF that it is "compatable with wireless data transmission", but my dealer said it just has USB and Parallel Port connections, and no wireless NIC inside, so I have an inquiry int to GCC to find out what exactly they mean by that statement.

So now I have to suffer a whole month in anticipation, until it is delievered.

-Robert

[Ben Levesque]

Rob

Don't forget to keep us updated on your results when you will receive your new toy :D.

Ben

[Robert Ray]

I will, but it's a month off till it arrives. I can't wait! :D

-Robert

[Killor Perez]

Hello Robert, I also waiting my Mercury machine,
I winner in one Auction on eBay..:D

I never used a Laser engraver machine,
I hope it is easy to use.

Greetings from Spain,:)

[Mike Null]

Killor

Welcome to SMC and to lasering.

[Robert Ray]

Hello Robert, I also waiting my Mercury machine,
I winner in one Auction on eBay..:D

I never used a Laser engraver machine,
I hope it is easy to use.

Greetings from Spain,:)

Hi Killor, yes it is easy to learn to use a laser engraver. What it harder is learning to do everything you want in Corel Draw, or whatever other software you are going to use.

It took me about 6 months to be able to design a decent project. Rastering is easier to learn, so if you just want to engrave pictures and graphics, that will go fast. Vector cutting takes a bit more effort, but it is all fun and exciting to learn!.

I am still waiting on my machine. I guess I have 3 more weeks, but no firm word on the shipping date yet.

[Killor Perez]

Thanks for your advice,
we will go on to the difficult, of course :D ! cutting, cutting, jeje!!
Begin cutting cardboard to take management.
What type of lens is the most common ZnSe or GaAs ?

Thanks to all members
Killor

[Robert Ray]

ZnSe is the lens used with CO2 laser cutters. I would recommend a 2" focal length as being the most useful.

I use the 1.5" focal length because I cut 1/32" (.8mm) and 1/64" (.4mm) plywood, and want the finest and cleanest cut I can get, but it goes out of focus very easy.

-Robert

[Killor Perez]

So , How many laser power i need to cutting a 20mm of wood ?
Thank's

Killor

[Scott Shepherd]

You won't. If you could, it would be so slow it wouldn't make sense to do. Better off with a CNC router for that (in my opinion).

[Robert Ray]

I was able to get 6mm Spanish Cedar (humidor wood from a south american dicidous tree) to just barely cut on my 35 watt laser. It was not a very clean cut, and took a long time. Like Scott said, it's better with a cutting tool.

But Acrylic is good with a laser. I think you can cut 20mm Acrylic with 40 watts, but it's slow too.

-Robert

[Deane Shepard]

I cut some 7 ply baltic birch plywood that was 9.2mm thick but had to run at 100% power and only 1.5% on speed (50 watt ULS M-360). A router or saw would be much better if there was any volume to be done. I had one complicated cut that needed to be very precise and since I didn't have a CNC router, I used the laser. It worked, but like the others have said, it is not very fast.

[Killor Perez]

Thank you all for your responses.
I hope that at least can cut Spruce or rosewood 3 mm or 4 mm of thick.
This Mercury have got 30W of laser power.

[Robert Ray]

I cut some 7 ply baltic birch plywood that was 9.2mm thick but had to run at 100% power and only 1.5% on speed (50 watt ULS M-360)

I'm glad to hear you finally got your Laser Deane! Are we having fun yet?:D

-Robert

[Robert Ray]

My guy dropped the ball, and the first batch of C180 machines have already been sold, so now I have to wait till mid June for the next shipment. That really tweeks me! I hate waiting and waiting, while every Johnny come lately get's their machine. Has this ever happened to you?

-Robert

[Bill Cunningham]

Has this ever happened to you?
Ha!! Been a day late, or a buck short my whole life..:D
Yup I know the feeling when ya gotta have it, ya gotta have it NOW If I wanted it next month, I would have ordered it next month.. :(

[Robert Ray]

The problem with waiting is not that I am idle, it is that I am swapping out a sheet every 4 minutes with my little laser, which I could extend to 12-16 minutes, giving me time to do something else instead of sitting in front of the laser all day.

I have 1250 sheets to do, so that is 84 hours of burn time, plus add 20 hours of setup time aligning the sheets, and vacuuming debris.

That setup time could be reduced to 5 hours if I was setting up a larger sheet, and I could be working on the next project if I had more time between setups. I tried to push this project back 1 month, but the customer wants it yesterday. :D

I guess it's much better to be busy than to be bored though!

-Robert Ray

[Zac Altman]

Did the laser finally get to you? Could you do a mini review for us? (if you have the time of course)

[Rob Bosworth]

Robert, I noticed a statement in your first post that I have to question. You said that you chose the Synrad Firestar because it had a smaller beam size than the 40 watt laser they offered. You chose the 30 Synrad because the smaller beam out of the laser will allow you to get a smaller spot size through your focus lens.

Theoretically, it is just the opposite with CO2 laser beams. The larger the beam diameter, the smaller you can focus the beam. It does not make sense, but it is true.

[Dan Hintz]

Theoretically, it is just the opposite with CO2 laser beams. The larger the beam diameter, the smaller you can focus the beam. It does not make sense, but it is true.
Theoretically, there is no difference between a large beam and a small one. Focused spot size is physically limited by the wavelength of the CO2 beam (10.6um) and practically limited by the quality of your optics (often 10x and above). A larger beam before the focusing optics will typically allow for a more consistent focus, but it doesn't limit the final spot size.