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View Full Version : Laser M350 - good or bad?



Mark Venema
09-23-2008, 4:11 PM
Has anyone heard or have experience with this laser? Good or bad?

Thanks,

Mark

matt heinzel
09-23-2008, 4:20 PM
Looks kinda scary. That seems like a strange bed size as well.

Constant Laubscher
09-23-2008, 4:24 PM
The service you get from big companies are bad enough I can just imagine what theirs would be like? Where are they located? Looks like they are Internet based. I would not buy from them.

Mark Venema
09-23-2008, 4:29 PM
Looks like they are based in Virginia. No phone number, so that is scary in itself. So, if it looks too good to be true...it probably is? Thanks.

Mike Mackenzie
09-23-2008, 4:31 PM
This would scare me away.

Is there a warranty included?
Please see the pricing page for options. The standard pricing is for a laser engraver that we have personally setup in our lab to ensure its operation. Once verified, we ship it too you and you can be confident that it will work well once you get it. A warranty is not included in the prices listed on our website. You may purchase a warranty, however you would be responsible for shipping the unit back. If you purchase a unit and something fails in the future, we can order replacement parts for you to install.

Gary Hair
09-24-2008, 1:30 PM
This may be really picky, but the dog tags that they have on the ebay listing are all engraved crooked... If they can't even engrave their samples what kind of machine do they produce? I think if I was selling a $4k laser I would at least spend another $0.40 to get the dog tag right.

The specs:
35 Watts
Water Cooled
Air assist
Built-in exhaust fan
Includes Corel Draw
8" - Z axis travel
11 x 17 cutting area

35 watts is ok, especially for a $4k machine
Water cooled means it is a glass tube, chinese mfg - old technology but very inexpensive
Built-in exhaust fan - hmmm... My guess is it's nothing more than a 5v fan. Even if not, it can't have anywhere near the power you would need to really exhaust the fumes. Plus, you want a "pull" system, not "push"
11 x 17 cutting area - are you kidding me? Mine is 38" x 20" and I want more...

sergio laser
10-31-2008, 5:57 PM
To whom it may concern

We as a small business understand that some of you business owners may see us as competitors for the laser engraving market. What we like to point out to the public is the following. First of all if you are interested in our products please do not hesitate to contact us at sales@machinaria.com or visit our site for our phone number. Please note that our machines come with a 1 Year Warranty and we do provide you with technical support. We also can provide you with larger Laser cutters for more information write to us at sales@machinaria.com and let us know what size you are looking for. About the crooked Dog tag, that has nothing to do with our laser engravers if you like to request a sample of our laser engraving or cuts let us know what material you are interested in looking at. We would be happy to provide you with them.:)


Sincerely
Sergio Arze
Owner
Machinaria
sergioarze@machinaria.com
www.machinaria.com

Chris Fulton
10-31-2008, 6:00 PM
I was searching google the other day and came across this thread. Being an owner of this particular model I thought I'd chime in here and see if I can help shed some light on the questions being asked.

Probably like many of you, as it is for me, a laser engraver is for a hobby or small business. And as such, I wanted to get a laser engraver that would do what I wanted and spend the least amount of money. Don't we all! But with anything you buy, the phrase "You get what you pay for" comes into play. I can tell you that I've been more than pleased with my purchase of this machine and its done everything I've asked of it.

Some background: I was looking for a machine that would allow me to engrave on and cut wood and acrylic. I wanted to do up to 1/4". Based on the research I did I found that something in the 30W range would work for me. I looked at many of the vendors online, ebay, etc. Surprisingly there are many vendors both foriegn and domestic. Many of the same names kept coming up and seemed to be REALLY nice machines. However, I didn't want to spend $12,000 for my hobby.

I looked at several of the available "chineese" made laser engravers and quickly found that I had to consider more 'features'. Such as, does it require a special card to interface to your PC? I think the "Redsail" brand required this or you could pay extra $$ to get a USB interface. Also, many of them required their own software which was a big cause for concern. I didn't want to be limited by a piece of software written in China or have a driver problem that wouldn't allow my laptop or desktop to work.

I came across an ebay ad for the "M350" and traded several emails with th seller. After some discussion and several weeks I asked if I could see a machine in action. And, as you might have guessed, there were only a few in the US at that time. Luckily I had freq flyer miles to burn and went to the source -- I visited the owners near D.C. and got to test the machine first hand. I loaded the drivers and software on MY laptop, plugged into MY USB port and cut and engraved from MY files. From the time I pulled out my laptop to when I made my first circle in wood was about 20 minutes or so. The bed size was 11x17 which seemed fine for what I wanted to do, but I've since spoken with them and found you can get 12x18 easily. You have to turn the nozzel for the air hose that goes into the head unit and you're done. I do 12" pieces now with no problem.

I bought the machine and have been using it for various projects. I have engraved solid granite (50% power, 100% speed), Cut acrylic (40-85% power based on thickness 1/8 or 1/4), engraved photos on wood (37% power, 100% speed). I've made a field box out of 1/4" ply for my RC flying, engraved memorial plaques for grave sites, cut out acrylic shapes for my daughters daycare, engraved my company logo on annodized golf divot tools and made gifts for customers with some 4" laser tile.

So, what is the down side? As pointed out the warranty is 1 year. I wouldn't want to pay to have it shipped back, but parts are available and can be sent too you. I broke a mirror (my fault) and got a replacement which took about 2 minutes to replace. Someone mentioned that the water cooled glass tubes are old technology and inexpensive. There seem to be many of these water cooled machines around in the 'used' market still running so I would venture to say while its older technology, it seems very stable. The machine does a manual focus which is something that other machines have. However, its so simple to focus its silly. Turn the knob to raise/lower the table using the included guage to set the height. It takes about....oh? 5 seconds? I honestly though that was something I'd miss but its never something I even think about now -- I just do it.

The fan in the back...well, it isn't much. It DOES create airflow and It pulls smoke from my machine. However, it can't push thorough several feet of vent hose. I bought a 1500 CFM exhaust fan from Harbor Freight for $79 which really pulls the air out - which is vented outside. Not only does this cut down any smoke or ordor, it also keeps the mirrors cleaner. Still, I do clean them 1 time per week for good measure. I've never had any build up other than a fingerprint or two though.

Oh, another thing I like....Corel Draw is included and cuts/engraves directly from Corel through your USB port. Nothing to buy, no special software or boards to install. Just plug and go. It does, however, have a copy protection dongle that you plug into your USB port. If its not plugged in then you can't engrave, but thats fine with me. I work for a software company myself and don't have an issue with copy protection.

I'm trying to think what else I can offer here. Oh, it does require a water pump which you can buy many places (Pet supply, ebay, harbor freight, MSC, McMaster-Carr, etc). Mine was about $80 but it has a higher flow than required. I also bought the exhaust fan - which is NOT required, but I recommend it. Vent the machine to the outside if you're in an enclosed area. It took me 25 mins to install a "dryer vent" in my garage and now I'm set.

If you have any questions, let me know. I would be happy to show anyone how it works if you're interested -- I live in Indianapolis so it may be a bit far for some of you :) Also, I've emailed the owner and told him about this thread so he can join in and answer any questions also.

Kim Vellore
11-01-2008, 12:28 AM
I am very curious about the dongle, why is the dongle required to raster.
Kim

sergio laser
11-01-2008, 9:35 AM
Kim

The Encryption key is required because many companies may want to copy our software, therefore the Security Dongle was implemented.


Regards
Sergio Arze
Owner
www.machinaria.com
sergioarze@machinaria.com

Mark Venema
11-03-2008, 2:18 PM
That a month old thread receives a response from the seller of these lasers. Then on the very same day the "seller" responds, a happy customer found this thread through a google search and decides to write about their experience.....what a coincidence!! Any other happy customers out there that bought and use this laser?

Angus Hines
11-03-2008, 2:24 PM
Even more interesting is it comes with "Corel"....But wait you go to the site and yes it does < Corel v12 >....arn't we up to X4 now ???? even more interesting is all there pictures are broken or non exsistent.

sergio laser
11-03-2008, 6:01 PM
That a month old thread receives a response from the seller of these lasers. Then on the very same day the "seller" responds, a happy customer found this thread through a google search and decides to write about their experience.....what a coincidence!! Any other happy customers out there that bought and use this laser?


Mr Mark

We understand your skepticism. Please write to us and let us know if you would like a demo of our machines we can also provide your with some references. If you would like some samples let us know we will be glad to send them to you.

Best regards
Sergio Arze
www.machinaria.com

sergio laser
11-03-2008, 6:05 PM
Mr Mark

We understand your skepticism. Please write to us and let us know if you would like a demo of our machines we can also provide your with some references. If you would like some samples let us know we will be glad to send them to you.

To Angus Hines

We are sorry about the broken links, they are now fixed. Angus you as a website owner should know that this can happen to anyone. pictures were down for a few hours and they have been fixed. Thank you .

Best regards
Sergio Arze
www.machinaria.com (http://www.machinaria.com/)

sergio laser
11-03-2008, 6:33 PM
One more thing , Coreldraw 12 is a very powerful tool even if the version X4 or 14 is out. here is a link to the differences of the versions .
http://www.corel.com/content/pdf/cdgsx4/CDGSX4_Upgrade_Matrix_Matrix_ENG-5087-11_printable.pdf

Chris Fulton
11-03-2008, 9:30 PM
Mark

Actually, its no coincidence. I saw this thread and tried to subscribe to this forum but was unable too. (This is the embarrasing part) I tried many times to registerand it wouldn't work - it kept telling me my username (I usually go by buckey29, you can find me on many other forums and ebay with that user name). I finally gave up and emailed Sergio to tell him about this thread. Sergio replied a couple days later stating that he figured out why I can't get registered -- I needed to use a "first and last" name. I didn't see that anywhere on the forum registration page. It just said my user name didn't meet the administrator rules or the user name was already in use. So, I registered with my real name and viola! It worked

So with that being said, I am a real person just like you. I work for IBM (If you're skeptical, look me up in the employee db on our home page) and am a real customer of Machinaria. I don't have an agenda for anyone other than to come here and learn from others and share my experiences.

I'm actually kind of surprised at some of the harsh responses. The laser is a Chineese laser that comes with an older version of Corel (OEM). Its $4200. In my opinion its well worth that price....I'm a newby (< 1 year) with laser engravers but with everything I've read and seen about other units, I haven't seen anything that can be done with a Universal or Epilog 40W unit that I can't do with mine.

Sorry I'm kind of wordy. I tend to write a lot. But when I read your post that implied that my review wasn't real, I wanted to set the record straight. I also posted a review on CNCZone a while back. Here is a link too the posting:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62648

Charlie Wiley
11-05-2008, 7:04 PM
I bought one in June have not had any problems with the machine. I picked it up because I did not no how to use it. So I could get started He worked with me for Four hours. Went back a couple of weeks later with a new computer. He down loaded it for me. Have talked with him and his partner several times. trying to help me with pictures has also sent me some some pictures. They are great to work with. I have never had any problems with the machine. If you are looking for a long warenty they can sell you the same machine for 12 Thousand like the other companies do. You get nothing free in life. I would buy another one today from them if I needed one. they even call at times to see how things are going show me a larger company that would do that.

Sergio Arze
11-07-2008, 7:30 AM
Thank you.

brent mcmillen
10-02-2009, 5:20 PM
I have an M350 laser from Machinaria, I bought it on Ebay. The shipping was fast, and it seems to work good. I have never used one before so I am easily impressed. I have had several questions and got replies very fast, as a matter of fact if you go to their web page and to the tech support, the most of the information that is posted there was generated because of questions I asked.
I was not impressed with the lack of operations documentation but other than that it has worked pretty well.