Chinese lasers - they're here !!!

[Ian Franks]

we are looking into an XY carraige machine, just to expand our product line.

Jiten we got a 400 x 600 50w chinese machine for our cupcake wrappers bought from a local guy here in Johannesburg. He also has his main business as a tool and die shop. He could then ensure the machine was properly assembled. I am also not a handy type person so this was important for me. The effective width is 325 x 510 as the design is not the best. This works for me. We are just busy our first plywood job cutting and engraving wooden medals.
For big orders we use our bindery staff to load, vacuum and pack the products as an intricate cut takes about 12 minutes for 8 wrappers from one sheet, so this works well for us. With bigger sheets of paper you can get more product out per sheet.

[Rodne Gold]

You really don't have to be at all that handy, its really a matter of just checking stuff , you don't need anything more than basic tools (and they supply some)a spirit level and maybe a drill.... It's not like its a car that comes in a box of parts... hook up some wires and tubes and go...
Tube alignment is the only fiddly bit , but you HAVE to learn that with all lasers and its only the first time thats an issue, it gets eaiser and quicker every time , we can do a full alignment in minutes..
We just got our shipment of rowmark/IpI/gravog/whatever type engraving lams from China , mainly gold/black and silver/black in .8 and 1.5mm thicknesses and have run comparative tests on our chinese/mainstream lasers vs the 4x the price stuff , and there is not difference in engraving or cut edges at all , we randomly pulled out and checked sheets for thickness , for surface consistency , quality of brush finishes , dropouts, dimples etc - no issues at all...

[Jiten Patel]

I am definitely for that. A second galvo, and a carriage laser. £10k sounds good to me. Just need to put it off for a little while, as we are just trying to build our business model before we make any more investments. People can easily fall into a trap of plugging all their money back into their business. We are doing well, but we need to have a strategy for the next step. What products/materials, workforce, marketing. Once we have that sorted, we will definitely be investing. I'm thinking more the 1200x800 or even maybe a smaller 900x600 to start with.

Hopefully by the end of the year we will be in a more serious position to be able to take the plunge. Honestly can't wait. After spending 2 days using the carriage system and seeing them cut through things like butter, and the detail, it's just incredible. The things we would come up with would be amazing, and I'm thinking more design orientated rather than production/manufacturing. Lowish cost high resale sort of things. Similar to the business model I am running at the moment.

I have to say, Sawmill is the greatest resource I have. I appreciate everyone's input and knowledge on here. Big thank you to you all.

[Jiten Patel]

Ian, Do you cut your wrappers out of paper or card?? What sort of weights are you working with?

[Rodne Gold]

Yeh , you need working capital , sinking it all in can sink the business or do you all in
Im in a situation right now like that , Im basically buying a whole years stock of goods in one go , have to find the cash to do that, but my alternative it pay more than double on a monthly basis - gonna be a painful few months while we play catch up. Iv'e told Buggatti to delay delivery of the Veyron for 6 months

[Dan Hintz]

Iv'e told Buggatti to delay delivery of the Veyron for 6 months

Should have worked with Keonigsegg... they're delaying delivery of my Agera R because they didn't feel the seat cupped my rear well enough, and throwing in a laser-engraved coffee cup for my trouble.

[Jiten Patel]

Rodney, pleasure before business, always! My Reventon arrived a few months back, wasnt happy with so used it to test my galvo, made for some amazing invitations!. They should be sending a few Aventadors my way to keep me happy. I will do a play by play when I receive them, from unpacking to the first test run.

[Dan Hintz]

They should be sending a few Aventadors my way to keep me happy.

I'm imagining an automotive jousting match, poles sticking out the side windows...

[Jiten Patel]

Now that I would pay to see! Sounds like we are onto something here. Now all we need to do is pitch it to some seriously rich people!!!

[Ian Franks]

Jiten it depends on the type of paper but thickest we cut on is 160gsm so between 120 and 160gsm. We tested the heavy board but it distorts on the fine cuts when you wrap it around the cupcakes

[Dan Ashlin]

Now that I would pay to see! Sounds like we are onto something here. Now all we need to do is pitch it to some seriously rich people!!!

I'm sure I could donate something out of my Aston Martin collection for that. Maybe the DBS v12, they're pretty cheap lol.

[Dan Hintz]

We tested the heavy board but it distorts on the fine cuts when you wrap it around the cupcakes

Have you tried wrapping the paper (board) around a cupcake-sized rod? Lay the sheet flat, place the rod at one end, and as you roll the rod, make sure the board stays pressed against the rod... same idea behind placing a spring around tubing to be bent, or sand inside of tubing to be bent, to prevent cracks.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Rodne, I am not having the same luck with my Chinese laser. My salesperson assure me that there would be no problems. Well, her english leaves a little to be desired. I have asked to talk to a technician or engineer but have not done so yet. There is definitely a sense of being stranded.

Early next week I am going to let her on my computer to make sure the software is installed correctly. I don't know that is the problem though. I can move my table up and down, the chiller, exhaust fan, and air compressor all work, but I can not move the laser head or fire/test the laser. Does a computer even need to be hooked up to manually use the laser with the control panel?

I just wonder if there is not a switch, or something is not plugged in or something like that

Bruce

[Jiten Patel]

Ian, maybe the design needs more tabs? We have really fine designs and they cut fine and wrap fine. We have since taken to using similar paper weights as you as its quicker and we realised you do not need to cut them out of 300gsm stock as no-body really card or paper, just as long as it is good quality paper and matches their theme

[Rodne Gold]

The laser should fire without having a puter attached , you should also be able to move the head. The laser should boot up when switched on , ie move the heads to the machine limits and then go to its assigned home. Is your laser doing that?
As to laser not firing, well if you have a flow sensor switch in the chiller line and it senses no flow , it wont allow the laser to fire.
The first thing to check is to see if your ground spike is good and you indeed have good ground to the chassis and laserpower supply and mainboard.
You might have a faulty LCD/Control panel or its cable has come adrift?
What brand of machine do you have?
What software are you using and if possible , say what motherboard are you running.

On a more depressing note , unfortunately my mom passed away peacefully this morning , so I'm out of work till Tuesday.
I am not sad about her passing as she was in a very bad place in regard to her physical condition and was living in torment. She had had a good run , being 78 and it was sort of expected.