Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 26 of 26

Thread: Which Chinese Laser To Buy ???

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Shefford, United Kingdom
    Posts
    685
    Whats the power spec on the golden laser? Anything with flash lamps is going to draw lots of juice and need a big chiller as your lucky to get 5% wall socket efficency, hopefully it would come with a chiller but worth checking. Price is very good IMHO ! Guess getting them to cut some rings would be the next step. I doubt this will be anygood for engraving mind you, just cutting, but again samples would prove it either way.
    L Squared Lasers UK
    2 x Halo Lasers 20 watt fiber
    1 x Halo CO2 Galvo System
    1 x Shenhui 1512 80 watt
    3 x Electrox D40
    3 x electrox Scriba 2
    1 x Electrox Scorpion 40 watt Fibre
    1 x Epilog EXT36 75 watt.

  2. #17
    I don't see the total power needed. It does come with a chiller. Here is the basic laser: http://goldenlaser.cc/Product/Kxl_629_23.html They sent a movie of it cutting through a round a 3/4" diameter tube, which is very close to what I'm looking for.
    ULS 135 watt w/rotary, Mazak QT-6T CNC lathe, Dapra machining center, Sherline CNC, Tormach CNC, Acad, Rofin welding laser, YAG laser w/ rotary, 4500 watt Fiber laser
    Boone Titanium Rings

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Shefford, United Kingdom
    Posts
    685
    Yeah hard to work out anything from the spec sheet, few errors in it I suspect. 18kw chiller is quite big (it will need it) you would need to vent that heat outside in the summer but nice in the winter, we have a 15kw and it heats our whole building easily. Its going to pull a fair bit from the wall socket so i would get that confirmed and check your electrics are up to the job. Wheres the video, cant see it on the website? If it does the job i cant see you getting anything like that cheaper.
    L Squared Lasers UK
    2 x Halo Lasers 20 watt fiber
    1 x Halo CO2 Galvo System
    1 x Shenhui 1512 80 watt
    3 x Electrox D40
    3 x electrox Scriba 2
    1 x Electrox Scorpion 40 watt Fibre
    1 x Epilog EXT36 75 watt.

  4. #19
    They emailed me the video. I imagine it's too large to upload here at 4.2 meg.
    ULS 135 watt w/rotary, Mazak QT-6T CNC lathe, Dapra machining center, Sherline CNC, Tormach CNC, Acad, Rofin welding laser, YAG laser w/ rotary, 4500 watt Fiber laser
    Boone Titanium Rings

  5. #20
    After getting the great quote from Golden Laser, I'm finding that it can only be run in continuous mode due to its flash lamp configuration. This would eliminate the possibility of doing any engraving, which would be important to my products standing out from others. It seems the only way to do that is to go with a fiber laser where the frequency and waveform can be specified. I am having them check into whether their unit could be supplied that way. I talked to their US distributor in Atlanta today, and he basically said the same thing. It would probably skyrocket the cost into the 6 digit range.

    I also talked to the guy from Micro Kinetics today and had him look at my Tormach machine. One possibility we came up with is taking out the Mach 3 motion control board and substituting it with his own, which would have about 4 times the resolution, and he would be able to better integrate the machine with his software. That would be relatively cheap to do. All the electrical and mechanical guts would remain the same with the exception of trading out the rotary axis with a smaller and better suited one for laser work. I also got a firm quote on the 400 watt TruFiber lasing unit from Trumpf in the $73k range with chiller and frequency generator and stuff. This has no motion control as part of the package. The fiber may not be able to get through the thicker 4mm material as I had hoped, but would have the advantages of extreme efficiency and long life. The laser part would also be a fairly low risk option since it all works as a unit and if retrofitting the Tormach didn't work, it could be run on a unit like the EBay unit that Matthew had found.

    Another somewhat strange but maybe cost effective option is to get a Chinese laser with both a burning and engraving source in one unit with a dual optical path. I could have the power of the 650 watt flashlamp YAG and engrave with a 100 watt diode pumped YAG. Not a bad solution either.
    ULS 135 watt w/rotary, Mazak QT-6T CNC lathe, Dapra machining center, Sherline CNC, Tormach CNC, Acad, Rofin welding laser, YAG laser w/ rotary, 4500 watt Fiber laser
    Boone Titanium Rings

  6. #21
    Hi Guys and thanks for your input so far. I have decided to buy a G. Weike LC1290 90-100 watt reci w2 laser. Their price was USD $3900 + $300 rotary + $150 auto focus + $400 cw500 chiller + $100 usb + $100 red dot = $4950 delivered CIF to Brisbane Australia. I will probably use my own freight forwarder to help deal with customs so hopefully their price should reduce a bit. As our customs regulations read, if it is a computerised laser machine or if what you are buying is not commercially manufactured in Australia, then it is duty free. Please don't stop posting on this thread as I would still like to hear your opinions and see you pics and videos.

    Phill

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Vacaville, Ca
    Posts
    313
    Phil, what do you plan to use the laser for? The reason I ask is that I ordered the same laser last Thursday. I had an 80 watt machine that I sold to my daughter a month ago. With my old laser I did several pictures on Marble, Acrylic and wood. I also cut a lot of 1/8" birch and 1/8" mdf. I figured the LC1290 would be great replacement.

    Then while looking at G.Weike's web page I noticed that they call the LC1290 a cutting machine and the LG1200 is an engraving machine. Well the LG1200 only goes up to 60watt and they don't make a 60 watt RECI tube. For right now I have changed my order to the LG1200 machine.

    Like I said I am still on the fence as to which way to go. I was told that the 60 watt laser has a smaller dot. I was happy with the engraving I did with my 80 watt machine.

    If anyone has any thoughts on this I would sure appreciate your input.

    Bruce
    Hardware: Chinese Laser
    GWeike C1290 80 watt Reci laser
    Home built CNC, Joe's hybrid 4x4
    12" Delta Bandsaw, Jet Table Saw
    Router table, and more.
    Software: CorelDraw Suite 5x
    PhotoShop 7,

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Posts
    3,922
    buy the 60w tube AND order an 80/100w Reci + power supply (should be $600 or so)
    You can fit the other tubes in and easily configure the machine to use em. you can then decide what to use and have a spare.
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Vacaville, Ca
    Posts
    313
    Rodney, you are the man! That must be why you have that grin on your face in the photo. My only question would be the diameter of the two tubes. I have heard that the RECI tubes are bigger around. I guess I could have the RECI tubes installed and the make spacers for the regular tubes.

    I am still open to other thoughts.

    Bruce
    Hardware: Chinese Laser
    GWeike C1290 80 watt Reci laser
    Home built CNC, Joe's hybrid 4x4
    12" Delta Bandsaw, Jet Table Saw
    Router table, and more.
    Software: CorelDraw Suite 5x
    PhotoShop 7,

  10. #25
    Hi Bruce
    It is funny that you should mention the difference between the LC and the LG as I asked the same questions to Melody at G. Weike last night and got a reply tonight.
    This is what she said quoting the W2 90 watt tube which peaks at 110 watt,

    I suggest you choose LG for both engraving and cutting.
    If you use a LC machine for engraving, the engraving precision will not be so good, especially when you want high demand as photoengrav.

    If you use LGseres for cutting.only influence the cutting max thickness a little.For speed, almost the same. But W2 tube is already very powerful.. It should have the ability to cut acrylic 15mm and wood 7-8mm.


    These are some of the questions and answers that I first asked her last night.
    1. What is the difference between LG1200 and LC1290 except for tube size?

    LG= laser engraving LC=laser cutting.

    The difference of them are mainly laser tube and laser powersupply. And a little machine function difference. For example the gear of the belt and so on.

    Usually if you want the machine both for engraving and cutting, we will set up a LG machine for you. And if you need the machine only for cutting expecially thick material, we will set up LC machine.


    2.Is the Reci tube you have quoted actually an 80 watt or 100 watt.

    Reci has improves their tubes this year. W2 tube is 90W peak power 110W.


    3. What is the prices for larger Reci tubes

    For the tubes, not the larger tube the better. Large laser tubes are not suitable for engraving any more. If you want to do bothe engraving and cutting. W2 is your best choice. If you focus on cutting, i will quote you larger Reci tube price later. I will suggest you the suitable laser but not expensive laser.

    I would like to visit the factory myself to see the difference in the machines performance side by side. We will see if that pans out. As I understand the info, any size tube can be put into these machines and I think that they use the same chasis. I will be getting some photos from her in a day or so, so I will find out then and post them. I also plan to be cutting a lot of 1/8n ply and also 3/32 box board for scrapbooking which is very dense hence the reason that I want a lot of power. I was even considering upto 150 watt but as you can see from her replies, she recommends no more than the reci 90 watt for engraving. That gives me an idea, 2 machines !!

    Regards
    Phill
    Last edited by Phill Barnes; 05-21-2012 at 3:37 AM.

  11. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by matthew knott View Post
    Yeah hard to work out anything from the spec sheet, few errors in it I suspect. 18kw chiller is quite big (it will need it) you would need to vent that heat outside in the summer but nice in the winter, we have a 15kw and it heats our whole building easily. Its going to pull a fair bit from the wall socket so i would get that confirmed and check your electrics are up to the job. Wheres the video, cant see it on the website? If it does the job i cant see you getting anything like that cheaper.
    Thanks for the heads up on the power consumption Matthew. I finally saw in the fine print of a quote that the power consumption on the 650 watt YAG laser is under 30kW. At 220 volts, that's 135 amps! That is a complete and utter show stopper for that route. The 400 watt fiber laser pulls 9 amps! I knew there would be a difference, but I wasn't expecting that.

    The more I research this, the more I find that cutting lasers and engraving lasers are completely different animals. The engraver ablates the material away, which is done by pulsing the beam and using a Q switch to build up more peak energy, like several kilowatts, even though average power is much less, like 50 or 80 watts. They often use laser diodes to exite the YAG or fiber medium. Cutting lasers generally use flash lamps, partly because they are cheap and have always worked well, but they tend to be run in continuous mode. You don't really see high powered lasers fired by diodes. Maybe it would just take a lot of them and it would add complexity over a flash lamp. I'm not really sure why else. I suppose a flash lamp provides a whole lot of light energy in a simple package. No need to make things more complex than they need to be.

    I might have to rethink my original goals to only cutting thin rings, but cutting them well. The beam gets down to .0002", so it's a lot finer than other options. It probably won't be able to cut much past a 3mm thickness. It may or may not engrave well, but worst case, I could do that first on my other laser then add a mark for zeroing the cutting laser and cut the ring out in a second operation.

    I feel like I'm riding a rollercoaster. Every time I think I have something figured out, a new hill comes along to throw me off balance. I'm having new trials done at the fiber laser place to address some of the issues. They also have pulsed laser options to throw into the mix, so we'll see when the next hill or corner occurs.
    ULS 135 watt w/rotary, Mazak QT-6T CNC lathe, Dapra machining center, Sherline CNC, Tormach CNC, Acad, Rofin welding laser, YAG laser w/ rotary, 4500 watt Fiber laser
    Boone Titanium Rings

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •