Thunder Laser vs Longtai

[Patric Sandelin]

Hi all!

I'm about to get my first laser cutter and stuck with a few questions, of course

I've got a quote from Longtai on a LT-1390 (1300*900 table) with a 150W tube and one from Thunder Laser on a Nova 35 (900*600 table) with a 100W tube.

I'm mainly going to use it for cutting and engraving Oak and plywood up to 20 mm. One said it was enough with a 100W and the other a 150W. I've revised my plan since then and will probably not cut thicker than 15mm. But there's still quite a big difference between a 100W and a 150W. Those of you who have experience with cutting and engraving wood, what do you say?

Considering the Longtai has a bigger table and a bigger laser, the price is still quite a bit below the Thunder Laser. Are the Thunder Laser that much better?

Thanks for your help

[Keith Downing]

Welcome to the forum Patric.

I'm not familiar with those brands, but I would say if you plan to regularly cut wood greater 8-12 mm I would go with the 150W tube all other things being equal.

I personally have a 60 watt tube and can tell you that it takes me 3-4 passes to cut through 1/2" (12mm) plywood. Add to that the fact that Oak is one of the harder woods (at least of the ones most people actually use) and I'd say you might have some problems getting through 20mm on one pass with 100W.

I'm sure others with higher watt lasers will have more to add; but I thought I'd throw in my $.02 in the meantime.

[Bert Kemp]

If engraving is a big part of what your going to do its recommended not to go over 80 watts in a Chinese co2 tube.Higher power tubes are very hard to dial down to get decent engraving. If cutting is your main goal then the more power the better.

[John Lifer]

These guys have way more experience that I, but I'll tell you that my 80watt will cut thru 5mm ply at 70% @ 15mm/s which is right at 23 watts on my meter. I can go higher, about 85% puts me at the 28mA rated power but I don't think it will cut much thicker at that speed. But depending on your engraving, I can dial mine down to 15% -20% and engrave a pretty good picture in ply. I'd bet 150 watts won't engrave for nothing.
And 100 watt machine isn't enough more to really make a difference. I think you need to decide cut vs engraving

BTW, my 80 watt EFR tube is rated at 95 watts @ 28 mA.

[Dave Sheldrake]

For 15mm materials a DC laser is the wrong machine,sadly most if not all sellers in China will tell you lasers cut 20mm materials etc etc, on a DC tube of semi acceptable economy (RECI/EFR etc) you aren't going to be cutting much over 3/8th (9mm) with any standard of quality or speed. 1/4 inch is the realistic day to day working thickness if you want any kind of speed.

[Ron Gosnell]

I have the 130watt thunderlaser. What Dave says above is a pretty fair staement. 1/4, 3/8, cut nice and pretty quick. I only use 75% of my tube power to make it last. I run softwoods 1/4 inch 75% power and 8- 12 speed. I don't do super detailed engraving like photos but what I do engrave I am very pleased with.

So that being said the old adage is true. For best engravings 80 watt or less tubes. For real cutting probably 200 watt or more. The 130-150 watts are kind of bastard models that do each mode very well but do not excel in either. I love my thunderlaser and the reliability of it but 90% of what I do is working with 1/4, 3/8, basswood, alder and pine.

[Rodne Gold]

for what you want to do , a laser is the wrong machine .. a cnc router would be better
Longtais machines are VERY well built , we are impressed with ours.

[Patric Sandelin]

Thanks all for the replies!

I am actually looking to get a CNC, but that will come as #2.

The engraving I'm looking to do is not very detailed, it's basically just cut a 1mm deep text here and a 3mm pattern there.

Yarde at Longtai laser recommended a 150W tube to achieve what I wanted and you couldn't fit that on the smaller 900*600 machine, that's why I got quoted the bigger 1300*900 machine.

Thunder Laser has upped their laser recommendation now to a 130W.

[Ron Gosnell]

Rodne Gold has been doing this a long time. If he likes the Longtais machines and they are the better price then I would consider going that route. I love my Thunderlaser but it doesn't get used near as much as what Rodne probably puts his machines through, so no comparison there.

[Joseph Shawa]

Give me a sample of something you would like to see engraved and on what wood type. I have a few as well as some acrylic.
I'll do it and take a picture. Right now I am using my 3 inch lens almost exclusively.

As far as cutting goes, it seem to be very important to have good forced air penetration. The smoke absorbs the beam. See RDWORKS video on youtube.