Shenhui 350

[Chuck Thomas]

I have an chance to walk into an March 2015 era sh-350 with almost no hours on it. They are asking $1000 for the whole setup, including the rotary. The most it has done in the last 2 years is burn a couple small marks on a chunk of wood. Now I'm used to running a Trotec Speedy 400, and I know this will be a lot different, but this will go in my shop/shed at home. A simple hobby machine. Any feedback on this unit would be appreciated. I watched it test fire, so I know that works. It jogs around and is spotless inside.

[Doug Fisher]

In my opinion, that is too much money considering there is a significant possibility you may need a CO2 laser tube in the near future. $1000 plus the cost of a new quality tube shipped to you is getting close to a similar machine off of eBay delivered to your door. If the buyer has only burned a few marks on wood, they haven't ever done enough with the machine to verify it work accurately.

[Chuck Thomas]

Thanks for the reply. I might be able to get it down to $800. Plus it's only a couple miles from my house. So shipping would be free. Minus some back pain. From what I understand they had trouble getting it focused and understanding the interface between the software and machine. Not a tech savvy person, nor one to have the patience to troubleshoot the issues. That was what they told me. That it wasn't as easy as they had hoped it would be, so it sat. And sat... Now they need it gone. Swadly I think I'm talking myself into it. If anything just for the "joy" of tinkering with one.

[Jerome Stanek]

What size is it what is the tube length and power does it have a chiller

[Dave Sheldrake]

Most of the 350's are sold as 50 watt and they aren't, that usually means the PSU is set to pump high so there is a very good chance the tube is going to die quite quickly if it's still on the original.

$1,000 for a 350 is high...very for a second hand machine, you can pick them up import for $1,100 new, I'd be thinking more $600 max to be honest. In general they are ok, rattlers but ok to mess about with.

[Chuck Thomas]

Well I picked it up last night for $800. Foolish or not, here I go. I believe it to only have a couple hours of life used from the tube. About 6 small burn marks were made on a piece of wood and that was it. I'm 3d printing some alignment tools and I hope to start getting it set up either Monday or early next week. It's going to be a hard step backwards from the Trotec, but I'm still excited about it. I'm been checking out what everyone has been commenting on this style of laser, and a meter is on the top of the list for addons. Until then I'll keep it to about 50%. Low and slow is fine with me.
The tube is a stock tube, so like others have said it's a fake 50W. And so far the only thing you could call a chiller is a water pump that sits in a bucket. So that'll have to change as well.

[Bill Carruthers]

The tube is a stock tube, so like others have said it's a fake 50W. And so far the only thing you could call a chiller is a water pump that sits in a bucket. So that'll have to change as well.[/QUOTE]

FWIW -I wouldn't worry too much about the chiller - unless your hammering it for hours a day, the pump in a bucket works fine for many people - helps if you get a "big" bucket like a garbage bin or something and if necessary have some room to throw in a frozen 4 litre (1 gallon) container of ice for long or heavy use sessions.

[Scott Marquez]

Congratulations Chuck,
Keep an open mind and use this machine as a learning experience, with some tweaking they can produce some great projects, albeit much slower engraving than what you are used to.
Enjoy the ride,
Scott