which trade show should I attend?

[Sean Kirkpatrick]

There is the NBM in Denver in a couple weeks and the SGIA in New Orleans in October. Which of these shows caters more to the laser market? with machines, materials, etc.

I'm looking to purchase a machine in the next month or so and wanted to get a feel of what everyone has to offer and get the best deal.

[Mark Sipes]

Based on the list of Exhibitors that will be attending I would go to Denver. The SGIA looks to be oriented towards the Printing markets, heavy into ink.


Why are you purchasing a laser??? awards, signs, crafts....... wood, plastic, crystal, metal marking. There are other shows depending on your focus..

Most say to purchase the most machine you can afford...... But you need to decide what that ## is. Graphic Software, venting, table size, tube power...all must be addressed.

.

[Tim Bateson]

Get a couple quotes before the NBM show. Then go to the show and negotiate the best price you can. It's there you will likely get the best deal. "IF" you are ready to purchase now.

[Sean Kirkpatrick]

Looking at the Trotec 360. I'm in the market for speed as I'm purchasing the laser to cut fabric for appliqué shapes. very niche market. customer also does a lot of wood cut earrings and will be getting them into some acrylic and leather also.
I've received a quote already and my rep is trying to get me the "show special" that will be offered at the NBM in Denver but I thought I'd go and check everything else before I write a check.

[Tim Bateson]

The "show price" is likely determined in-part by the sales rep. So there is always room for a better deal. I got Trotec's best "show deal" too, as well from Epilog. Both prior to the show. At the show, I used these to get Trotec to came down even farther. I did end up with the Epilog for multiple reasons... including the price. Get the machine you want, but don't spent one dime more than you have to.

[Jerome Stanek]

Take samples of the material you want to cut and watch them cut it. At the shows they have sample cuts that they have optimized but with your material they will have to start a new file

[Mike Null]

I would definitely go to the NBM show as opposed to the sign show. You didn't list your location but the big engraver's show is in Las Vegas toward the end of February.

[Kev Williams]

While a Trotec (and a Gravograph and a few others) will raster engrave at blazing speeds, they WILL not cut faster than a high powered Chinese machine. My LS900 and GCC - both of which are half as fast as the new LS900XT or a Speedy Trotec - is still 5x faster at raster engraving than my Chinese Triumph-- but the Triumph will blow the doors off either of them in vector cut speed... The rather thick outlines on big SS panels I run by island-fill vector take well over an hour in the LS900, the Triumph runs them in 22 minutes...

-- you would do well to do real-world speed testing before plunking down 10x the money for a fast raster machine that's not a fast vector machine...

IF you go to the Denver show, check out the Gravograph area, and see if Bruce Longstroth is selling the machines, I'm betting he will be. Every piece of New Hermes equipment we own, he sold us. (-in my signature plus a half dozen IRX-IV pantographs and a pair of Gortons long gone)... He's a bright spot in Gravograph's infamous lackluster customer service. And Gravographs are great machines. Sad they get so little attention here

[Mike Null]

Kev
I haven't used a Chinese machine so I can't attest to their cutting speed but for me the raster speed is the key. At least 90 percent of my work is engraving (raster) rather than cutting. That's the key advantage of Trotec, not to mention vastly superior materials and build quality and outstanding tech support.

[Matt McCoy]

Some things to maybe also consider for cutting, are how efficiently the software processes the order of cuts to eliminate needless jumping around the bed, and the rapid motion speed between cuts. Depending on how it's handled, this can add up over a production day and the amount of work you you need to produce.

[Kev Williams]

Why I brought up Chinese machines:

Looking at the Trotec 360. I'm in the market for speed as I'm purchasing the laser to cut fabric for appliqué shapes. very niche market. customer also does a lot of wood cut earrings and will be getting them into some acrylic and leather also.

- no mention of raster engraving... I'm sure there will be some, but how much raster time vs. vector time vs. $$$ needs scrutiny

As for processing cutting orders, I have no idea what controller runs my Triumph but it's 'run & done' default settings are very good at organizing the cutting order. It even picks its own starting points to optimize cutting time. I can also choose to have it run 'as loaded' but never have.

[John Lifer]

If you are doing mainly fabric there are machines set up specifically for this. works with rolls of material. Youtube fabric cutting. Mainly Chinese, but maybe you are looking at TWO machines rather than one. All depends on how much you want to spend and how much you are cutting of each material.

[Dave Garrett]

as a speedy 360 owner who works with textiles i can assure you it is a sound investment from the leader in build quality. only thing i'd ask is if you plan on doing fabric larger than the bed size as this becomes tricky to line-up a seamless pattern without spools at either end or a true pass-thru cabinet design. Also strange there is no material group for textiles in Job Control X material database. Overall I am still impressed with the quality and support on offer. It's the Lamborghini of Lasers.

[Kev Williams]

If you are doing mainly fabric there are machines set up specifically for this. works with rolls of material. Youtube fabric cutting. Mainly Chinese, but maybe you are looking at TWO machines rather than one. All depends on how much you want to spend and how much you are cutting of each material.

Or instead of 2 machines-- my Triumph is set up to run 2 separate laser tubes. All I have to do i buy the tube and mirror kit and lens head, connect wiring, align mirrors, and go. The controller and software are already good to go with dual tubes. It would leave me with two 650x900mm (25-1/2" x 31") work areas vs. the 508x813mm Trotec 360 table...

[Sean Kirkpatrick]

Got back from the NBN show in Denver and after looking at the 3 machines there, have decided on the trotec 360. It was nice to take 3 classes on laser learning, tips, etc and I feel I've made an educated decision. I also grabbed catalogs from numerous sources of laser supplies and met the sales reps which will help in getting me up and running with some testers