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Thread: Fiber laser retailers? Whom did ya'll use? Any to avoid?

  1. #1

    Fiber laser retailers? Whom did ya'll use? Any to avoid?

    I've been looking at these chinese fiber lasers awhile now and I think I'm ready to pull the trigger. But I try to be cautious when buying anything like this from overseas.

    Right now, my thinking is to go with one with a 50 watt JPT laser source ( the 1 to 400 khz freq) and a 175mm lens. Or possibly 30 watt. Most of my demand is for steel, aluminum, and brass engraving. But I would like the ability to mark (not necessarily depth engrave) some plastics.

    Is SFX a reputable brand? I see their stuff advertised on aliexpress, amazon, and ebay.

    Also... if I buy it on any of those three platforms, what happens with customs? Do I get a call from US customs to drive down to houston or san antonio and hand them a wad of cash for import duties or what?

    Sorry for the dumb newbie questions.

    I've been co2 engraving wood for a few years now on my trusty old epilog legend 32, but its time to expand my capability. Had to turn down enough jobs that its hurting me more than the expense of a new machine will.

    Any help ya'll could give would be most appreciated.

  2. #2
    I am going though the exact same thing right now. I am in Houston but for these small fibers they are saying cheaper to do direct to door vs port to port anyway.

    Based on ordering many Prusa 3d printers the customs bill will come via Fedex or DHL etc when they show up. Crappy part is you need to write a check.

    I am looking at BWMTech as they have a great price on 60W jpt with rotary and 2 lens. They are ok with me paying by credit card so that is making me feel a little more comfortable sending a big chunk of cash to random person in China.

  3. #3
    I have 3 fiber lasers, first one I got from Triumph (I also bought a big 1390 glass C02 from them in 2013), 2nd was an Ebay machine, bought in Dec 2018, liked it so well I bought another a month later.

    Fiber lasers are very simple machines. I've been finding out lately that pert near everything about them is interchangeable. My Triumph came with the good ol/ big M85 lens mounted to a 'good' scanhead, both Ebay machines came with the simpler and much smaller M52 lens, mounted to a 'budget' scanhead. I've bought 3 cheap M85 size lenses, and one M52 lens- as to the scanheads and M85 v M52, I've found NO difference in engraving quality amongst any of them. There may indeed be some aberrations in how they engrave but all of them, even my new 420mm lens which focuses nearly 19" from the work (think about that for a minute!), can engrave .025" high characters that are nearly perfect. (How can the mirrors move such a small amount that they're able to very accurately steer the beam to make perfectly readable 3 point lettering 20 inches away, and at blazing speed?)

    Anyway, my point is, the more expensive pieces don't seem to be much if any better than the cheap stuff.

    Back to interchangeable- I've been swapping scanheads between the Triumph and one of the Ebay lasers, because the Triumph is a portable, and can't make use of any larger than a 300mm (220mm work area) lens. The 420 isn't available in an M52, not sure but I don't think they're capable because of their size. But I found the scanheads don't care which machine they're connected to, the only issue is, which is normal, is that every lens must be fine tuned to the machine it's connected to. And my Triumph came with a proprietary control card and EzCad software with external dongle. The newest version of EzCad is far and away better than what I had, but the only way to upgrade was to change out the controller. $318 and 4 days later my new BJJCZ card- cheapest I could find - came. It's much smaller than the old card and had one less plug (the Triumph card is setup to allow for conveyor and other 'flymark' use) but didn't matter. Screwed the new controller down with one screw, plugged it in, and the only problem I had was I had to uninstall the old driver because it was looking for the OLD dongle. Once done and the new driver installed, the new 2.14.10 EzCad installed and that was that. Dialed in the laser's settings and I was off and running Everything "inside the box" is fairly generic and easily replaceable. If you're the least bit handy with hand tools and such, these things are not that tough to fix and maintain yourself.

    IF you decide to check out the Ebay route, check out the sellers, be wary of sellers with few sales, some of those guys just plain won't be around after the sale. FWIW, my ebay machines have a "Vevor" brand, and there's a lot of Vevor stuff for sale on ebay, mostly commercial/industrial type equipment, and I've had good luck with these machines. I've sent a couple of emails, the seller has emailed me back. Received in 3 days, and usually their ads state the product is located in Anehiem CA.

    If you'd rather not chance it, I'd give Triumph a look, they, and their machines have treated me well...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    I have 3 fiber lasers, first one I got from Triumph (I also bought a big 1390 glass C02 from them in 2013), 2nd was an Ebay machine, bought in Dec 2018, liked it so well I bought another a month later.

    Fiber lasers are very simple machines. I've been finding out lately that pert near everything about them is interchangeable. My Triumph came with the good ol/ big M85 lens mounted to a 'good' scanhead, both Ebay machines came with the simpler and much smaller M52 lens, mounted to a 'budget' scanhead. I've bought 3 cheap M85 size lenses, and one M52 lens- as to the scanheads and M85 v M52, I've found NO difference in engraving quality amongst any of them. There may indeed be some aberrations in how they engrave but all of them, even my new 420mm lens which focuses nearly 19" from the work (think about that for a minute!), can engrave .025" high characters that are nearly perfect. (How can the mirrors move such a small amount that they're able to very accurately steer the beam to make perfectly readable 3 point lettering 20 inches away, and at blazing speed?)

    Anyway, my point is, the more expensive pieces don't seem to be much if any better than the cheap stuff.

    Back to interchangeable- I've been swapping scanheads between the Triumph and one of the Ebay lasers, because the Triumph is a portable, and can't make use of any larger than a 300mm (220mm work area) lens. The 420 isn't available in an M52, not sure but I don't think they're capable because of their size. But I found the scanheads don't care which machine they're connected to, the only issue is, which is normal, is that every lens must be fine tuned to the machine it's connected to. And my Triumph came with a proprietary control card and EzCad software with external dongle. The newest version of EzCad is far and away better than what I had, but the only way to upgrade was to change out the controller. $318 and 4 days later my new BJJCZ card- cheapest I could find - came. It's much smaller than the old card and had one less plug (the Triumph card is setup to allow for conveyor and other 'flymark' use) but didn't matter. Screwed the new controller down with one screw, plugged it in, and the only problem I had was I had to uninstall the old driver because it was looking for the OLD dongle. Once done and the new driver installed, the new 2.14.10 EzCad installed and that was that. Dialed in the laser's settings and I was off and running Everything "inside the box" is fairly generic and easily replaceable. If you're the least bit handy with hand tools and such, these things are not that tough to fix and maintain yourself.

    IF you decide to check out the Ebay route, check out the sellers, be wary of sellers with few sales, some of those guys just plain won't be around after the sale. FWIW, my ebay machines have a "Vevor" brand, and there's a lot of Vevor stuff for sale on ebay, mostly commercial/industrial type equipment, and I've had good luck with these machines. I've sent a couple of emails, the seller has emailed me back. Received in 3 days, and usually their ads state the product is located in Anehiem CA.

    If you'd rather not chance it, I'd give Triumph a look, they, and their machines have treated me well...
    I just wanted to hijack this thread and say thank you, I have been doing a lot of research and reading everything on fiber and you have posed a ton of useful information throughout your journey with the lasers.

    I think I am going to chance going directly though company in China http://www.bwmtech.cn/index.php/list.../g/e/id/7.html and hopefully have a good story to tell as they sell a bunch of stuff that I might be interested in as I expand.

    I have a quote on a 60W Mopa JPT right now but just asked for 30W based on a couple of your comments. Getting 2 lens 300mm and 175mm they are cheap enough with the machine, they are tossing in rotary as "sale" right now.

    The baseline settings are a bit daunting with all of the options though and most people are not willing to share anything of those. Guess there is a bunch a playing to do, just need to take the leap.

  5. #5
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    Just remember, while shipping may or may not be paid by the seller in China (mine was) DHL WILL want the customs before they deliver. And last I checked it was 25% of the cost......
    Woodworking, Old Tools and Shooting
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  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    I have 3 fiber lasers, first one I got from Triumph (I also bought a big 1390 glass C02 from them in 2013), 2nd was an Ebay machine, bought in Dec 2018, liked it so well I bought another a month later.

    Fiber lasers are very simple machines. I've been finding out lately that pert near everything about them is interchangeable. My Triumph came with the good ol/ big M85 lens mounted to a 'good' scanhead, both Ebay machines came with the simpler and much smaller M52 lens, mounted to a 'budget' scanhead. I've bought 3 cheap M85 size lenses, and one M52 lens- as to the scanheads and M85 v M52, I've found NO difference in engraving quality amongst any of them. There may indeed be some aberrations in how they engrave but all of them, even my new 420mm lens which focuses nearly 19" from the work (think about that for a minute!), can engrave .025" high characters that are nearly perfect. (How can the mirrors move such a small amount that they're able to very accurately steer the beam to make perfectly readable 3 point lettering 20 inches away, and at blazing speed?)

    Anyway, my point is, the more expensive pieces don't seem to be much if any better than the cheap stuff.

    Back to interchangeable- I've been swapping scanheads between the Triumph and one of the Ebay lasers, because the Triumph is a portable, and can't make use of any larger than a 300mm (220mm work area) lens. The 420 isn't available in an M52, not sure but I don't think they're capable because of their size. But I found the scanheads don't care which machine they're connected to, the only issue is, which is normal, is that every lens must be fine tuned to the machine it's connected to. And my Triumph came with a proprietary control card and EzCad software with external dongle. The newest version of EzCad is far and away better than what I had, but the only way to upgrade was to change out the controller. $318 and 4 days later my new BJJCZ card- cheapest I could find - came. It's much smaller than the old card and had one less plug (the Triumph card is setup to allow for conveyor and other 'flymark' use) but didn't matter. Screwed the new controller down with one screw, plugged it in, and the only problem I had was I had to uninstall the old driver because it was looking for the OLD dongle. Once done and the new driver installed, the new 2.14.10 EzCad installed and that was that. Dialed in the laser's settings and I was off and running Everything "inside the box" is fairly generic and easily replaceable. If you're the least bit handy with hand tools and such, these things are not that tough to fix and maintain yourself.

    IF you decide to check out the Ebay route, check out the sellers, be wary of sellers with few sales, some of those guys just plain won't be around after the sale. FWIW, my ebay machines have a "Vevor" brand, and there's a lot of Vevor stuff for sale on ebay, mostly commercial/industrial type equipment, and I've had good luck with these machines. I've sent a couple of emails, the seller has emailed me back. Received in 3 days, and usually their ads state the product is located in Anehiem CA.

    If you'd rather not chance it, I'd give Triumph a look, they, and their machines have treated me well...
    Wow, thanks. Lots of great info in there. I'm glad to hear that about parts interchangeability. I was actually wondering about that on the controllers. Glad to hear it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get "jailbroke."

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Purvis View Post
    I am going though the exact same thing right now. I am in Houston but for these small fibers they are saying cheaper to do direct to door vs port to port anyway.

    Based on ordering many Prusa 3d printers the customs bill will come via Fedex or DHL etc when they show up. Crappy part is you need to write a check.

    I am looking at BWMTech as they have a great price on 60W jpt with rotary and 2 lens. They are ok with me paying by credit card so that is making me feel a little more comfortable sending a big chunk of cash to random person in China.
    Nice. Will check them out.

    I actually drive through Houston on a fairly regular basis. Professional Millwrong, here! If you get your setup before I get mine, do you mind me stopping by sometime and checking it out? No worries if not, I understand not wanting to meet random stranger on the internet!

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