We have a small gift thing from our company which will be engraved wood boards. Project will be about 10k.
But looking online seems small little machines like the link below are similar in price. Then I can do many more projects with it in the future.
Having never used them before, I’m curious how crappy they are. For example if the laser wares out every 50 hours and costs 10k for a new part type of thing, I guess it’s not worth it. Anyone have experience with these cheap hobby level ones? If so, what often breaks and is it pricey to fix?
I’ve not messed with that particular kind but I don’t recommend it because since they use visible light, they’re incredibly dangerous to be around. The backscatter ok the light alone is enough to cause eye damage. What’s worse is they’re not enclosed at all. Supposedly they’ll engrave metal if you want to do it.
I recommend CO2 lasers because it has higher power, and so long as you keep the enclosure closed up they’re safe to use. The backscatter is basically the same heat wave emitted by a campfire, it can’t blind you unless you’re looking straight at the beam (don’t do this, it will burn your eye out).
The CO2 laser I had I used for years, as long as you keep the tube cooled with water they can last a very long time. About the same lifespan as a projector bulb. In theory the diode laser should last a fairly long time too, assuming the diode is properly heat sinked and cooled. But I would enclose them inside an opaque box for safety. A plywood box should work, metal is better.
The CO2 laser comes with enclosure.
They’re intended for engraving chops. It depends on how much space you got however. They’re however capable of cutting up to 3mm thick plywood (anymore than this it gets very iffy). It can cut 6mm plastic if you go slow or have many passes. Not plywood however. Plywood is harder to cut because if you don’t get it in one go it chars, making further passes cut less and less until it just bursts into flame.
Do not, I repeat do not leave these things running unattended.
Cheers. Enclosed for sure! Good looking out. I enclose anything with strong lights. These machines look flimsy and crappy. But I don’t need fancy either. Would be doing random things like cards, lids, box panels etc.
That CO2 one has plenty of power to do what you’re intending.
That diode thing might struggle to cut even cardboard. Only thing they offer is they can engrave fine details because blue laser can be focused to a much smaller spot. CO2 laser isn’t good for fine details.
Sure, it might actually work better for burning QR codes. I tried it with a CO2 laser and it can’t really do it with enough details to register. He probably means wood but even then it’s stretching it. I wouldn’t try to cut anything with it however… Just be aware that the backscatter for visible light beams can be bright enough to cause eye damage, and wear goggles or enclose the whole thing, and you should be fine.
Just so you know, something like this would actually be ideal for engraving most materials, wood or metal. They can be used without eye protection in the open, as it uses ir lasers, around 1 micron in wavelength.
The only downside is that it’s quite a bit more expensive.
These can mark stainless steel and even aluminum fairly easily.
Just got the toy. It’s pretty slow. We are still learning how to use it. But t works. We got the Y axis wrong somehow and the darkness isn’t great. Mostly program settings.
But it works well. 6k. Fun to play around with.
This is 10x10cm photo of some of the family, took 30 minutes, real slow!
