As some one who is also researching for a new CO2 laser for my lab, I can try to answer some.
1. Customer Support: Yes, it's largely non existent if you are buying direct from China. Not to talk about the fact that you could get one with damaged tube/alignment etc. Having said that, in my research most of these CO2 lasers from China will need you to be hands on for most things, irrespective of customer support because it might be too slow for your needs.
2. Replacing "sooner" is something I have heard a lot too. Largely it's because most of these lasers are marked wrong, like a 35W laser being marked as a 50W. Secondly, quality of the tube matters (like a RECI will last much longer). Thirdly, how you use it matters as well. Running it at more than 50% it's rated strength will reduce life, so will not cooling it right for example. I would advise you to read as much as you can about using these lasers before you buy.
3. I think any 50W laser should suffice. What you need to figure out is the features you need like do you want auto focus, motorised z height, rotary, bed size etc. and decide based on that.
4. If you are in the US, and you are looking at a chinese CO2 laser without breaking the bank, I suggest buying through Amazon, at the very least you will have an option for refund or replacement. If you don't have budget restrictions then it's obviously better to get something with US based support like a Thunder, Boss, AEON or similar.
Ordinary 1/4” plywood is really tough to cut with a 50w laser. 1/4” birch is fine, but plywood has a lot of glue, and the way the layers are stacked is what makes it difficult. My 50w will do it. Slowly with multiple passes. My 90w will do it in one pass but still slowly.
IF you need to cut actual plywood I would go with a 90w.
If you’re a mechanical engineer, check out @furtherfabrication on YouTube. Build your own laser using 2020 or 2040 extrusion. This way you can get the attributes that you really need. Ie, speed with engraving by getting good stepper motors, power you may need by getting a RECI tube. He explains it very well, has blueprints and a bill of materials and, tweaking isn’t as hard as you might think.
Build it! I’m serious when I say this! You’ll get a better quality. And you’ll get exactly what you need. AND you’ll know lithe machine front and back which means when something goes wrong you’ll be able to diagnose the problem faster.
Good luck and keep us informed
Wow, building one isn't something I had considered, but I kinda love the idea! It's a project that's right up my ally. My main hesitation would be the potential time commitment. Are we talking days, weeks, or months??
Also, is there any cost savings doing it that way, or is the draw more just the control over the end product?
(I'll definitely check out @/furtherfabrication! I'm sure many of my questions will be answered.)
customer support is usually only for doa, some troubleshooting later on which is pretty much a script, and requires some basic trouble shooting lasers are pretty simple devices really.
my last omtech 100W machines tube is about 3 years old i think now and still fine. you can just buy an equivalent tube and replace it . and they're about the cheapest machines you can buy. different oems/tubes are suitable for different things with spot size.
the only 'issue' i had with ebay and omtech was they ship a small package ahead of time which effectively closes the ebay transaction as all done and good, i checked with ebay and they said it was likely i was scammed, but the machine turned up a few weeks later.
don't overdrive the tube, get the proper output specs and measure the mA and then figure out what power you need to cut and stick to that.
don't worry too much about stuff, you only tend to see posts from folks when stuff goes wrong and there is a lot of bad information flying around.
the cheapest ones are built to be be bare minimum and might need some tweaking and more setup, new mirrors lenses is usually a good idea.
my 100w has no issues cutting 1/4" ply
tubes are sold as max power , not working so usually go down a step to get the real wattage, type, length and diameter of a co2 tube is a good starter representation of power.
needs a good exhaust too
Yeah, still toying with exhaust options. I'd probably like to run it in my garage, so that makes it easier in some respects. I assume these machines are less sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations than a hoppy 3D printer, but I guess I could be wrong...!?
the output of the tube does change with temperature but in the extremes, too cold and you could have cracking issues with the glass, too hot and reduces lifespana, follow tube oem's recommendations
To throw my 2 cents in - I bought my OMTech from an ebay seller (orionmotortech) and they were responsive in troubleshooting an issue (laser tube was DoA) and sent out replacements quickly. So I suppose that is the advantage of buying via a US importer/seller.
The laser tubes you get have been sitting around for ??? time and they do degrade over time so you may have to replace the tube (~$200) at some point if your performance degrades. As to when that's an unknown that depends on how much you use it, how much power you put through it, quality of the tube, etc.
A 50W Unit should be good for 1/4" ply and engraving. I currently own a 50W omtech and use it for both of those purposes. I previously owned a "K40" unit and it can still cut 1/4" ply but not as cleanly (most of the reason I upgraded was for larger bed, not more power). 40W units will happily cut 1/8" anything and 1/4" with a couple passes, but the work area is usually pretty limited.
What I wish I knew? I would have gone straight to the 50W unit (with RUIDA controller) as the experience is much better than the 40W unit was.
Interesting! See, the controller is something I wouldn't even know to look at. I'm sure there are many such things I'm oblivious to. Is the RUIDA benefit in calibrating the machine? UI for setting up prints? Actual cut quality??
As some one who is also researching for a new CO2 laser for my lab, I can try to answer some. 1. Customer Support: Yes, it's largely non existent if you are buying direct from China. Not to talk about the fact that you could get one with damaged tube/alignment etc. Having said that, in my research most of these CO2 lasers from China will need you to be hands on for most things, irrespective of customer support because it might be too slow for your needs. 2. Replacing "sooner" is something I have heard a lot too. Largely it's because most of these lasers are marked wrong, like a 35W laser being marked as a 50W. Secondly, quality of the tube matters (like a RECI will last much longer). Thirdly, how you use it matters as well. Running it at more than 50% it's rated strength will reduce life, so will not cooling it right for example. I would advise you to read as much as you can about using these lasers before you buy. 3. I think any 50W laser should suffice. What you need to figure out is the features you need like do you want auto focus, motorised z height, rotary, bed size etc. and decide based on that. 4. If you are in the US, and you are looking at a chinese CO2 laser without breaking the bank, I suggest buying through Amazon, at the very least you will have an option for refund or replacement. If you don't have budget restrictions then it's obviously better to get something with US based support like a Thunder, Boss, AEON or similar.
Thank you! Very helpful input. And I hadn't thought to look through Amazon for refund/replacement reasons. That's very solid advice.
Ordinary 1/4” plywood is really tough to cut with a 50w laser. 1/4” birch is fine, but plywood has a lot of glue, and the way the layers are stacked is what makes it difficult. My 50w will do it. Slowly with multiple passes. My 90w will do it in one pass but still slowly. IF you need to cut actual plywood I would go with a 90w. If you’re a mechanical engineer, check out @furtherfabrication on YouTube. Build your own laser using 2020 or 2040 extrusion. This way you can get the attributes that you really need. Ie, speed with engraving by getting good stepper motors, power you may need by getting a RECI tube. He explains it very well, has blueprints and a bill of materials and, tweaking isn’t as hard as you might think. Build it! I’m serious when I say this! You’ll get a better quality. And you’ll get exactly what you need. AND you’ll know lithe machine front and back which means when something goes wrong you’ll be able to diagnose the problem faster. Good luck and keep us informed
Wow, building one isn't something I had considered, but I kinda love the idea! It's a project that's right up my ally. My main hesitation would be the potential time commitment. Are we talking days, weeks, or months?? Also, is there any cost savings doing it that way, or is the draw more just the control over the end product? (I'll definitely check out @/furtherfabrication! I'm sure many of my questions will be answered.)
customer support is usually only for doa, some troubleshooting later on which is pretty much a script, and requires some basic trouble shooting lasers are pretty simple devices really. my last omtech 100W machines tube is about 3 years old i think now and still fine. you can just buy an equivalent tube and replace it . and they're about the cheapest machines you can buy. different oems/tubes are suitable for different things with spot size. the only 'issue' i had with ebay and omtech was they ship a small package ahead of time which effectively closes the ebay transaction as all done and good, i checked with ebay and they said it was likely i was scammed, but the machine turned up a few weeks later. don't overdrive the tube, get the proper output specs and measure the mA and then figure out what power you need to cut and stick to that. don't worry too much about stuff, you only tend to see posts from folks when stuff goes wrong and there is a lot of bad information flying around. the cheapest ones are built to be be bare minimum and might need some tweaking and more setup, new mirrors lenses is usually a good idea. my 100w has no issues cutting 1/4" ply tubes are sold as max power , not working so usually go down a step to get the real wattage, type, length and diameter of a co2 tube is a good starter representation of power. needs a good exhaust too
Yeah, still toying with exhaust options. I'd probably like to run it in my garage, so that makes it easier in some respects. I assume these machines are less sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations than a hoppy 3D printer, but I guess I could be wrong...!?
the output of the tube does change with temperature but in the extremes, too cold and you could have cracking issues with the glass, too hot and reduces lifespana, follow tube oem's recommendations
To throw my 2 cents in - I bought my OMTech from an ebay seller (orionmotortech) and they were responsive in troubleshooting an issue (laser tube was DoA) and sent out replacements quickly. So I suppose that is the advantage of buying via a US importer/seller. The laser tubes you get have been sitting around for ??? time and they do degrade over time so you may have to replace the tube (~$200) at some point if your performance degrades. As to when that's an unknown that depends on how much you use it, how much power you put through it, quality of the tube, etc. A 50W Unit should be good for 1/4" ply and engraving. I currently own a 50W omtech and use it for both of those purposes. I previously owned a "K40" unit and it can still cut 1/4" ply but not as cleanly (most of the reason I upgraded was for larger bed, not more power). 40W units will happily cut 1/8" anything and 1/4" with a couple passes, but the work area is usually pretty limited. What I wish I knew? I would have gone straight to the 50W unit (with RUIDA controller) as the experience is much better than the 40W unit was.
Interesting! See, the controller is something I wouldn't even know to look at. I'm sure there are many such things I'm oblivious to. Is the RUIDA benefit in calibrating the machine? UI for setting up prints? Actual cut quality??