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Laser Cutter/Engraver

Janger said:
You can cut metal with 30W? what kind of metal and how thick? how many passes? Please post some pictures of engraving and cutting.
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Yes, but you have to remember the cutting/engraving footprint is small, 5" dia max. with the lens I have. Materials such as stainless, O1, aluminum. brass.....basically any alloy. It's obviously not practical to use it to cut just anything but small complicated geometry, parts for my watching hobby and reel making hobby it's perfect. It shines when it comes to deep engraving mostly. Typically most of the stuff I cut is around .030" thick but I've cut as much as .100" at times, just takes longer. If you were to need it more for cutting you'd likely want something in the 100W range.

Hers's some stuff I've done....

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Hers' some .100" aluminum letters for a reel box (with a real 1/2 karat diamond)

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Fiber lasers are the best for cutting and engraving metal. Not only because they are within an ir wavelength, but also because the laser source generates a more concentrated beem of light than a co2 or diode laser. A 30w fiber laser can cut thin metal, and engrave/carve 3d images into thick metal, but you would need more wattage to efficiently cut metal without causing any warpage by excessive heat dissipation.
I'm looking to upgrade from my 40w D1 Pro diode laser to either an Ikier k1pro 70wmax or the new OneLaser XRF which is on sale now. By how much time, money and effort I've invested into my operation, and the increase in clients I'm getting for custom plasma cutting and laser engraving, I have more confidence in the decision to invest in a more reliable laser engraver/cutter.
In this case I'm willing to sell my D1 Pro with the 40W module and air asist for $2000, or the 20W module for $1500.
 

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I find myself looking at those Cloudray Fiber lasers what do you think are the best ones on the market? And their laser classifications.
 
I've done a ton of research on laser engravers and watched many reviews on YouTube from experienced people who either do it for a living or have been reviewing them for a living. The new OneLaser XRF ranked number one in most videos for it's high quality at a mid cost. Standing between hobbyist machines and industrial machines, it is a co2 desktop laser engraver. The Ikier 70w k1pro max is still a diode laser combining 14 diodes which does have 70w of optical output but has a much bigger kerf width than a co2 or fiber laser, and isn't nearly as fast. I can't find any comparison reviews between the Ikier 70w k1pro max and any other laser right now, so I'm debating whether it be a good choice to bite the bullet for the long run with the OneLaser XRF at 7000 Cad, or take a smaller step with the Ikier 70w k1pro max at 2400 Cad.
 
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Chris Cramer said:
I've done a ton of research on laser engravers and watched many reviews on YouTube from experienced people who either do it for a living or have been reviewing them for a living. The new OneLaser XRF ranked number one in most videos for it's high quality at a mid cost. Standing between hobbyist machines and industrial machines, it is a co2 desktop laser engraver. The Ikier 70w k1pro max is still a diode laser combining 14 diodes which does have 70w of optical output but has a much bigger kerf width than a co2 or fiber laser, and isn't nearly as fast. I can't find any comparison reviews between the Ikier 70w k1pro max and any other laser right now, so I'm debating whether it be a good choice to bite the bullet for the long run with the OneLaser XRF at 7000 Cad, or take a smaller step with the Ikier 70w k1pro max at 2400 Cad.
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Chris are you engraving or cutting out - which is the priority?

atomstack.com

AtomStack A20 Pro 1064nm 20W Fiber Laser Marking And Engraving Machine

Discover the AtomStack A20/K1 Pro, the world's first 1064nm 20W fiber laser engraver. With ultra-fast speeds up to 400mm/s, it excels in high-precision engraving on metals, plastics, acrylic, leather, ceramics, and rock.
atomstack.com atomstack.com

The above infrared fiber laser unit, less than $2K CAD, seems to have good optics with a 0.03mm x 0.06mm beam. That is really small at about 0.0024". Have you looked at that one?
 
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I should definitely check that out, thanks for the notice. I first assumed that my 40w diode laser would be able to perform just as well, but I remembered the benefit of ir and fiber lasers in comparison to high powered diode lasers. I do have an ir module for my D1 Pro but that only has an optical output power of 2w which still marks metal pretty well, only it is pretty slow.
My primary use for the laser is for engraving metal, as my plasma table is better for cutting metal. The ability to engrave 3d images into metal would greatly expand my options for customizng blades, guards, handles, and pommels. However the benefit of a higher powered laser I figured would be the efficiency of laser cutting handle material such as exotic hardwood and perhaps resin infused dymalux which I currently cut with a cheap used band saw or jig saw.
 
Tom O said:
I find myself looking at those Cloudray Fiber lasers what do you think are the best ones on the market? And their laser classifications.
Click to expand...

My laser came from Cloudray and I'd say they make a decent product but fail in the aftermarket support area (as most of them do). The switch on my power source failed and it was like pulling teeth to get help from them (and they are fairly big in this industry) but when they finally did they also sent back up power source for free. While smaller laser companies technical assistance is non-existent after the sale. If you buy local you'll get faster assistance but pay 4X the cost for the product.

If you are on SM my suggestion would be to join a couple of laser groups like "Fiber Laser Club" or "Fiber Laser The Next Level" or "Laser Everything" and ask questions. For the most part they'll all tell you to buy from a few trusted sources like Haotian lasers or BWM Tech. Both companies prove top notch aftermarket service and have good pricing on all their line.

I'm not affiliated with any of these companies but my next purchase will be from one of the two latter suggestions.
 
So, I am trying to get a bit of a handle on lasers, cutting and engraving. NOTE, I have not spent any great amount of time researching on the subject as it seems to have become a very wide field.
We seem/have gone from a mirror coated glass tube filled with gas, projecting a light beam through a ruby, to diode and fibre and the gas units.
Even power seems to be somewhat hard to relate to capabilities of the types.
@1018Machine laser— fibre —30watt, can cut many metals well at 0.30” thick, speed?, slower at .100” thickness. Looks to engrave very well to depth of ?, speed? possibly extreme samples would be the skulls and horse head in post #2.
@Chris Cramer laser — diode laser —40 watt, can cut metal to ? well, engraving, depth ? — 20 watt ?, can cut metal? Post #25 pictures.
Others on the forum, seem to be a few more, what you got, and what it can do.

A Happy New Year to all and the Best in the new year!
 
Bandit said:
So, I am trying to get a bit of a handle on lasers, cutting and engraving. NOTE, I have not spent any great amount of time researching on the subject as it seems to have become a very wide field.
We seem/have gone from a mirror coated glass tube filled with gas, projecting a light beam through a ruby, to diode and fibre and the gas units.
Even power seems to be somewhat hard to relate to capabilities of the types.
@1018Machine laser— fibre —30watt, can cut many metals well at 0.30” thick, speed?, slower at .100” thickness. Looks to engrave very well to depth of ?, speed? possibly extreme samples would be the skulls and horse head in post #2.
@Chris Cramer laser — diode laser —40 watt, can cut metal to ? well, engraving, depth ? — 20 watt ?, can cut metal? Post #25 pictures.
Others on the forum, seem to be a few more, what you got, and what it can do.

A Happy New Year to all and the Best in the new year!
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I have exactly the same sort of questions @Bandit raises above.

The beam size and optical power I believe directly relates to the engraving and cutting capabilities although it is poorly stated everywhere. I believe this is similar to using a magnifying glass & the sun to burn wood. The tighter the focus the hotter the point of light, but it's smaller. So a 20W laser with a very small dot size could have dramatically higher power per square unit of area. And conversely a strong laser with a fuzzy dot could actually be slower and less capable. Although it depends on what you want - a big fat black line with the small laser dot size would take many more passes, the fuzzier dot would take fewer passes but with a slower travel time. There is a limit where a diffuse beam does not do anything - e.g. like how the magnifying glass with a 1/2" circle does nothing.

Trade offs as usual... But what laser strength do you need and what dot size to engrave metals, plastics, wood? Or maybe what can I get for $2000 to $3000? And do you mean "marking" or "engraving"? The horse above from @1018Machine is a great example of engraving. (What material is that horse @1018Machine ?)

Also the wave length (colour) makes a huge difference, an IR laser is much more capable for engraving/marking a wide range of materials.

Taking the machines @Chris Cramer mentioned and some others see below for analysis. @Chris Cramer looks like the prices on these machines have fallen just recently? I think the AtomStack A20 pro Fiber and the 1OneLaser XRF are compelling with watts/mm^2 around 10,000.

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If anyone spots any errors in this please let me know....
 
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Janger said:
I have exactly the same sort of questions @Bandit raises above.

The beam size and optical power I believe directly relates to the engraving and cutting capabilities although it is poorly stated everywhere. I believe this is similar to using a magnifying glass & the sun to burn wood. The tighter the focus the hotter the point of light, but it's smaller. So a 20W laser with a very small dot size could have dramatically higher power per square unit of area. And conversely a strong laser with a fuzzy dot could actually be slower and less capable. Although it depends on what you want - a big fat black line with the small laser dot size would take many more passes, the fuzzier dot would take fewer passes but with a slower travel time. There is a limit where a diffuse beam does not do anything - e.g. like how the magnifying glass with a 1/2" circle does nothing.

Trade offs as usual... But what laser strength do you need and what dot size to engrave metals, plastics, wood? Or maybe what can I get for $2000 to $3000? And do you mean "marking" or "engraving"? The horse above from @1018Machine is a great example of engraving. (What material is that horse @1018Machine ?)

Also the wave length (colour) makes a huge difference, an IR laser is much more capable for engraving/marking a wide range of materials.

Taking the machines @Chris Cramer mentioned and some others see below for analysis. @Chris Cramer looks like the prices on these machines have fallen just recently? I think the AtomStack A20 pro Fiber and the 1OneLaser XRF are compelling with watts/mm^2 around 10,000.

View attachment 57056

If anyone spots any errors in this please let me know....
Click to expand...
I can't find that A20 fiber laser on atomstack site... is this a full machine or a module
 
I've got one, supposed to be 150 watts. It has seen zero use, all I've done is pry the lid of the crate off to have look. I imported a 12,000 watt laser for work and negotiated to have the small one thrown in. Shipping was free, it piggy backed in the containers of the big laser. Seemed like a great idea at the time ..... still sitting in its crate while figure out how to fit it in, get it through a doorway and down the stairs. Disassembly required.

The big one (during assembly a year ago) and the little one, alone and forlorn



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Mcgyver said:
I've got one, supposed to be 150 watts. It has seen zero use, all I've done is pry the lid of the crate off to have look. I imported a 12,000 watt laser for work and negotiated to have the small one thrown in. Shipping was free, it piggy backed in the containers of the big laser. Seemed like a great idea at the time ..... still sitting in its crate while figure out how to fit it in, get it through a doorway and down the stairs. Disassembly required.

The big one (during assembly a year ago) and the little one, alone and forlorn



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since no one else said it yet, I'll take that off your hands :p
 
Bandit said:
Even power seems to be somewhat hard to relate to capabilities of the types.
@1018Machine laser— fibre —30watt, can cut many metals well at 0.30” thick, speed?, slower at .100” thickness. Looks to engrave very well to depth of ?, speed? possibly extreme samples would be the skulls and horse head in post #2.
Click to expand...
At 30 watts it cuts surprisingly faster than you'd think. Obviously higher wattage machines can cut faster but when it comes to 2.5D engraving even the larger machines need to run at lower power or it just ends up burning everything. I've never tested how deep I can engrave but I have gone as deep as about .25" you just need to continually lower the gavlo head to keep it in focus.
 
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