I am thinking about converting my Journeyman to a laser only machine. Are any of the laser options worth buying or should I just buy a stand-alone CO2 laser machine? I will be doing mostly cutouts
I’d go with a standalone CO2 laser. Diode lasers are not great at cutting and it takes more & more emitters in the head to ramp up the power sufficient to cut. That increases the kerf so finer details get harder to do. They are also dog ugly slow.
A dedicated CO2 laser will be faster and cut cleaner. Something at least 60W will be good for most hobby use although 80 & 100W machines aren’t super expensive. You will sacrifice bed size vs the JMan but you will pick up speed and material depth (I can engrave the top of a 10" box in my old Redsail). Parts (like the laser tube) are commonly available, easy to replace and reasonably priced vs LED/diode lasers.
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thanks for the information.