Looking for objective opinion on real world value. I have looked at a ton of youtube videos showing what different people are able to accomplish with this type of laser and I am not doubting its power in that way. What I am asking is if the investment for adding a laser head to the OF setup is more cost effective than just buying a separate dedicated laser engraver.
I’ve mostly been using my laser on my onefinity lately. I didn’t buy the 7W laser because I already had a JTech 4.2W laser from my old xcarve and put it on the onefinity. Depending on what you plan to do with the laser it may be more cost effective to get one of their lower watt lower prices lasers but either way if you plan on using it a decent amount I think it’s worth the price to buy one to hook up to the machine. I myself don’t have room for another machine so that is amother big reason I just have this instead of a dedicated machine. I would love to have a co2 laser but I just don’t have the room not the needs for one right now. Maybe later down the road though.
Thanks for the reply. I guess it is the 7w specs of the jtech laser that have me scratching my head. I have seen these laser engravers online for less money that seem more powerful than the j tech. This Ortur laser master is 20w for 398.99. https://www.amazon.com/ORTUR-Laser-Master-Engraving-Motherboard/dp/B08CBV9FQ2/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=laser%2Bengraving%2Bmachine&qid=1616460185&sr=8-1-spons&smid=A10KIEJZXJOX14&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFRMUc3RzZZVUhZSlQmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwMTQzNjgzQk9OWThJOENLOUNOJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxNzM3NDkzOThLVEkxTFVQQVhJJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1
I also saw this laser from endurance lasers 10w for 445.00 https://endurancelasers.com/
1 Like
The research I was doing indicated that 7w is the highest output realistically possible for a diode laser (or whatever technology the Jtech is using). The other ratings are “input” power - not “output” laser power. Basically marketing folks playing games and preventing true apples-to-apples comparisons.
Not an expert, don’t own one, just looking at them for the fun of it this week.
2 Likes
Yep a lot of those are not the output power listed. I know a lot of the ones on Amazon say they are 10-20W but really only like 4W of output
I have been exchanging emails with the guy at endurance lasers and he said that the 10w and 15w duo laser is basically 2x 7w lasers combined using a prism to combine the laser strengths giving true 10w. They are currently working on a true 25w version.
From what I have researched using anything less than 20w would be for wood only. Trying to do any kind of metal or really thick wood and these other lasers will just scratch the surface.
For what it does and the cost associated it would not seem cost effective to invest in this add on until the technology is a bit further along.
2 Likes
Yeah it all depends on what you are going to be doing with the laser. I am using a 4.2W laser from jtech with mine and I have pretty much only been using it to engrave (remove powder coating) on tumblers and selling those. I’ve only used it on wood and a couple of anodized aluminum sheets before now.
I’m debating adding the 7W laser to my Onefinity order. How do you engrave the tumblers with the curved surface? Does the laser go up and down the Z axis to follow the curve? Thanks!
I have a rotary that I hook up to my controller and use that instead of the Y axis. So it will move in the X direction and turn the tumbler instead of moving in the Y direction. If you don’t have/get one of those you can laser the tumbler still but its a smaller area you can engrave without making it turn I forgot exactly the size of the rectangle that my 4.2W laser could engrave without the rotary but i wanted to be able to have the ability to do graphics all the way around instead of that small rectangular area.
2 Likes
Oh, that’s awesome. Do you have a link for the rotary? Did you have to do any configuration in the controller for it?
I am using this one. But I’m sure you could use most any of them as long as you wire it up correctly. And yeah I had to go into the controller and change a few things but I have two configurations saved in there. One for when I use the rotary (A axis enabled for M1 and Y2 disabled) and the other is the standard configuration. I just unhook my rotary wire from the controller move it out of the way and plug the two Y axis cables into the controller and load the stock configuration when I want to use the machine standard. Also you will have to add a couple lines of code to the vectric post processor if you use vectric for this. I did that but then I switched to lightburn. If you decide to go with one I can show you some pics of that I set my settings to in the controller and stuff. It’s really pretty simple but this isn’t true rotary as it doesn’t compensate for changes in the diameter of the object and stuff which someone pointed out in the forum before. But this is fine for what I use it for on the tumblers.
7 Likes
Hi @rblur01, I’d be very interested in a few pics of how you set it up as I’m not the handiest of crafts people, so a guide would really help out. Thanks. Adam
1 Like
Roger,
I’d really like to see how you set the rotary up, especially the controller changes needed.
Let me see if i can do a small write up for both of you on how i set it up.
3 Likes
Here is a small write up with pictures, if anything doesn’t make sense or you need anymore help you can ask me here or shoot me an email at rogwhs09@gmail.com Hopefully the write up makes sense I was trying to write it up with my almost 2 year old running around with me lol. But it really isn’t too difficult I think trying to write out the process may make it seem more difficult than it actually is. A video would probably have been better but I don’t think I could have made it as fast. Also, keep in mind I didn’t really mention using the rotary in this just kind of the setup process.
13 Likes
For me, the only way it made sense is to produce items which are both carved with the CNC and then burned with the laser. I will often do ornate v carve lettering and then burn out the carvings to outline them and add finer detail. I was doing this with my old CNC and a stand alone burner, but they just weren’t tuned exactly the same, so larger projects were definitely not spot on between the carving and the burning. Using the same tram of the CNC for both processes takes care of the issue completely and, with Vectrics Laser Module, the CNC sees the laser as a tool change.
Using the laser add on as a standalone laser doesn’t make sense to me since there are other, cheaper options. The real power is combining the two processes into one project with no alignment issues.
Roger,
This great and thanks for sharing here, I just ordered the Rotary kit your link sent me to, I am hoping if there are any questions I might be able to ask, like will a one inch square lasered will it measure a 1 in sq.? or will there be need for more tweaks , I guess I am asking how are your projects coming out, TY ahead of time…
Sure I will try my best to answer any questions. I have been helping @adamsaciuk set his up, mine isn’t set up on the Onefinity at the moment I’ve been using it in a CO2 laser lately. But he might could check and see about the 1in square for you. I’m pretty sure when I was using lightburn and set my diameter in the software correctly and set my controller settings to 360 steps it would travel the distance I wanted. But given I didn’t really laser a 1x1 inch box and then measure that. I just set up my designs in the software to be on both sides of a cup and it would engrave on both sides even or at least by eye they looked even.
That sounds great and exactly what I’m looking for now ty
Hi Roger,
Wondering what these couple of lines that need changing will be, thank you sir