Choosing the right laser

[Bert03241]

On 1/7/2019 at 1:47 PM, garyo1954 said:

I'm gonna disagree with some of your info. Mostly your not gonna find a true 40 watt laser for $400 all those cheap lasers advertised as 40 watts are really closer to 30 watts and sure they will engrave and cut leather, just not as fast as a true 40 watt. Ideally a 60 or 80 watt laser is the best for engraving and cutting.If your gonna cut only then go for more power but don't expect to get good engravings with   lasers over 80watts.

 

Not sure where you got your information on CO2 lasers. It does paint a pretty bleak picture compared to the reality of having one.

A lot depends on how you take care of your machine as to the life of the tube. Overpowering it for extended periods, not using distilled water,  high water temperatures and extreme climate changes all play a part. Some materials will play a big part in how long the tube, the lens, and mirrors, or even the machine, lasts. Some materials produce chlorine and/or corrosive gases, and even toxic gases (such as chrome tanned leather). PVC/and most plastics should never be cut. You'd be surprised how many times people will laser plastic and then wonder why they ended up with a gooey mass that is nerve wracking to clean up. Or the number of lasers lost to fire due to trying to cut and engrave a flammable material. Leather produces a dead flesh smell and can leave soot on the mirrors and lens which needs to be cleaned with alcohol. (Mirrors should be cleaned as a maintenance task in any case.)

I laser wood, (cedar, poplar, basswood, oak, pine),  extruded acrylic, and veg-tan (tooling leather), glass, and anodized/painted dog tags and ID cards. Timewise you spend more on layout than on actual machine time. Very rare to hear anyone complain of a machine timing out and when it does happen they are generally trying to run an intricate oversized layout at 1000DPI, in other words, pushing the limits of the machine, software, and computer.

Now the last time I replaced my 40W tube was September 2017 and its still going strong. I run my laser 4 to 6 hours daily and there are days it runs 8 to 12 hours.  Yes, the tube is only guaranteed for 1000 to 1300 hours of use.  But most things you buy these days have a 30 to 90 day warranty which is equivalent to that 1000 to 1300 hour guarantee. Some claim the tube has a shelf life of two years due to the gases. Others claim to use the same tube for years beyond that.  Two years seems to be the average in my case.

A replacement tube is costs $90 to $125 for a 40W. You'll even find 100W RECI tubes for less than $800, but you don't need a 100W laser to engrave or cut leather. A 40W CO2 does the job just fine. 

Finally a 40W CO2 Chinese laser can be had for $400 or less. All said and done, the information you were given does not match the reality of actually owning ang using a 40W laser.

 

[Bert03241]

Using a co2 laser does leave chard edges if you don't mask. I personally like the looks of the burnt edges and theres a client base out there that likes that look also.

Masking is ok if theres not a lot of fine engraving. You have to weed all the masking off. I do a lot of basket weave engraving and if I masked that it would take forever to weed it all off. I don't normally dye my veg tan. I oil it with different types of oil. Then set it out in the hot sun to dry and change color. different oils give different color when it drys and also how long you leave it out in the sun.After the oil drys I then give it a couple coats of super sheen or resolene and let that dry real good. Then I laser engrave and cut the design out. Most of the residue will wipe off with a damp cloth. I sand the edges then bevel them and that removes most all of the char and burnt edges. Burnish and edge kote the edges and your done.see pictures , these I cut and engraved on my laser . you can hardly see any charing at all.