Laser Cutter Fundraising/Selection and Purchase

Features

Strongly Desired Features

These are features that would require a really good reason to forgo. This list should be where you start if you're looking to provide a lead.

• 1200 x 900mm (47" x 35") cutting area
• 100W laser power
• Motorized z-axis
• Non-three-phase AC power 110v or 220v
• Water chiller to cool the laser tube
• Ventilation fan for exhaust
• Air pump for air assist on cutting surface
• Fully enclosed (it will be used in an area where others may be working, without laser protection glasses)
• Supply of low-cost replacement laser tubes
• May be controlled from a PC (running Windows, Linux, or both)
• Honeycomb table

Desired Additional Features

These features are really nice, and if we can get them under budget, we should definitely get them. Some people may consider them at varying levels of priority in their own list of desired features. I've sorted them roughly based on the input I've heard around the space.

• Auto-focus
• Controller that supports non-PC-connected cutting (USB drives)
• Network interface for sending jobs from any computer
• Rotary axis for engraving round/multi-sided objects like drinking glasses
• Higher power laser (beware tube replacement costs!)
• Camera for aligning cuts more precisely
• Larger cut area
• Limit switches on XY axis to make it more robust for new users

Things to Consider

If ordering a machine from China, sellers sometimes include shipping costs to a seaport of your choice. It is then up to you to get the machine to Huntsville. Phil has been through this process before with his CNC router table and can provide info about that process and cost.

Phil paid $603 for shipping to Huntsville from the port of Miami for a 2300-pound CNC machine. Taxes and Tariffs for said CNC ended costing an additional $1200 (plus the service fee owed to the shipping agent Phil used to make everything easy) Props to Page & Jones Inc

Info collected from Chinese laser cutter owners

• CW3000 is a passive water chiller, while the CW5000 has active cooling, so the CW5000 is highly recommended
  • RECI will not honor their warranty if you cannot prove you have a CW5000 or better.
• RD controllers are great:
  • "Ruida controllers use RDWorks software. There current controllers are some of the best moderately priced controllers in the market."
  • "RD controllers are much nicer to work with and have better interface software, definitely the best I have seen coming out of China."
• Check that the system uses linear rails, they really help with accuracy and speed.
• A genuine RECI tube is going to produce its rated power or even a bit more (in order to account for inevitable decline over time as the tube ages). Beware there are RECI counterfeits out there though trying to profit off of RECI's good reputation. At one point, RECI had a place on their website where you could verify that a tube was genuine via the code on the tube.

Leads

If you have any leads on lasers that we could use, please add them here!

Quotes

Here are some quotes we've received from some sellers in China:

• Rodeo Machinery
  • Location: China
  • Cut area: 1300 x 900mm
  • Laser: 100W CO2 Reci W2
  • Cutting speed 0-4000cm/min
  • Base cost: $3650 FOB Qingdao, China
  • Shipping to Savannah, GA seaport: $280, 43 days
  • Shipping directly to ML256: $1450
  • Features from our strongly desired list:
    • Motorized z-axis: yes
    • Non-three-phase AC power 110v or 220v: 110/220v 50/60Hz
    • Water chiller to cool the laser tube: Water chiller CW3000
    • Ventilation fan for exhaust: yes
    • Air pump for air assist on cutting surface: yes
    • Fully enclosed (it will be used in an area where others may be working, without laser protection glasses): yes
    • Supply of low-cost replacement laser tubes: 100W CO2 Reci W2 can be found on eBay for about $600 (not sure if other tubes or suppliers are compatible)
    • May be controlled from a PC (running Windows, Linux, or both): BMP, PLT, DST, DXF, AI from CorelDraw, PhotoShop, AutoCAD, TAJIMA
    • Honeycomb table: yes
  • Features from our additional feature list:
    • Auto-focus: yes
    • Controller that supports non-PC-connected cutting (USB drives): yes
    • Network interface for sending jobs from any computer: yes
    • Rotary axis for engraving round/multi-sided objects like drinking glasses: yes
    • Higher power laser (beware tube replacement costs!): Bigger power RECI laser tube (W4 130W +$400, W6 150W +$700, W8 180W +$1350)
    • Camera for aligning cuts more precisely: no
    • Limit switches: yes
    • Rails: Hiwin Linear Rails
• Robotec
  • Location: China
  • Cut area: 1300 x 900mm
  • Laser: 100W CO2 Reci W2
  • Cutting speed 0-4000cm/min
  • Base cost: $3500 FOB Qingdao, China
  • Shipping: $1000 directly to ML256
  • Features from our strongly desired list:
    • Motorized z-axis: yes (+$250)
    • Non-three-phase AC power 110v or 220v: 110v
    • Water chiller to cool the laser tube: Water chiller CW5000
    • Ventilation fan for exhaust: yes
    • Air pump for air assist on cutting surface: yes
    • Fully enclosed (it will be used in an area where others may be working, without laser protection glasses): yes
    • Supply of low-cost replacement laser tubes: 100W CO2 Reci W2 can be found on eBay for about $600 (not sure if other tubes or suppliers are compatible)
    • May be controlled from a PC (running Windows, Linux, or both): BMP, PLT, DST, DXF, AI from CorelDraw, PhotoShop, AutoCAD, TAJIMA
    • Honeycomb table: yes
  • Features from our additional feature list:
    • Auto-focus: yes
    • Controller that supports non-PC-connected cutting (USB drives): Yes (RD Color controller)
    • Network interface for sending jobs from any computer: They claim it does; "Of course support network interface" (RD Color controller)
    • Rotary axis for engraving round/multi-sided objects like drinking glasses: yes (+$200)
    • Higher power laser (beware tube replacement costs!): no
    • Camera for aligning cuts more precisely: no
    • Limit switches: yes
    • Rails: Hiwin Linear Rails