Official Luthiers Forum!

Hallo

As a hobby me and a friend of mine construct instruments. We are thinking of buying a cheap Chinese laser as cheap as possible for inlays (1,5 - 2 mm wood).

Has anybody used such laser before, if yes which model and if pleased with the outcome.
Has anybody used the ebay lasers and especially K40 which is very cheap?

Thank you !!!

I've got a buddy who's got an Epilog Helix with a 40watt laser installed. I recently had him cut a bunch of 1.5mm parts in wood for an inlay project. The maple, pernambuco, limba, Padauk, and ovangkol cut really easily. The EIR cut/burned pretty ok. The ebony just went up in flames...lots-a-smoke! The Epilog is a pretty high end machine. I doubt you will get the same results from the cheap machine.

Best, M

Thank you for the answer. I am sure i will not have the same results. The question is how bad will the results be. If someone has used cheap lasers i would like to see the cut.

Thank you again!!

My buddy was saying that the cheap Chinese lasers are great at cutting. Engraving is where they fail. Sounds like if the laser has enough power you may be good to go for cutting inlay parts. I personally will stick with my cnc in most cases.

M

I have an 80 Watt Shenhui.

The Chinese lasers use a DC laser tube where the high end machines (Epilog, Trotec, etc.) use an RF laser.

I've never used an RF laser but I know you can adjust frequency along with power where with the DC machines you can only adjust power. I know frequency effects performance but not sure in what ways.

My 80 Watt machine can cut most if not all woods cleanly at only 1.5 to 2mm thickness.

Woodweb has a laser/engraving forum with a lot of contributors, check that out if you haven't already done so.

And yes, the Chinese machines are very slow compared to the high end machines when it comes to engraving where the laser has to sweep back & forth like the head on an inkjet printer.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Hallo. Thank for the response.
Is your laser one of the lasers in the link? Is it at least of the same company?
I will try to also to read the site that you proposed.
Many thanks for your helpful message.

https://shenhuilaser.m.en.alibaba.com/p ... m.main.0.0

Yes, that's the company.

Buying a machine direct from China is not the easiest, you have to use a broker to get it through customs and there are legal/compliance issues. There's a lot of info on Woodweb.

Once I got the machine it took several hours to get the mirrors aligned and things running acceptable accurate. The software is also clunky.

The Chinese machines are about 1/5 the price of a premium machine but you pay for it with your time. Also if you do a lot of engraving there is no comparison, the premium machines engrave much faster & time is $$$. If you are resourceful and don't mind spending time tweaking your equipment, a Chinese machine may be a good idea. If you just want a good reliable tool that you don't have to mess with, you may want to look for something else.

Just my $0.02

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

One last thing, if you're serious and not in a hurry I know the premium mfg's offer discounted pricing at trade shows along with financing.

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Thank you again
We are not in a harry. I will also discuss with my friend to decide.Thank you.