Laser Engraving anyone?

maxmycardagain

Quite fancy doing some laser engraving, just as a past time, has anyone any info or recommendations for any particular engraver sub-£500?

forgotmyname

Size?   Checkout the K40 units.  MANY clones of clones and prices have increased over the past couple of years.
200mmx300mm capacity? Possibly £600 now rather than sub £500 though?

Plus you will need to check it electrically, usually Chinese build quality where the earth leads are dangling in the breeze
and usually not connected.  Switched on the Neutral side not the Live side.  Nothing difficult and plenty of these units around
with little tweaks to improve them by making them safer and longer lasting.

maxmycardagain

forgotmyname said:

Size?   Checkout the K40 units.  MANY clones of clones and prices have increased over the past couple of years.
200mmx300mm capacity? Possibly £600 now rather than sub £500 though?

Plus you will need to check it electrically, usually Chinese build quality where the earth leads are dangling in the breeze
and usually not connected.  Switched on the Neutral side not the Live side.  Nothing difficult and plenty of these units around
with little tweaks to improve them by making them safer and longer lasting.

what wears out, lasers? tips?

forgotmyname

Yes the lasers have a limited lifespan. They may state 20,000 hours but the cheaper units may overdrive
the laser which reduces its life considerably.

General wear and tear of the moving parts, replacement drive belts or stepper motors etc. Although these
tend to last a long time. I had a 3D printer board burn out after just a couple of months but the replacement
has been working well for over 10 years.

A lot of similar parts in the laser engravers but the laser adds several layers of danger you need to be aware of.

Check this....   youtube.com/watch?v=Bvu3RJkzeZE      (shows the importance of checking the earth which is often not connected)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvu3RJkzeZE