New Laser opinions on features.

Hi All

I'm currently researching machines with a view to installing a laser to do a couple of specific jobs and maybe expand my product range.

I have decided due to limited resources at the moment to go for something from HPC laser here in the UK. Having had a look at a couple of machines they appear to do what I want and seem to be well built with some backup if I have issues.

There are two which seem very similar by all accounts - the differences are

One has a 680 x 400 bed

The other has a 600 x 400 bed , plus a drawer underneath to allow access to remove bits that might fall through the bottom.

Price is very similar (smaller one is a bit less money, but negligible)

So do you think I'd find the drawer more useful than the extra 80mm of bed size?

I'd initially be cutting material such as Trolase/Rowmark lights and other thin sheet materials - card, paper etc. Seems like the lights material comes in 610x 300 sheets (or rolls) so will just fit on the smaller bed with a little wastage.

Thoughts please


DJ

Hi DJ, is bed size and a draw the only difference?

what about optics, motor type, belt type, any other features the larger machine offers, what about Z?

80mm is not even worth considering if that is the ONLY difference, like you said most sheets come in 600x300~ size which is a very common size

Go for the bigger bed size!

Whatever size you get, you will always wish that you had one a little bit bigger.
I lost a job just this morning because the work was slightly larger (~30mm in both directions) than my 812x508 bed. I suggested doing it in two sections, but that wasn't acceptable.

I'd also suggest that it is well worth a trip to Yorkshire to see the machines working. The HPC guys are really helpful and can explain exactly why it might be worth paying the extra £150 (or not).

Hi Jack

From what I can make out yes that's the only difference - although I'd need to get that confirmed by the suppliers.

If its the same I'm beginning to think the draw version might be more useful as further research shows (as you say) sheet sizes that would fit. I guess there would be a wastage 'margin' whatever size the bed was and probably easier to remove 'bits' from a drawer than taking the bed out each time.

Cheers

DJ

Dave, my default answer would be: go for the larger bed. I remove my cutting tables to clean my beds out, it is not a big hassle, that extra 8 cm could be a big deal to you. A removable tray may be an advantage if you desire small parts (that you need to keep) to fall through the cutting grid rather than sit on top of it (but how often would that be?); however in this case, you will need the little bits that have fallen through to be out of reach of the cutting beam as it passes through the material above or it will score them.
Kind regards, John

Remember Dave when engraving for example there is an acceleration distance each side of a drawn item. a 600mm wide bed for example will only allow engraving items up to *around* 560mm wide then minus the stand off from home of 10mm and your 600mm becomes 550mm

bigger bed every time mate :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Sheldrake

Remember Dave when engraving for example there is an acceleration distance each side of a drawn item. a 600mm wide bed for example will only allow engraving items up to *around* 560mm wide then minus the stand off from home of 10mm and your 600mm becomes 550mm
bigger bed every time mate :)

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^This is an excellent point Dave^ One of those lessons many of us had to learn the hard way.

Also consider the resale of the larger machine. Though in this case it might not matter.

I know around here the resale of a 1200x900 machine with an 80 watt or better tube is higher and faster than my 900x600. I did the 900x600 knowing this however because I was running out of floor space and the 1200x900 was large enough to house a family of 6. Given room though, for the $$ difference I would have gone with the larger unit given later resale value.

Just a thought. Would HPC put a drawer or door in the larger unit for you to facilitate removal of stuff? At least with my order from China the folks there were more than willing to change things like that.

Thanks for the replies chaps - I'd taken the acceleration bit into account Dave, but thought the drawer idea might be handy. Reading between the lines its looking like 'get the biggest bed size' might be the way to go. There is a 'front door' to facilitate bigger items so maybe that would suffice to retrieve bits.

Also its seems that there are in fact different optics - the one with the drawer has a 2" lens and the other one a 2.5" lens. Not sure what difference that makes but hopefully someone will enlighten me.

I've seen the bigger one in action at a show and managed to engrave a logo I had handy at a height of 1.5mm and still be perfectly readable and then again at 1/2 that size and still be readable (with a magnifying glass) so there doesn't appear to be an accuracy problem.

I'm sure that I could get something 'made' to order but if I procrastinate any longer I'll end up not getting anything!

So its pointing towards the bigger bed then :)

Large button to push on monday by the looks of it.

DJ

Apologies for all the newbie questions which have probably been asked before.

Hi DJ,

I would be going with the larger bed machine if the price is not ridiculously higher than the smaller bed, you did say they were similar sorry i missed that part, and also the 2" will suit you more for finer engraving while still being able to cut a decent thickness, where as the 2.5" lens would be better for cutting and ok for some engraving.

Just a thought on your drawer--

My Triumph has a catch drawer-- it also does NOT have a movable table! With a stationary table, the inner walls are angled instead of straight, so it acts like a funnel, all the junk falls into the drawer!

However, that drawer has meant zilch to me.

BUT, the reason I bring it up is, THE TABLE-- just wondering if one machine has a moving table and the other one not?

Bigger is better. There are many many times where I wish I had an extra bit of room on my x axis. Also, does the drawer mean their is less z axis travel? If so I would go for the one with more z travel.

The later 68's have less space under the actual rail bed and the tray Dave, overall the outside cabinet is smaller but they do have chain drives on the Z axis.

I have trays on my 1290's but to be honest they only get used because hauling out a 1200 x 900 rail bed in one piece gets heavy, on the machines under a 900 bed the rails are easy enough to remove allowing vaccumm cleaner access to the little bits ;)

The lens difference is nothing to worry about, the 2.5" gives a bit more clearance under the cone over the work but lens are an easy swap out, I used 1.5" , 2" and 2.5" in my 68 without problems.

From memory the 6840 splits into two parts if you need to move it into a small area, the 6040 doesn't from what I recall. When split the 68 will go through a standard width door :)

I do know the 68 is not made by HX King Rabbit as their only offering that size wasn't quite up to what Chris wanted, of all the machines I have had the HX 6840 has been the toughest little beast by far ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Bion

^This is an excellent point Dave^ One of those lessons many of us had to learn the hard way.

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I'll give you a call over the weekend buddy and explain how to tweak that to get some extra room :)

Thanks again all

both have the same height motorised adjustable table

price difference is £150

the bigger one is a newer model (6840) and has the slightly bigger lens, which sounds like it equates to better cutting which is good. I've seen the fineness of the engraving as mentioned previously and looks pretty fine for what I want, so maybe that's the one to go for and forget the drawer. The slightly smaller one is a 6040 which I believe is the same as one from rabbit laser but is an older model which may have been improved in the newer version.

i guess if there was only one available at that price point I wouldn't be concerned either way as a newbie 😃

dj