I finally got my laser this last weekend after "renting" one for over a year. Still couldn't justify the cost of an Epilog or Universal for the amount of engraving I do.
It is a LG500 60 watt from BrightLaser in Kansas City. I know I could have gotten it cheaper direct. BUT I was impressed with their demonstration of the unit, two year warranty on every thing including laser tube, they had the units in stock and they delivered and setup for around half of what the others cost. It included and industrial chiller since it is water cooled (no aquarium fish pump), compressor for the air assist, exhaust fan and hoses, honeycomb cutting platform and red dot pointer.
Now what I didn't get was an auto focus. But since 95% of what I engrave is always at the same focus level it is actually handier than the auto focus I had on the other machine, since I don't have to focus every time I turn on the machine. It doesn't do greyscale graphics, I have to convert to 1 bit black and white, but they actually look better than the greyscale from the other laser, much like PhotoGrav does.
Also it does not use a print driver directly from Corel , it uses its own software which so far has done everthing I need and was easy to learn. If I need something from Corel, I just save as an AI file and import it into the software.
So far I am impressed with the quality and really enjoying the speed I get on the engravings. I make wooden archery grips out of Dymondwood which is extremely hard and it does a great job with it. The old laser (12 watt just couldn't cut deep enough in it without several pass's). A small graphic about 1 inch square took 8 to 10 minutes on the old one, but the new one does it in less that 2 minutes and twice the depth of cut and great detail.
So far a happy camper with my new laser.
Dave
See attached pics of the type engravings I do on the wood grips. All graphics are less than 1" square....
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