Full Spectrum Lasers

[Jeffrey Ruzicka]

I'm looking for a laser to get into this with as a hobby/small business and someone suggested Full Spectrum Lasers 40w hobby laser. I'm wondering, does anyone have experience with these or other FS Lasers? Would this a good route to take or something like this be very limiting? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Walt Langhans]

Full Spectrum lasers are repainted and sometimes doctored Chinese lasers. If your willing to take on the work to get one imported you can get the same machine for less. Although I have no personal experience with Full Spectrum, pretty much everything that I have read here on the forum says their customer service is terrible. If you don't want to import the machine but are looking around the same price range and product as Full Spectrum you should check out Hurricane lasers, they are pretty much the exact same thing.

[Rodne Gold]

My advice is to avoid the k40/40w/hobby lasers like the plague. $499-699 ex china , up to $2500 in the USA , constructed using cheap parts , lots of reliability issues , lousy limited software , expensive repairs , limited/expensive/no support ... NOT AT ALL suitable for any commercial application.
As to getting into the business and advice on what laser .. read this board , search this board , the info is all there and is extensive.

[gary l roberts]

Just to balance the discussion, My unit has run fine, I have gotten good results and I spent a lot less money. No I don't run it 24 hours a day, its a hobby machine but it has paid for its self. Service has been good, response reasonable. And yes I would buy another unit from them.
This discussion reminds me of cars. I hate Chevy's ,love Fords, all cause I had one that didn't live up to my expectations or some dealer didn't do what I ( yes I not THEM) thought should have been done. Few companies have perfect records, I guess laser companies fall into that category. I'd be the first to say FS units are not the top of the line, but then again, I can't afford to live in Pam Beach , fly a private G5 Gulfstream, drive a Lamborghini, or own a TROTEC 300 (no I didn't win either). We all make cost benefit decisions everyday and hope they work out for us. This is no different. We buy what we can afford, within the guidelines we think we can live with and hope it works out well.
I can't afford a trotec, not comfortable with a direct import from china, and want someone in the states to talk to when it breaks or I get stupid........ So for ME, it has worked out. So if it turns on today, I'll think my 60 watts are every bit as good as yours and smile at the thought I got it cheaper. If it doesn't turn on, well I guess I'll trade it in for a something better OR at least different.

[Bert Kemp]

I would not ever buy another Full spectrum laser, just search here on them and read all the horror stories. Theres like 2 people who like them and the rest will tell the story. Mine just sits in a corner now unused . I've just written it off as a 2500 dollar mistake. I can't afford that lose but I can't afford to keep taking it back and paying for repairs that they should cover and won't , they tell you its your fault its not working right , they tell you hey its a hobby laser and you have to work on it to keep it running, they tell you they don't have time for you and your cheap machine. and if you don't believe me I have 100s of emails to prove it .

[Pete James]

We purchased a 40w machine from Hurricane Lasers and have had no problems with it. We have always been able to speak to someone when we call with questions. We highly recommend Hurricane.

[Dan Hintz]

I would not ever buy another Full spectrum laser, just search here on them and read all the horror stories.

Not to mention the ones that were removed due to them being attached to posts by the owner who has had his account deleted twice... it's a shame they were removed rather than locked as you got a real sense of his attitude towards customers (and this forum, in particular).

[Ray Beaty]

I have a Hurricane 60w and it is great and their support group is super!

[Dennis Rech]

I'm looking for a laser to get into this with as a hobby/small business and someone suggested Full Spectrum Lasers 40w hobby laser. I'm wondering, does anyone have experience with these or other FS Lasers? Would this a good route to take or something like this be very limiting? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I have had my 40 watt hobby laser for just over two years.
It works fine and has never had any real problems other than arriving rather badly out of alignment.
The machine is rather light weight and goes a bit out of alignment whenever I move it.
Good news is that it is light weight enough that I can move it easily and that now that I have the right small bits and wrenches, it only takes minutes to realign.
The Print Driver works with every program that I have ever used it with and I did not have to buy Corel and AutoCad.
Occasionally the laser goes a little berserk and vectors a line where no line should be.
Reboot and it works fine.
I suspect my old XP computer more than the FSE driver might be the blame.
The FSE cuts 1/4 inch acrylic and poplar at one inch every 5 to 7 seconds.
Mine has gone miles.
I use it for cutting quilt templates for my wife and her friends, jewelry boxes for girl cousins and gaskets for my antique airplane friends.
I also have a large CNC milling machine and before committing hours to milling out a stainless part, I spend a few laser minutes in acrylic to proof the layout.

I bought mine because I knew little about lasers and was not sure about committing a lot of money and then find out that I would not have a use for one.
Now that I have one, I cannot imagine living without one.
In my opinion, the FSE is a very good value.
It does pretty much everything that the much more expensive lasers do, but perhaps slower.
However, six FSEs costing the same as one American RF laser will probably do more work for the dollars spent.

As far as service, some of the brand name American units have great service.
However, it comes at $150 an hour and parts costs will buckle your knees.
As far as I can tell, FSE service comes free in that it does not exist.
Then again, if you offer FSE $150/hr, they may provide great service also.

If you are running an engraving business and have customers screaming for product, $150/hour will seem like a great deal if it is provided right now.
If you are making trinkets for your niece, being able to buy a new laser tube or power supply on Ebay for $150 and only waiting a week or two for it is totally acceptable.
It sort of appears to me that people that pay $2300 or a laser expect lifetime service, parts and support for free and that people that pay $20,000 for a laser think that their $2,000 a year service plan is a bargain.

So, would I buy another FSE 40 watt Hobby Pro?
Probably not.
Knowing what I know now, I want something at least 36x24 with 80 watts.
I would order directly from China and cuss the primitive software that comes with it every time that I use it.
Am I sorry that I bought what I bought?
Not at all. It has been great. I learned exactly what a laser can do. I have made hundreds of gifts and hundreds of really useful tools and templates.
When I get a bigger machine, I will lovingly give the FSE to a relative or friend who is into arts and crafts and tell them to have as much fun as I have had with it.
Lasers are really cool tools.
Dennis

[Mike Troncalli]

I have had a FSL 40W hobby for about 14 months now. It is the first laser than I have ever owned and I use it for my business. I have never had to call for service or repair so I really can't comment on other's who have had issues with their service department. I can only tell you about my personal experience. Out of the box, setup, some alignment with the mirrors and I was engraving within a couple of hours. I have days that I use the machine for 4 - 6 hours at a time. I have never in 14 months had a single issue with the hardware or software. I have already paid mine off with the work that I have done on it. I hope to upgrade within the next year to a bigger machine and I would consider FSL.

[Dan Hintz]

Occasionally the laser goes a little berserk and vectors a line where no line should be.
Reboot and it works fine.

It does pretty much everything that the much more expensive lasers do, but perhaps slower.

It seems it does more... like add in extra lines from time to time Try telling a customer "Sorry I ruined your $10k guitar engraving with that extra line, but hey, all I had to do was reset the machine and the next one will come out fine." As you said, if you're doing inexpensive work or stuff you can replace easily, it's probably worth the risk... but you get more than just good service with the extra money on Western machines, you also get a higher reliability level in the work it produces.

[Wes Moore]

I have a highly rated Laser Engraver attached to a highly rated Desktop
PC loaded with a highly rated Graphics Software Package that produces
a glitch when engraving. To date the vendors have all pointed the finger
at the others' products as the cause. So much for getting what you pay
for. I have found a work around to this pain but have concluded just
because you buy the highly rated model does not necessarily mean your
highly rated service will provide resolution.

[Mike Null]

Wes

Have you posted that issue here?

[Keith Frank]

Anyone had a Front Line Laser Machine? Are they any good?

[greg lindsey]

All lasers have thier bugs, the difference is getting them fixed (support) and getting them back on line. I can't afford to be down for days waiting on parts or phone calls. My new Epilog 36EXT was engraving all over the place out of the box, within 15 mins of my call to Epilog support they called me back and had the answer, a set screw had come loose on a pulley during shipment. Back to making money. They are expensive, but my first EXT paid itself off in 40 days and my new one is 1/3rd of the way along in 3 days of operation. Get what you pay for ...absolutley.