Look at getting a YAG laser...info......

[Doug Kircher]

I have had the Epilog 40watt for about 1 1/2 years now. works great, could not be happier with it. I am using it for Aluminum and Glass items. I have been sending the steel (parkerized or black oxide finish) and plastic parts out to a local laser shop for marking. They do a great job, but I think it is getting to a volume that I should start looking at getting a yag in house. The shop I use has the Galvo style, that would be fine for me. the parts that will be marked with it are going to be small. I have test marked the same parts with a Fiber laser and it just does not achieve the same brightness of mark as the YAG laser does. Budget is not set, and I know the units are not cheap. I figure $30K to $60K ish......I do like the idea of good customer service, so thinking a US laser.

I lurk more then I post, but have gotten good advice when I do post and seen a lot of useful advice given on here, so am coming to ya'll first.

Thanks,

Doug

[Dan Hintz]

There's so much here that is answered with an "it depends".

Let's say you want a 20W fiber (which is perfectly fine for marking, but not engraving... no deep stuff), western made, galvo head. You're looking at the $40-45k mark after all is said and done. If you want to go Chinese, you can get a system for <$15k.

[matthew knott]

Theres no real reason why a fiber should not be able to match quite closely the results of a yag, the wavelength is pretty much exactly the same, when you say 'you tested' who is the 'you', fiber lasers are not like co2, you can adjust a lot more and get different results so maybe whoever did them did not know how or try to match your results.
Also there are lots of different types of YAG,(& YV04) for example lamp pumped, side pumper, end pumped, air cooled, water cooled they all have different pros & cons. I would avoid a lamp pumped unit from china as they are complicated beasts and you would really need local support it it goes wrong, plus they need regular maintenance.
My advise, get actual samples run, see if you like them and try and make a educated decision. We have about 12 YAG/Fiber lasers, all Galvo and they all do similar work, but we all like the fibers best here.

[Doug Kircher]

both tests were done on Epilog Fiber Machines. First one was at my local Epilog dealer's shop. was not happy enough with the results on steel, so I just bought the Helix at the time for all the other materials I engrave on. Couple months ago visited Epilog at a booth they had at an industry convention, so one of there techs was playing with my plastic parts, he tried multiple samples, never quite got it to mach the YAG brightness. I may still send them some samples to give them more time to tune things in and see if they can do what I want. I know the owner of the laser shop comments about having to always buy bulbs, so I guess that would lead me to believe it is a Lamp pumped.

I am not rushing out to buy one in the next couple weeks. I am starting the process of researching and educating myself before I buy. I could be open to a Fiber, but from what I have seen so far, the engraving on my products is not as bright.

Just got off the phone with Vision, hey wont have any Lasers for 3 to 6 months (then why is it on the website)

[Dan Hintz]

I have test marked the same parts with a Fiber laser and it just does not achieve the same brightness of mark as the YAG laser does.

I misread this to compare fiber and CO2... there should be nothing a YAG can do that a fiber can't, and there is plenty a fiber can do that a YAG can't. It sounds like a failed experiment/user, not a failed machine.

[Doug Kircher]

I'll give the Fiber another chance.....and let Epilogue see if they can match my current products.......any other differences in a gauntry style verse a galvo style?

[Dan Hintz]

I'll give the Fiber another chance.....and let Epilogue see if they can match my current products.......any other differences in a gauntry style verse a galvo style?

Consider sending your sample to someone other than Epilog, maybe a company who spends millions every year testing materials (like Synrad, and many others, who sell multi-million $ systems).

Gantry is good for large size items, but slow. Galvo is the opposite.

[Scott Shepherd]

I'd heard some great things about the fiber, so when I when to the Philly NBM show last year, I decided I'd check them out. I went to the Epilog booth and looked at their samples. I wasn't impressed with the marks at all. They were pushing it and talking it up, but honestly, I thought the marks were light. Much much more gray than the black I expected to see. I have since then gathered a few samples from other places and the marks are quite dark on the samples I have gathered. I have 1 on my desk that looks really good, run on one of the combo machines.

My belief isn't that the Epilog doesn't do a good job, but rather the samples are poor and most sales rep don't get enough time on them to master them, which is probably why it's not as good as you expected from the sales rep. Send into the home office and tell them you want samples and what you want it on and let their application specialists get you samples. My guess is that the sample from the application lab is going to be far better than the sample from the sales rep.

[Lucy Lee]

we would like to suggest he fiber laser ,it is with faster speed ,while the YAG one seems out of the market ,besides this one ,the diode laser marking also is popular

I'll give the Fiber another chance.....and let Epilogue see if they can match my current products.......any other differences in a gauntry style verse a galvo style?

[Mike Null]

The samples I've seen were unimpressive. Definitely not dark enough and very slow speed. (speaking of a fiber machine)

[matthew knott]

The samples I've seen were unimpressive. Definitely not dark enough and very slow speed. (speaking of a fiber machine)

The problem is most of the companies that people on here are aware of have not had much experience with fiber or yag lasers, its very simple to just buy as fiber laser of the shelf (as they all do) and stick it in a gantry style laser, but knowing what settings and parameters to use takes years of experience. Its not uncommon for job shops to be way better at using the lasers than the manufacturers of the actual machine (as is the case on here, i bet loads of you guys can get better results than the guys that sold you machine). Ive just installed a little 10 watt fiber laser for doing name plates, its replaced an Epilog mini, which has been a faultless machine for our customer, but hes spending ages painting on cermark, plates used to take 55 seconds each, now hes down to 25 and no cermark

this casting is 200mm across and took 27.4 seconds, no cermark, just a quick wipe and onto the next one .dark fiber.jpg
I cant see even the speedyest of speedy co2 getting close to this !!!

[Brian Robison]

Bumping this thread back up, anything new? What brands should I look at for a galvo yag?

[tommy suriady]

Get a galvo fiber. Or better still, a MOPA fiber. 20w is good enough. Almost no maintenance. Just keep lens and air filter clean. No consumables. No chiller. 500w power supply only, that is for the computer.
With Yag... all the troubles w lamp, alignment, YAG rod, pure water chiller. Just a real pain.

The difference in quality is probably due to frequency setting. And focus. And if the bulb is new, u get higher power rating. But only for a short time.

Most important is to get good software for your machine. Tht is the important part, i think. U need to be able to process vector properly ofcourse. But text editing with serialised numbering, variable data and barcode, qr code is a must. Look at the bitmap capability too... very important, i think for some ignorant customers who dont understand vector vs bitmap and doesnt care.

And there is a 'plug in' that can mark out variable parameters for you to find suitable settings for the particular materials.

And some companies provide service to find the right parameters for you for free or minimal costs if you send a sample to them.

Get Hans. I use their machines. They are i think the best chinese machines. And they have a significant presence in the USA. I paid about 14k for my 20W IPG with scanlab head in indonesia. Visit our website to see it in action. Laser Indonesia.

Disclaimer: dont work for hans, but have many friends there. Very satisfied customer. Can help pull bits of strings here and there if needed. Ask me questions regarding marking parameters. Can get co workers to figure out for us. We have 20w ordinary and 20w mopa. Waiting for my coherent 120w marking galvo also by hans.