Boss Laser Engraver

[Anthony Morgan]

I see that Boss Laser Engravers are a US based company selling Chinese engravers. Any one familiar with them? I am also looking at Camfive and Rabbit. Any others I should consider? The major brands are financially out of reach currently. I am in Ky.

[AL Ursich]

That is a topic that a search will bring out the answers you are looking for and give you many more questions to ask as you work through the posts.

Spending a few hours working backwards in the threads will give you many answers.

I have a old Epilog so I don't have any direct answers.

This is a frequent topic with the latest posts having the current or close to the current info. Many very old posts have out dated info in them.

Good Luck and Welcome !!!! I see this is your 4th post.

AL

[Nick young]

I have a ls1630 since last August. I read alot of the info on this board about them before I made my decision and am really happy with it. Feel free to ask me any questions either here or through private message.

[Mike Null]

Rabbit is one of our sponsors. I don't know where in KY you're located but Ray Scott is in Dayton, Ohio about an hour down I75 from Covington.

Ray has a very good reputation and you would be well served to give him a call. http://www.rabbitlaserusa.com/

[Bert Kemp]

I bought a Rabbit from Ray at Rabbit laser been very good so far. He goes the extra mile for his customers but call Rabbit Laser USA don't email .

[Anthony Morgan]

Thanks, I am in WKY a few hours from Covington. I will have to contact him. Thank you

Anthony Morgan

[Anthony Morgan]

Thank you, i will call him. A distributor that close would be very handy.

Anthony

[Michael M McDonald]

Total newbie here and just starting to look at information. What is the cost/risk benefit of purchasing from Rabbit or Boss as opposed to ordering a similar machine let's say from ebay at about 1/2 to 1/3 the price?

[Keith Downing]

Total newbie here and just starting to look at information. What is the cost/risk benefit of purchasing from Rabbit or Boss as opposed to ordering a similar machine let's say from ebay at about 1/2 to 1/3 the price?

There are MANY posts here discussing this. I strongly suggest you do a search and spend a little time reading; there is a wealth of information.

One hint: I also suggest that you stop considering Ebay and start researching importing a machine directly from a manufacturer in China. If you don't think buying from an American reseller is worth the premium on the price, and there are legitimate arguments on both sides, then that is the way to go IMHO. Again, a search will yield a large number of results with good information on this topic.

While some of the Chinese manufacturers do post products on Ebay, it has a reputation for being a poor marketplace for laser purchases. Especially if you are new to evaluating the hardware. Many visitors here show up with questions about their "ebay machines" that aren't as advertised or arrive dead. And there is a lot less recourse than you would think.

[Keith Downing]

IF he is a total Newbe and hasn't taken then the time for research then he has no business ordering direct from China. Unless the same as Ebay he can fix his own machine without help.

Right. I was saying two options:

A. Buy from a US reseller
B. Do a lot of research and buy direct from China

I was also stating I did not believe it was worth putting time into researching lasers on Ebay. Just my opinion of course.

But after it was explained to me how these "big ticket" sellers game the ratings and review system, I'll never again consider buying ANYTHING over a few hundred dollars sold by an Ebay store that has significant shipping costs or setup time involved. Your chances of getting burned are just WAY too high.

[Gary Hair]

IF he is a total Newbe and hasn't taken then the time for research then he has no business ordering direct from China. Unless the same as Ebay he can fix his own machine without help.

First, it's not really your business to tell someone where they should or shouldn't buy something from and what requirements they should meet before doing so. Second, 99% of the time people will fare better buying direct than on Ebay.

[Michael M McDonald]

Thank you guys. As stated I have just begun looking at info and had seen these machines for a fraction of the cost of the US sellers but was not sure if they were same machines or if they're a different quality than what's seen on the US seller sites. I am looking through threads to gain knowledge before considering what to purchase as has been recommended. As of now I'm not even sure if it will be a laser to start or a cnc router to get my feet wet. Thanks again.

[John Lifer]

Michael, Please DO spend a few hours on line here and READ old posts. you will gain a better understanding of the various options you have.
Oh, I'll even go so far as to add AMAZON to the DO NOT BUY from i.e., SAME AS EBAY!

I have a local educational makerspace that is run by our local chamber of commerce. Yes, it is only the second in the country managed this way.
They are slowly getting going, have a K40 that slightly works.
The Little Rock location suggested to them to order a 5090 Thru Amazon. The guy had purchased one and had pretty good luck with it.
Well, they did. Even with me pushing a direct buy and Ray Fine, or other company.
Laser was supposedly in the U.S on west coast. 5 day delivery. Well, it was delivered somewhere near San Francisco.......
Not anywhere near Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Has been over a week past original delivery date and they can't tell them anything. I guess Contact Amazon and try and get their money back.
Didn't want to wait for delivery from China....

Just another tale.
Go study!

[Alan Hutchins]

I have a ls1630 since last August. I read alot of the info on this board about them before I made my decision and am really happy with it. Feel free to ask me any questions either here or through private message.

Nick or anyone else that is using a Boss Laser...I am a new forum member and looking to purchase my first Laser engraver. I have been leaning towards purchasing a Boss LS1630 with 100W upgrade and have searched and read many posts on them and overall they seem to have good reviews but I am not finding many examples of detailed engraving online done using a Boss engraver. Having also checked out Epilog and received their sample of the Aztec calendar as well as reading some posts that seem to indicate that Boss or similar engravers are better for cutting than engraving I was wondering if I could get some examples or feedback on how well the Boss unit does on detailed engraving work. I will be doing mostly photos but like the idea of being able to do detailed work such as the Aztec Calendar as well and would like feedback from more experienced and knowledgeable people as to the abilities of the Boss Lasers for that type of detailed engraving.

Thanks in advance.
Alan

[Keith Downing]

Nick or anyone else that is using a Boss Laser...I am a new forum member and looking to purchase my first Laser engraver. I have been leaning towards purchasing a Boss LS1630 with 100W upgrade and have searched and read many posts on them and overall they seem to have good reviews but I am not finding many examples of detailed engraving online done using a Boss engraver. Having also checked out Epilog and received their sample of the Aztec calendar as well as reading some posts that seem to indicate that Boss or similar engravers are better for cutting than engraving I was wondering if I could get some examples or feedback on how well the Boss unit does on detailed engraving work. I will be doing mostly photos but like the idea of being able to do detailed work such as the Aztec Calendar as well and would like feedback from more experienced and knowledgeable people as to the abilities of the Boss Lasers for that type of detailed engraving.

Thanks in advance.
Alan

The detail is good, no problems there. The biggest disadvantage of the Boss lasers (and this is true of virtually ALL Chinese lasers!) is that they are 3-5 times slower than their US counterparts when it comes to engraving (rastering). This is because they have slower stepper motors, rarely have servo motors, and the tubes fire differently. Cutting they are much closer in speed though, because the power of the tube is going to dictate more than the speed of the motor when it comes to how fast you can cut.

The other major difference is the CO2 tubes fire differently than the metal tubes. The glass CO2 lasers don't have the ability to do the dot or dither patterns as well as the US machines as a result, because they fire in a solid state. This could potentially make it harder to do the photos you mentioned.

In the end though, I'm very happy with my purchase. For my first machine I wanted: a new machine, I wanted a real warranty, I wanted someone who had US technical support included, and I wanted something under $10,000 all in. I would definitely recommend them for meeting all of those criteria.

The one thing I would add, would be that 100 Watt might be overkill unless you're planning to do almost exclusively cutting. There is a lot of debate on this, but with the Chinese lasers I'm personally of the opinion that sometimes the higher wattage machines are harder to dial in to get that perfect raster on detailed work. Just my $.02.

Here are a couple of images (nothing in particular, just what I had in my gmail already) of items I've done on the Boss machine:

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