Questions about my first engraver purchase.

[Gary Hair]

It takes 27 seconds to engrave "MFG NFA TRUST, SPRINGFIELD OR" - why in the world would I do that on my CO2?

Do the CZ's with your C02's. My LS900 does a great job- just need patience because it takes MANY passes...

[Gary Hair]

The fiber listed in my signature.

Gary what machine do you use for your slides and anodized aluminum?

[Kev Williams]

It takes 27 seconds to engrave "MFG NFA TRUST, SPRINGFIELD OR" - why in the world would I do that on my CO2?

Tim said he stopped doing them (CZ's) because of meltdown...

[Tim Bateson]

It takes 27 seconds to engrave "MFG NFA TRUST, SPRINGFIELD OR" ...?

That's why I have a Galvo style fiber now being built, For my 30w Epilog Gantry style Fiber, assuming the regulation minimum of 1/16 height, a typical NFA engraving takes 5-10 minutes to reach .003 depth. Thats with 5-10 45 degree passes (double that in reality) with crosshashing and another 5 passes of raster cleanup. I can cut that time in half if using single line text.

[Gary Hair]

That's why I have a Galvo style fiber now being built, For my 30w Epilog Gantry style Fiber, assuming the regulation minimum of 1/16 height, a typical NFA engraving takes 5-10 minutes to reach .003 depth. That with 5-10 45 degree passes (double that in reality) with Hashing and another 5 of raster cleanup.

and that's why I don't understand the draw to gantry fiber machines. So far I haven't seen any circumstances where they perform anywhere near a galvo and the only advantage over co2 is that they can achieve depth in metal - with enough time anyway.

[Tim Bateson]

and that's why I don't understand the draw to gantry fiber machines. So far I haven't seen any circumstances where they perform anywhere near a galvo and the only advantage over co2 is that they can achieve depth in metal - with enough time anyway.

The machine was new on the market & to be honest, I was sold a bill of goods on it's capabilities. The Dual Co2/Fiber does have it's pluses. Just finished a massive military order. Could place 6 pieces on the 32x20 bed. Pass #1 was a CO2 marking (lasered through powder coat) for each piece. Pass #2 was a deep Fiber etch on another area of each piece. The ability to do larger quantities and both types of lasering was perfect. I have also done a few large metal pieces that would not work with the smaller Galvo work space.

[Gary Hair]

Sorry you were misled but I'm glad your making it work out! Would you be able to do these pieces on a galvo fiber? Just curious.

The machine was new on the market & to be honest, I was sold a bill of goods on it's capabilities. The Dual Co2/Fiber does have it's pluses. Just finished a massive military order. Could place 6 pieces on the 32x20 bed. Pass #1 was a CO2 marking (lasered through powder coat) for each piece. Pass #2 was a deep Fiber etch on another area of each piece. The ability to do larger quantities and both types of lasering was perfect. I have also done a few large metal pieces that would not work with the smaller Galvo work space.

[Tim Bateson]

Sorry you were misled but I'm glad your making it work out! Would you be able to do these pieces on a galvo fiber? Just curious.

Yes I could do them 1 at a time with a Galvo. However with my M2 it was set to automatically change to the height needed for each engraving as the part has two different focal depths. I'm pretty sure most Galvo lasers have to be manually focused.