Need help defining laser cutter requirements

[Pearl Sutton]

Hi!
I’m hoping to buy a laser cutter soon, and am hoping to get input on what exactly my requirements are. There are lots of smart people here, I’d love to pick your brains for expertise!

To start with: I’m running low budget, I’ll almost certainly end up buying second hand, possibly home made. $500.00 range is affordable. So I’m not looking at new systems. For a lot of reasons, I prefer an open gantry, no box, they just get in the way of what I want to do, and I’d end up hacking it to remove the box.

What I need to be able to do is cut thin wood (masonite or similar wood, 1/8 inch thick is, I think, normal?) as well as fabric, paper and maybe vinyl.

Questions:
What is the lowest power laser that will do what I want? What would be way more than I need? If I knew the correct range, I’d have an easier time ruling things out.

Are there any brands/models that I should look at more or avoid when trying to buy second hand?

Are there software requirements for most systems? I am REALLY good with PhotoShop, and own the whole Adobe Creative Suite of programs, can easily learn any graphics or CAD program, but don’t own any others right now. Is this something I need to watch for?

Anything else I need to be aware of that I may be missing?

Are there any sites that I should check?

Know anyone who wants to sell something like this?

About me, if it matters: good graphics skills, good hand skills, have been doing craft/artwork for many years, good with tools, better with hardware than software issues, thing that fix with a wrench make sense to me. I have in mind a couple of major projects for myself, that could easily spin off into a business, if I did that, first money in would be used to buy a better laser, I suspect. The major projects for myself are part of building a house, part of the decorative style (I really don’t know words for what I want to do, haven’t seen it done anyplace. “Lattice type doors” is the closest words I have, but that’s not very close. “Laminated fretwork” might be close too, but again, not very.) I am pretty capable of working with weird systems, I run moody old cars and tools, and am used to working with machines that have personality quirks. “To make it start you have to do this, then that, and then turn the key back a half turn” is pretty common in my life. A nice shiny turnkey system in a box is not only not affordable, it’s probably not what I would get along with best. If I had time/energy etc (I don’t, I’m building a house and doing all the work I can myself, including some interesting custom cabinetry and built-ins through it all) I’d build my own system. Second choice is to figure out what will do what I want, and buy it used.

Any advice/suggestions anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!
Pearl

[John Noell]

So many of your questions have been asked and answered previously. You can use the search function to find the answers. Other than the infamous K40 machines from eBay (and now Amazon), there is almost nothing in the $500 range (new or used). The machines at that price are not going to be easy to use or last long. The laser tubes themselves often cost that much by themselves. There is good reason that even a basic self-imported Chinese machine will run you several thousand dollars.

The beam can be very dangerous so open gantry means you must wear goggles or risk losing your vision, risk burns, or damage things. Lower power means cutting only thinner things and/or doing it more slowly. At your price point you will only be looking at poorly made Chinese machines with glass tubes. Those machines use Chinese software that is more than a bit clunky to use. Most people use CorelDraw to create the images and then import the vectors and bitmaps into the Chinese program (specific to the brand of controller).

I would suggest you try out a laser in a maker space and get some experience before wasting even $500.

[Bert Kemp]

What John said. Your not going to find anything with your specs for 500 ebay k40's are closed box and very small cut area.you really need to research more. As for wattage 40watt would be your minimum to cut 1/8

[John Lifer]

And fergit vinyl in any volume unless your machine is disposable. Do what others have said and READ much here and elsewhere. You can get a lot of info if you spend a few hours reading. (or even days.)

[Kev Williams]

For what the OP is asking, 60 watts is just about necessary...

$500 will barely pay for a 60 watt tube with shipping. Then there's 2 or 3 stepper motors, belts, belt cogs, drive rods, aluminum extrusions and various other framework, guide rails, mirrors and mounts, lens mount, lens, power supply, laser controller, stepper motor controllers, drag chains, air hose, table, lead screws, various brackets, screws, nuts, bolts and other hardware and labor to assemble it into a working machine... which will roughly quintuple the first $500...

or, $500 can get you an EZ-Bake oven that thinks it's a laser engraver...

IF future plans include getting a better laser, the best course of action is to buy it first and save the $500...

My Triumph, affectionately known as 'the dumpster', is huge- it eats up 4 cubic yards of space (which is the size of most apartment dumpsters )-- it's a 1390 machine, with a work area of 51" x 31", and with the open back, 51" by any length (barring walls in the way) is possible. It has an 80 watt RECI tube, and non-moveable table. It came with an exhaust blower and air pump. I got it in November 2013 and the to-my-door price all in was less than 5 large. Without trying hard, the machine paid for itself in 3 months.

Consider this:
--On an average day, these machines will generate $100 per hour easy--
--$5000 borrowed for 2 years at 7% will cost $224 a month--
--If you can find just 3 hours of 'market rate' work for the machine every month, it will make the payments. After that is gravy.

Buying used is fine, as long as you don't buy a used $500 machine... Just get a decent machine

[Mike Null]

Kev

You're sounding like a sales rep. The machine won't generate 20 cents an hour without a customer base. It's not a "build it and they will come" situation.

I'm with the others--do more research and save your money until you can afford a machine with some reasonable expectation of reliability.

[Bill George]

Ten minutes with the Search function here will give you hours of reading. I love the talented folks who buy a K40 machine off eBay for $300 and then spend $100's more and hours to make it work. When they could be selling and making money they are working on the machine.

[Kev Williams]

Kev

You're sounding like a sales rep. The machine won't generate 20 cents an hour without a customer base. It's not a "build it and they will come" situation.

I'm with the others--do more research and save your money until you can afford a machine with some reasonable expectation of reliability.

need a laser, need a customer base--It's a catch-22 not much different than: I need a car so I can get a job, but I need a job so I can get a car...

My point: you can't build a customer base with a laser that won't do the job, same as a $500 car won't get you to work if it's being towed.

Otherwise, yes- get a useable, reliable machine.

[Bert Kemp]

Bill glad you got a good machine, but after reading the payment methods and their return policy I don't know if I'd want to buy from them.

[Bill George]

Bill glad you got a good machine, but after reading the payment methods and their return policy I don't know if I'd want to buy from them.

I have dealt with LightObject since before my first post on here. Subject returns.... I ordered nearly $1000 worth of stuff from them and others as I was going to "build" my first machine. After reading here and learning, I sent all of it back to LO and got my money back. On another occasion I can recall, I received some defective merchandise from them, no return needed just take a picture and refund without an issue.

[Pearl Sutton]

Thank you all SO much! Need to fix my settings again, I didn't get notifications again. Not sure what I'm doing wrong there...

I don't have a specific size I need to be able to cut. I know 7 x 10 is way too small. Some of my work ends up huge but gets done in sections, mostly I want to have enough options to make the tool useable to me. The stuff for the house, for example, will end up being about 12 foot tall at highest, and 28 foot long. Not going to get that in a cutter! Not even going to get 4 x 8 wood in the cutter. But if I can turn it, move it, and make it cut everything it can reach, I might be able to get something decent sized cut if I start with a 18-24 inch cut swath. That's part of why open gantry. So I can make it cut more than the bed size.

I may have to wait on this. I just hate the idea of doing a huge project (the house stuff) with a dremel and jigsaw, and not learning to do it on a cutter. I have little problem with my learning curve errors being in my house, rather than on things I'm trying to sell.

I have looked at most of the machines/companies mentioned, and realized they are out of my preferred price range. That's why I'm looking second hand. I'm hoping to find a machine someone built or outgrew that they are willing to sell cheaply. This wouldn't be the cornerstone of my business, only a good addition to my current tools. Hard to justify a very expensive item when it may or may not make it's own money back soon. If I start with a used machine, and learn if I can sell the output, I can move up easily enough to something better. If I buy something more expensive, that makes a very pricey paperweight if I don't find a market for it's output.

Thank you all I'll think hard on all of this.

[Michael Henriksen]

Why not have someone cut your designs for you to begin with? You might not make that much profit on them but it should give you and idea of market demand.

[Michael Henriksen]

Kev

It's not a "build it and they will come" situation.

It can be if you have the right product to sell and don't rely on being a job shop. I bought a laser so I could make marble machine kits. To my knowledge no one had ever offered a product like that before. I just assumed that since I found it cool others would as well. I've sold thousands of kits now.

[Mike Null]

I personally know of quite a number of guys who had "can't miss" ideas who had to sell their machines or had them repo'd. You're one of the lucky ones.

[Michael Henriksen]

I kept my investment low - I had to as I had just lost my job and had little savings. Bought a LS3040 with a 60W tube and worked out of a shipping container in a muddy field by a farm.