laser woodworking question

[Jon Eckardt]

I am currently researching what types of laser machines are available as I am considering starting a home business doing laser woodworking. I have looked into the EPILOGLASER and it looks pretty good, but I'm new to this.
Any inputs from the experienced would be very helpful.
Thanks,
jon

[Lee DeRaud]

"Woodworking" covers a lot of territory...care to be a bit more specific about your plans? What you're trying to do makes a huge difference in what machine you'll want/need, not to mention whether it's even feasible or not.

[Jon Eckardt]

Sorry about the lack of detail! I'm considering buying a laser machine that I can use, at least initially for lasering wood plaques, boxes, craft type items. I don't envision a high production in the first few years, but I would rather buy a unit that I can grow into vise trading up. I would like to work this "hobby" into a business when I retire in a few years, so I would like to get proficient with the machine and establish myself in the small home business market over the next 2-3 years, so when I do retire, I can get into the business on a more full time basis.
With that said, I am looking for some advice from you veterans as far as what wattage machine would best fit my application. I am considering an EPILOGLASER 36EXT with a 45 watt laser. My biggest question is what are the major differences between the wattages. I feel like getting a middle of the road wattage will most likely do everything I want to donow and in the future. If speed is the biggest difference in power, then what would be a good example of the time/power ratio. I don't want to get too much or too little power. I want to have a physically large machine so that I am not limited too much in the size of the wood that I can fit in the machine.
I would appreciate any help in making my decision.

Jon Eckardt

[Ed Lang]

Be sure to look at the Universal Lasers, I am glad I did.

I bought a 50W machine M-300 and have been quite happy with it.

[Lee DeRaud]

Sorry about the lack of detail! I'm considering buying a laser machine that I can use, at least initially for lasering wood plaques, boxes, craft type items. I don't envision a high production in the first few years, but I would rather buy a unit that I can grow into vise trading up. I would like to work this "hobby" into a business when I retire in a few years, so I would like to get proficient with the machine and establish myself in the small home business market over the next 2-3 years, so when I do retire, I can get into the business on a more full time basis.
With that said, I am looking for some advice from you veterans as far as what wattage machine would best fit my application. I am considering an EPILOGLASER 36EXT with a 45 watt laser. My biggest question is what are the major differences between the wattages. I feel like getting a middle of the road wattage will most likely do everything I want to donow and in the future. If speed is the biggest difference in power, then what would be a good example of the time/power ratio. I don't want to get too much or too little power. I want to have a physically large machine so that I am not limited too much in the size of the wood that I can fit in the machine.
I would appreciate any help in making my decision.

Jon Eckardt

45 watts is plenty for engraving wood: there's a lot of us making do with 25-30 (making that speed/power tradeoff). If you're planning on a lot of cutting, you may want to go ahead and factor in the price of air assist.

And unless you're planning on engraving whole table tops or something like that, most machines in that power range are big enough to handle the stuff you're talking about.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Jon,

It sounds like for the amount of money you want to invest that this will be a very expensive HOBBY. You may want to start out on a smaller scale and then build it up as you go along. The investment in a smaller platform is a lot less. Yes it will have some size restrictions but if the hobby business does well then you should be able to pay for this equipment very quickly and then when you retire your business if doing well, you can add larger more powerful equipment.

If you start out with a large investment for a business that you are not sure where it may go then your payback will be much longer if at all.

Something to consider!

Also there are a lot of laser system MFG's if you invest anything you owe it to yourself to check them all out.

[Ed Lang]

Mike brings a good point to the table.

My wife and I looked and then decided on what we thought was the best machine in the class of machines we looked at. We then looked at the power and decided to go with a 50W machine due to the thickness of wood we wanted to cut. We did not get air assist as the rep as well as others said that if we were going to cut wood, not acrylic it would not be needed. The air assist can be added later if needed. I cut 1/8" acrylic and have no trouble just like I was told. I have not tried 1/4" but was told I would want air assist at that time. We did not get the rotary attachment as my boxes are flat. Now we are thinking about laser engraving my lathe boxes. Again, we can add the rotary attachment. We decided to get the vector cutting table up front since we will be doing a lot of cutting and wanted the best setup for that. We also did not go with the dual lense as we felt the speed of our machine was fast enough.

One thing we did that I would recommend to you and others is the take some of YOUR material to the demo and see how it cuts. We took every kind of wood we use and in the thicknesses we use. I just asked that a square be cut out from it. Also the machine we saw our demo on was the exact model and power we bought. How lucky for us!

I also liked how our machine build and the ability ot remove/replace the laser assembly. It is just so quick and easy. The driver that comes with it is not as good at Photograv, but close, so close that I didn't buy Photograv. The guarantee that the laser output will exceed the rated power for 15 months is a nice plus. Our 50W is producing ~79 watts out of the box.

I said after we wrote the check that we should have gotten a loarger table machine...... So far I still feel that way but I have not yet wanted to put a larger item in than will fit with lots of room around it.

One day I hope to add a second laser to the shop.

Make sure you at least talk to all of the vendors before spending that money.

[Bruce Volden]

Jon


I started out with a 25W machine and was happy with it! I have 2-25W and 1-35W machines now. Can't say I'd like anything BIGGER wattage- wise. I have seen some exquisite TRUE 3D engraving done with a 100W machine, that would be nice however, the programming involved doesn't appeal to me. My advice would be, instead of more power----more table.
It's nice to fit a pane of gun cabinet glass into the machine (with out-feed roller) and be able to make a customers day! Speed is, in my opinion, a gimmick. What good is a servo traveling 10000000 inches per second when you need dwell time for the laser to work it's magic over an item??
Just some ramblin' thoughts~~~~one thing 'tho, you will enjoy owning one!!!!


Bruce

[Glenn Corser]

I started down the track you are on last year. My son and I bought a used laser from Rob Bosworth at ACCESS Business Solutions www.usedlasers.com and it has worked out real well for us. We initially got a used 35W Epilog that had been refurbished by Epilog - it had a lot of issues and Rob traded it out at no cost (even paid shipping) for a 60W Universal. Mike MacKenzie helped us with some our initial settings and we have been running fine ever since. We do a bunch of Xmas stuff, marble pictures, and acrylic promotional items. The amount we sell is directly related to the amount of time we spend marketing and kicking over rocks. Since we both have day jobs as engineers marketing time goes up and down - I look at it as being paid while I learn.

[Keith Outten]

I have to say that after 3 years of engraving I rarely need more power (35 watts) but often need a larger cabinet. There have been lots of jobs I had to pass on because my 12" by 24" cabinet would not accomodate the piece. Honestly I wish my cabinet had pass-thru doors, it might not solve many issues but it would be an improvement.

Last week for the first time I removed the front panel to engrave a large glass sign. The area of interest was at the top of the glass and it worked rather well as I used a camera tripod to support the bottom of the glass that was hanging off of the engraving table. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do to get the job done sometimes.....

.

[Dave Fifield]

Check out the Engraver's Journal 2005 Laser Buyers Guide at http://www.engraversjournal.com/charts05

I found this to be a very useful roundup of what's available.

Cheers,
Dave Fifield

[Jon Eckardt]

45 watts is plenty for engraving wood: there's a lot of us making do with 25-30 (making that speed/power tradeoff). If you're planning on a lot of cutting, you may want to go ahead and factor in the price of air assist.

And unless you're planning on engraving whole table tops or something like that, most machines in that power range are big enough to handle the stuff you're talking about.

Thanks for your input. It looks like I got a few hits on my ? I've got some info to absorb!
Thanks again, more questions to follow I'm sure!

[Michael McDuffie]

I've never had a problem engraving wood with my 70W Epilog Legend 24 but here are some scary numbers.

$29,995.00 as shipped.

$59,700.00 at end of lease.

Less than $12,000.00 total billed over 5 years.

Lasers can be a very expensive hobby.

Michael

[Joe Pelonio]

One other suggestion, there's a list of laser owners on this forum. See if any of us are close to you then PM and make arrangements to visit anyone that is willing to give you a little demo using real work. If there is more than one you might even be able to compare brands. As Michael
says in his "scary numbers" post it is expensive, of course some people spend more than that on their hobbies.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jon;
I do primarily woodworking projects with my 60 watt LaserPro (Pinnacle). Check out www.laserarts.net for ideas. If your primary objective is working with wood,:
1. Get the highest power laser you can afford-you won't regret it
2. Definitely get an air assist system but do it yourself-don't buy the laser vendors system. Most often an accessory ripoff.
3. Don't buy a cutting table-very practical ones can be easily made for less than $50. Will email you instructions if you wish. All laser vendors should be sued for prices charged for cutting tables-biggest ripoff since they raised the price on cornflakes.
4. Make your own exhaust system- don't need more than 300cfm for most lasers unless your venting path goes through East Jesus.
5. Don't buy the rotating attachment unless you plan on doing a lot of glassware/mugs/and baseball bats. Most people think they will but they don't.
6. Standard lens is 2" focus- don't need anything else to start.
7. Experiment and document your results in a log book. Don't be surprised if you get different results with the same type of wood. Wood varies in density, moisture content, cellular structure-even among same species.
8. Keep your system clean, but don't get crazy about it. I recommend cleaning mirrors after each 8 hours of operation, rollers once a day if you're cutting/engraving wood.
9. Spend at least 3 hours reading past posts on this site related to startups and first time laser purchasers- lots of good info and advice from those who have been there.

Good Luck