What do you think about this company...

[Mark Anderson]

It is true that most of the Chinese lasers are almost identical in appearance and most all have glass tubes. Most of the horrific stories originating with these lasers are due to NO technical support, POORLY written manuals, and DOA machines arriving at the door of the person importing it. That being said, there are some US distributors starting to import and warranty Chinese lasers. I am considering buying this laser: http://www.brightstarlasers.com/LG500.htm
A two year warranty (including the laser tube) with the rep setting up the machine and providing training for the software makes me feel a little more "warm and fuzzy" about the purchase. The sales representative is very knowledgeable and has been very responsive to any and all questions.

[Mike Null]

At the risk of raining on your parade I will point out that a sales rep is not tech support. We have only two exceptions to that rule that I'm aware of after nine years in the business. Both are members of this forum. Realize that a rep makes money by selling.

Yes, a good reputation is valuable, but reality is that these guys can't afford to offer tech support and generally they are not capable of offering tech support.

In the real world, once the sale is made your rep is off to sell sometbody else.

I have worked with Epilog, Universal and Trotec. In all cases the reps were non-entities as far as tech support was concerned.

On the other hand all three of these companies have very good tech support and parts supply at their headquarters.

[Mark Anderson]

Mike,
I would agree with you wholeheartedly in regards to support and parts availability being a crucial part of purchasing a laser. I have had excellent technical support from Epilog. The Brightstar website says they offer 24/7/365 support. Have you had any experience with them that would say otherwise?

[Larry Bratton]

Mark:
Those look pretty good. That 80watt with the big table especially. These vary from the ones in the original post in that the one I am speaking of has a Z of 15". That's sure a good price, especially with that warranty. No servos though, but for the money difference.. Let us know how it goes if you buy it.

[Mike Null]

Mark:
My only direct experience was with the 3 companies I mentioned. I am a daily visitor to two engraving forums and can't recall seeing any discussion about them.

[Keith Outten]

A couple old sayings come to mind;

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price.

Let the buyer beware.

Not that these laser engravers aren't an excellent bargain but like any new product line those who are first to purchase are the ones who take the initial risks. Given the fact that very few have any first hand information concerning Chinese laser engravers there is definately a high risk factor involved purchasing them at this time. People will buy them and reports will start showing up in the near future. The question is whether you prefer to take the risk or wait for the reviews.

I expect that even if the Chinese have problems in the beginning they will eventually work out the bugs and produce a reasonably good quality machine. When they do the North American manufacturers will be forced to reduce their prices or suffer a loss of their market share.

My last thought is the impact that less expensive laser engravers will have on the engraving business. I expect that many will purchase their own machines and do their own engraving when they feel it is in their best interests financially.

.

[Garry McKinney]

I have an epilog ext and I have had a problem with one of the motors. It was replaced , but in my conversation with the tec, I used the statement servo motor, when he informed me , that the motor in the epilog is not a servo motor, but simply a high speed motor.

[Dave Jones]

There is a type of motor called a servo motor that has a built in shaft encoder. On newer Epilogs the X axis uses a seperate encoder strip and motor. So on those the X axis motor is a "motor in a servo system", but technically speaking is not a "servo motor".

[Peck Sidara]

The Epilog EXT/Mini/Helix uses a servo motor. A servo motor requires feed-back to determine position. In some cases as Dave Jones has stated the encoder is built into the motor in the form of a rotary encoder with reader. In our case, we've simply removed the rotary encoder w/ reader and repositioned it as a linear encoder for better positioning and accuracy.

There's still feedback to and from the motor therefore, we consider our systems to be a servo motor with linear encoding technology.

Hope that helps answer the question of what type of motors are used in the Epilog line of lasers.

[Larry Bratton]

I absolutely agree with you Keith. All of us have worked hard to be able to afford these expensive machines. It gives us sort of an elite status. Kinda like owning a Mercedes. We have an ability to do things that others can't do. Now, the Chinese machines put this capability in the reach of a whole lot more folks than before. Always my luck, I make an investment and think I am going to have some unique capabilities and then something comes along to make that capability old hat. That's kinda sad BUY AMERICAN! (and don't say Mercedes aren't American, not that I own one,I have a plant that manufactures them about 50 miles from here)

[Mark Winlund]

I have a stepper driven ULS (X2-660) that has serious problems with resonances in the machine causing bad quality output above 5% speed (in vector mode). I have had the machine for 4 or 5 years, and have not had much success resolving the problem with ULS. My Haas mill weighs 14,000 lbs, has a table that must weigh 500 lbs, and the table can move faster and change directions faster than the ULS.

I have pretty much given up trying to get ULS interested in resolving this. Too bad on a machine that cost over $41,000.

Servos ARE better than steppers.

Mark

[Jacqui Marlin]

A two year warranty (including the laser tube) with the rep setting up the machine and providing training for the software makes me feel a little more "warm and fuzzy" about the purchase. The sales representative is very knowledgeable and has been very responsive to any and all questions. [/QUOTE]


***Mark ~ have you made the purchase from this company and if so, how has it gone so far? If not, what decided you against it?

Thanks, Jacqui, Goddess of Chaos GSOLFOT

[Jacqui Marlin]

I saw your post re BrightStar and wrote a note after I looked at their web site. I couldn't believe that I received a long and very reassuring email from them on a Sunday holiday weekend! NOW to find out if anyone here has purchased anything from them and are they as good as they sound?

Jacqui, Goddess of Chaos, GSOLFOT

[Dean Carpenter]

Servo v stepper: not that old chestnut again!!

in short: if you want to high-speed engrave then servo wins hands down.

For cutting though, in my experience, you'll not notice any significant difference for your average low power laser cutting job.

On the reliability issue: brushless servo with radial encoders are the best I've ever used BUT they are massively expensive when compared to a decent stepper.

Choose the right horse for the right race.

Dean

[Harry Radaza]

I'm very curious about the a4dable portable laser. Is it made in china ? Any experiences working with this particular machine ?

We deal with a lot of plaques and I would love to have a small machine (maximum table size 8"x12") accomodate these jobs on the spot at a mall setting or somewhere nearby.

Any ideas for a laser this small ? costs ? plus/negative factors ?