I used to do laser engraving for a living for ten years and this machine is a lot better than the almost 100k machine we had. How things have advanced since then. I wonder what is the reason for it to raster diagonally.
When I first saw it, it looked much smaller. When it arrived and I had to find a place in my already packed shop, reality set in. This is certainly a machine capable of being used for someone starting a small business. Cutting clear and colored acrylics opens up a lot more options that I hadn't considered and the acrylic remains fairly clear along the cut edges unlike wood products. I will need a custom rolling bench for this beast though I think for the testing videos, this machine will help to make some more professional grade equipment too. The idea of being able to mix 3D printing and laser cutting acrylic is something I want to dive into deeper, but I'll make sure that whatever I do can also be 3D printed completely if possible.
Nice! The last time I tested a laser a couple of years ago, I struggled with the placement of the parts and it was just slower and more wasteful, the camera makes a huge difference and this machine seems to have plenty of power to handle even thicker materials. I will be making some more videos to use this for some real project around the home. I'm curious about how it works with stone, how deep and dark will it engrave and will the stone blast off etc. I'm glad you liked the video, expect lots more to come! Thanks for taking the time to write a comment!
I wasn't aware of the price unfortunately when making the video. I'm not sure if they were still working on setting the price or if it was more about the pre-sale discounts they were offering. It had crossed my mind more than once, but I figured that if someone wanted to check it out, I'd have the link there. Good point and it probably would have been a good idea to include it, I'll try to get that info for any future reviews I do!
No worries. I'm back to 3D printing again now, I should probably have asked how much the laser was going to $$, that would have been wise to be able to gauge if it would be something helpful for my audience. I will keep that in mind for future. Ideally I can get the channel large enough that I can buy products outright, it's far better that way for everyone. I'm pushing hard to get to that 100K mark by 2025, hopefully when that happens I'll gain enough traction to make it sustainable long-term, but who knows with all of the AI content coming down the pipeline now.
@@NeedItMakeIt no worries, you have a solid foundation and receiving free review products is a completely usual and acceptable practice as long as it doesn't influence your views in any way :)
@@NeedItMakeIt They have a current list price of $3,800, but are currently running a special that if you put a refundable $99 down on a pre-order, you will get $1,000 discount when your name comes up on the order fulfillment list, making the final payment to be $2700.
Cool video. I have been interested in lasers for a little while now but always thought of them as way more difficult to operate than a 3d printer. Doesnt really appear to be that way anymore. Thanks for the great content.
When I was working with industrial CNC machines, we would use lasers mounded to the ceiling to project the toolpath so we knew where to place the wood (these were 16-18' long boards) with that camera, we can do the same thing now. That change alone makes such a big difference. Overall I was pretty impressed with it and how far they've come. I'm also interested in Fiber lasers, I think the size is limited right now, but maybe in the future, we'll be able to engrave and cut all kinds of metals too!
I've worked on several low and mid-range lasers over the years and I haven't found them any more difficult than the 3D printers. I don't know how well the extractor works, but I'd probably still go for direct exhaust outside because the smoke is definitely the worst issue with laser cutting and engraving. Otherwise they're pretty easy to get going with.
A camera module for any laser would be a great investment, that alone makes such a difference, and I agree 100%, long term for safety and for keeping costs down, it's best to exhaust outside. So far, it's been working well and I can work in my shop with no noticeable smell, I do open the doors every so often to make sure that I get some fresh air in, but I will be finding a place for it and then venting it directly out. In your experience, which other lasers can cut/engrave acrylic?
@@NeedItMakeIt just about any CO2 to laser will do a good job engraving Acrylic. The lowest power I've personally worked with was a 40W Glowforge, and that easily cut 1/4" Acrylic. I've never dealt with diode lasers, but they certainly have some massive usability advantages for compatible materials since they don't need to have as extensive active cooling of the laser itself - maintenance of the chiller on the 120 W laser cutter I used was easy enough, but annoying.
Off topic - I know last video you talked about lighting, the lighting looks a little less contrasty in this video and less red. Just needs a little fill light on your face (in front of you) and it'd look quite good. Another light or a reflector could work (cheaper). Hope you don't mind the input, love your videos 😁.
No, thank you, by all means. I added more lighting, I've stopped adjusted for my Canon cameras in post because it was making everything too red... I also am red-green color deficient, so that doesn't help it at all. I have the lights in my cart, I am just making sure I'm buying the right ones. My lights are also not great because when I do high-speed recordings, they have the same Hz as my camera and I get flickering, so I want to make sure I can avoid that problem too. The glasses I think need to go, it's really hard to get the lights just right and make sure I don't move my head much to avoid those glares.... but then again I could be overdoing it. I would love to also make a gantry system to hang everything from the ceiling and roll it along as-needed, that would be amazing. I really appreciate your feedback on this, I'll take your thoughts into consideration for sure!
@@NeedItMakeIt Totally understandable, particularly the colour grading! I am glad you don't mind the feedback. Regarding the glasses a large, soft light source shouldn't result in too much glare. Amaran (Aputures budget brand) makes some good affordable lights, as do Godox. Zhiyun and Smallrig have also recently entered the light market and they have got good reviews too. I'm sure whatever you go for, it will work well anyway.
I will have a look, I've been hesitant to press the button because I want to make sure it will do the job right, I'll check those out! I like smallrig I've had good success with all of their products... except the very small LEDs which have a battery life of only 20 minutes (I should really do an amazon review on those to make people aware). Thanks again and please feel free to let me know if you think any of the videos coming up have improved or... hopefully not, but are worse in any way too.
I'll fit some into the next video, the ability to use clear and really any acrylic is a bit of a game changer, I was mainly using my diode for wood, but the acrylic opens a lot of doors for sure.
Hey there again from Wyoming! I'm thinking about combining some of my woodworking skills with modern technology to create financially viable pistol, revolver, rifle, and shotgun grip mfg., in a small home shop. Would this machine be able to handle that kind of deep cutting and workload? Thank you for your time. Cheers from the Oil Patch in Central Wyoming
@@NeedItMakeIt Just leave it outside for about 20 minutes in January, it will slice titanium cleanly. I'm in Maine, we have the same weather over here. ;)
I would love a waterjet! I think Fiber is making some headway with cutting metals as well, though they're probably still pretty thin. I really like using metal because it just has the feeling that it will last a long time. The quality of it I suppose. Do you have a brand of a small waterjet that you'd recommend?
@@NeedItMakeIt I love metals too. They are very long lasting, strong, load baring, can be light too and easy to shape even by hand (with proper perforations along the bend line) I love the look or aviation like riveted structures which can be achieved with simple hand tools in the living room at home. Unfortunately I don´t know any brand of waterjet =( I don´t have the space either (rented apartment) thus I am so much into 3D printing....well and being a mechanical engineer helps too. I have to sent out my DXF files and get it cut instead. 3D printed dies and tools of all sorts go very well with metal shaping btw. If the gauge of metal is too thin simply use multiple plies and connect them with rivets. This way you can create structural parts with simple tools and little effort ...well more effort than usually because you have to do the same shaping operations multiple times but none the less.
I didn't know the price when I was making the video, but it seems about in line with the competition, at least looking at the xtool. I'm not up as much on lasers as I am with 3D printers. That's the VEVOR you're referring to? I think it's quite a bit smaller, unless I'm looking at the wrong one.
it seems to be in line with omtech polar, mrbeam and the xtool. but theres also the "where it all began" K40 out there, not exclusively a vevor (they just rebrand) its a little smaller and less powerful at a fraction of the price. if i would get a 50w unit, it' be one of these RUIDA based K50 ones. same 300x500 area at 1/3 the price. and you can get a new co2 laser tube if it ever wears down (which it does very quick when not cooled properly)
Great info, thanks for that! What do you recommend for venting outside? I think the long-term ideal solution is to send the air out, rather than trying to handle it inside and have to replace filters and wonder whether it is working perfectly. It is a little noisy too, but I figure any fan would be. The laser has a fan built-in at the back, I think that it might do okay, but to be safe I'd prefer something to create a good negative pressure.
Blowing it outside is the best solution, assuming you got no neighbours who might complain about the smell. fume extractors with built in filters are full in no time with lasers and those filters are quite expensive... also they might not filter out 100% of everything. just a flexible hose with an additional axial fan out the window should be enough. just a slight air flow to get rid of the light airborne and toxic stuff. especially when lasering stuff you shouldnt .. like PVC and PTFE or plain old MDF.
I think it's similar for sure, most of these types of lasers look about the same, I just had a look earlier at the Xtool and it's a pretty nice unit as well, a little more $$ of course, but they're probably one of the biggest right now.
It's on their website. It said it's $2799 with a $99 pre-order deposit. If you don't pre-order it said it's $3799. But it isn't completely obvious where it is. It's down by the pre-order timeline thing.
I was listening to intro and l was like they’re doing carbon monoxide lasers now that can’t be right… sure enough playing back you correct co2 with text…
One of those things, in my mind I was saying CO2, but what actually came out was CO, just off by one O right? It turns out that CO lasers are also a thing, they tend to have an even shorter wavelength (around 5um) than the CO2 at nearly 10um
Why does it raster diagonally? Every laser cutter I've seen rasters along the X axis because that has the lowest weight. It can raster faster with the same, or better, quality if it slowly moves the Y axis while moving the X axis quickly back and forth. Also, I would watch some of the great laser videos sarbar multimedia has on UA-cam (watch @ 2x speed, he's a little dry). He has a great explanation of engraving DPI vs laser spot size. TLDR, higher DPI than the size of spot your laser can make results in your images looking like total crap. Unfortunately, your laser's spot size is dependent on the material, speed, AND power; all at the same time. Also, don't do grayscale engraving unless you really know what you're doing. Dither the image in Photoshop/gimp. He has videos on that too. Some of his suggestions have changed over the years, but a couple of years ago he did a series on laser engraving that covered everything.
I used to do laser engraving for a living for ten years and this machine is a lot better than the almost 100k machine we had. How things have advanced since then. I wonder what is the reason for it to raster diagonally.
Serious bit of kit! Not sure if and when I'll have the need for one, but impressive.
When I first saw it, it looked much smaller. When it arrived and I had to find a place in my already packed shop, reality set in. This is certainly a machine capable of being used for someone starting a small business. Cutting clear and colored acrylics opens up a lot more options that I hadn't considered and the acrylic remains fairly clear along the cut edges unlike wood products. I will need a custom rolling bench for this beast though I think for the testing videos, this machine will help to make some more professional grade equipment too. The idea of being able to mix 3D printing and laser cutting acrylic is something I want to dive into deeper, but I'll make sure that whatever I do can also be 3D printed completely if possible.
I'm looking to get into working wirh lasers and this is a very informative video.
Thanks for the great content!
Nice! The last time I tested a laser a couple of years ago, I struggled with the placement of the parts and it was just slower and more wasteful, the camera makes a huge difference and this machine seems to have plenty of power to handle even thicker materials.
I will be making some more videos to use this for some real project around the home. I'm curious about how it works with stone, how deep and dark will it engrave and will the stone blast off etc. I'm glad you liked the video, expect lots more to come! Thanks for taking the time to write a comment!
Can this engrave inside curved bowls?
Feels a bit odd that you didn't talk about the price at all
I wasn't aware of the price unfortunately when making the video. I'm not sure if they were still working on setting the price or if it was more about the pre-sale discounts they were offering. It had crossed my mind more than once, but I figured that if someone wanted to check it out, I'd have the link there. Good point and it probably would have been a good idea to include it, I'll try to get that info for any future reviews I do!
@@NeedItMakeIt thanks for the answer and I get it :)
No worries. I'm back to 3D printing again now, I should probably have asked how much the laser was going to $$, that would have been wise to be able to gauge if it would be something helpful for my audience. I will keep that in mind for future. Ideally I can get the channel large enough that I can buy products outright, it's far better that way for everyone. I'm pushing hard to get to that 100K mark by 2025, hopefully when that happens I'll gain enough traction to make it sustainable long-term, but who knows with all of the AI content coming down the pipeline now.
@@NeedItMakeIt no worries, you have a solid foundation and receiving free review products is a completely usual and acceptable practice as long as it doesn't influence your views in any way :)
@@NeedItMakeIt
They have a current list price of $3,800, but are currently running a special that if you put a refundable $99 down on a pre-order, you will get $1,000 discount when your name comes up on the order fulfillment list, making the final payment to be $2700.
Cool video. I have been interested in lasers for a little while now but always thought of them as way more difficult to operate than a 3d printer. Doesnt really appear to be that way anymore. Thanks for the great content.
When I was working with industrial CNC machines, we would use lasers mounded to the ceiling to project the toolpath so we knew where to place the wood (these were 16-18' long boards) with that camera, we can do the same thing now. That change alone makes such a big difference. Overall I was pretty impressed with it and how far they've come. I'm also interested in Fiber lasers, I think the size is limited right now, but maybe in the future, we'll be able to engrave and cut all kinds of metals too!
I've worked on several low and mid-range lasers over the years and I haven't found them any more difficult than the 3D printers. I don't know how well the extractor works, but I'd probably still go for direct exhaust outside because the smoke is definitely the worst issue with laser cutting and engraving. Otherwise they're pretty easy to get going with.
A camera module for any laser would be a great investment, that alone makes such a difference, and I agree 100%, long term for safety and for keeping costs down, it's best to exhaust outside. So far, it's been working well and I can work in my shop with no noticeable smell, I do open the doors every so often to make sure that I get some fresh air in, but I will be finding a place for it and then venting it directly out. In your experience, which other lasers can cut/engrave acrylic?
@@NeedItMakeIt just about any CO2 to laser will do a good job engraving Acrylic. The lowest power I've personally worked with was a 40W Glowforge, and that easily cut 1/4" Acrylic. I've never dealt with diode lasers, but they certainly have some massive usability advantages for compatible materials since they don't need to have as extensive active cooling of the laser itself - maintenance of the chiller on the 120 W laser cutter I used was easy enough, but annoying.
Off topic - I know last video you talked about lighting, the lighting looks a little less contrasty in this video and less red. Just needs a little fill light on your face (in front of you) and it'd look quite good. Another light or a reflector could work (cheaper).
Hope you don't mind the input, love your videos 😁.
No, thank you, by all means. I added more lighting, I've stopped adjusted for my Canon cameras in post because it was making everything too red... I also am red-green color deficient, so that doesn't help it at all. I have the lights in my cart, I am just making sure I'm buying the right ones. My lights are also not great because when I do high-speed recordings, they have the same Hz as my camera and I get flickering, so I want to make sure I can avoid that problem too. The glasses I think need to go, it's really hard to get the lights just right and make sure I don't move my head much to avoid those glares.... but then again I could be overdoing it. I would love to also make a gantry system to hang everything from the ceiling and roll it along as-needed, that would be amazing.
I really appreciate your feedback on this, I'll take your thoughts into consideration for sure!
@@NeedItMakeIt Totally understandable, particularly the colour grading! I am glad you don't mind the feedback. Regarding the glasses a large, soft light source shouldn't result in too much glare. Amaran (Aputures budget brand) makes some good affordable lights, as do Godox. Zhiyun and Smallrig have also recently entered the light market and they have got good reviews too.
I'm sure whatever you go for, it will work well anyway.
I will have a look, I've been hesitant to press the button because I want to make sure it will do the job right, I'll check those out! I like smallrig I've had good success with all of their products... except the very small LEDs which have a battery life of only 20 minutes (I should really do an amazon review on those to make people aware). Thanks again and please feel free to let me know if you think any of the videos coming up have improved or... hopefully not, but are worse in any way too.
what about noise levels?
I've been on the fence on getting a laser. I would like to see more of your uses.
I'll fit some into the next video, the ability to use clear and really any acrylic is a bit of a game changer, I was mainly using my diode for wood, but the acrylic opens a lot of doors for sure.
Hey there again from Wyoming!
I'm thinking about combining some of my woodworking skills with modern technology to create financially viable pistol, revolver, rifle, and shotgun grip mfg., in a small home shop.
Would this machine be able to handle that kind of deep cutting and workload?
Thank you for your time.
Cheers from the Oil Patch in Central Wyoming
Well at least they put it in a box.. feels sad that that's even a benchmark..
I am not sure where you're getting your butter, but mine doesn't cut or engrave. 😝
LOL, I have special high powered Canadian butter. I love butter and any chance I get to talk about it, I will take!
@@NeedItMakeIt 😂
@@NeedItMakeIt Just leave it outside for about 20 minutes in January, it will slice titanium cleanly. I'm in Maine, we have the same weather over here. ;)
rated voltage 110-220V... in Europe you we normally have 240V.... should be no problem, but ....
Need a water jet cutter for metals
I would love a waterjet! I think Fiber is making some headway with cutting metals as well, though they're probably still pretty thin. I really like using metal because it just has the feeling that it will last a long time. The quality of it I suppose. Do you have a brand of a small waterjet that you'd recommend?
@@NeedItMakeIt I love metals too. They are very long lasting, strong, load baring, can be light too and easy to shape even by hand (with proper perforations along the bend line) I love the look or aviation like riveted structures which can be achieved with simple hand tools in the living room at home.
Unfortunately I don´t know any brand of waterjet =( I don´t have the space either (rented apartment) thus I am so much into 3D printing....well and being a mechanical engineer helps too.
I have to sent out my DXF files and get it cut instead. 3D printed dies and tools of all sorts go very well with metal shaping btw.
If the gauge of metal is too thin simply use multiple plies and connect them with rivets. This way you can create structural parts with simple tools and little effort ...well more effort than usually because you have to do the same shaping operations multiple times but none the less.
💪🏽
💪 Thanks for the comment!
so its a pretty k40 for 6..8x the price
I didn't know the price when I was making the video, but it seems about in line with the competition, at least looking at the xtool. I'm not up as much on lasers as I am with 3D printers. That's the VEVOR you're referring to? I think it's quite a bit smaller, unless I'm looking at the wrong one.
it seems to be in line with omtech polar, mrbeam and the xtool.
but theres also the "where it all began" K40 out there, not exclusively a vevor (they just rebrand) its a little smaller and less powerful at a fraction of the price.
if i would get a 50w unit, it' be one of these RUIDA based K50 ones. same 300x500 area at 1/3 the price. and you can get a new co2 laser tube if it ever wears down (which it does very quick when not cooled properly)
Great info, thanks for that! What do you recommend for venting outside? I think the long-term ideal solution is to send the air out, rather than trying to handle it inside and have to replace filters and wonder whether it is working perfectly. It is a little noisy too, but I figure any fan would be. The laser has a fan built-in at the back, I think that it might do okay, but to be safe I'd prefer something to create a good negative pressure.
Blowing it outside is the best solution, assuming you got no neighbours who might complain about the smell.
fume extractors with built in filters are full in no time with lasers and those filters are quite expensive... also they might not filter out 100% of everything.
just a flexible hose with an additional axial fan out the window should be enough. just a slight air flow to get rid of the light airborne and toxic stuff. especially when lasering stuff you shouldnt .. like PVC and PTFE or plain old MDF.
looks like an xtool clone of a p2 , i swear
I think it's similar for sure, most of these types of lasers look about the same, I just had a look earlier at the Xtool and it's a pretty nice unit as well, a little more $$ of course, but they're probably one of the biggest right now.
ATOMSTACK hides the price... really scummy
It's on their website. It said it's $2799 with a $99 pre-order deposit. If you don't pre-order it said it's $3799. But it isn't completely obvious where it is. It's down by the pre-order timeline thing.
I was listening to intro and l was like they’re doing carbon monoxide lasers now that can’t be right… sure enough playing back you correct co2 with text…
One of those things, in my mind I was saying CO2, but what actually came out was CO, just off by one O right? It turns out that CO lasers are also a thing, they tend to have an even shorter wavelength (around 5um) than the CO2 at nearly 10um
Why does it raster diagonally? Every laser cutter I've seen rasters along the X axis because that has the lowest weight. It can raster faster with the same, or better, quality if it slowly moves the Y axis while moving the X axis quickly back and forth. Also, I would watch some of the great laser videos sarbar multimedia has on UA-cam (watch @ 2x speed, he's a little dry). He has a great explanation of engraving DPI vs laser spot size. TLDR, higher DPI than the size of spot your laser can make results in your images looking like total crap. Unfortunately, your laser's spot size is dependent on the material, speed, AND power; all at the same time. Also, don't do grayscale engraving unless you really know what you're doing. Dither the image in Photoshop/gimp. He has videos on that too. Some of his suggestions have changed over the years, but a couple of years ago he did a series on laser engraving that covered everything.
NeedItMakeIt, You're fantastic! Let's be friends and have fun!
LOL, I'm glad you think so!