Just Bought a Fiber Laser Marking Machine From AliExpress

[Joe Gwinn]

We're getting into semantics here, but I didn't say fiat currency has agency, I said it is agency; as in it is the result of someone elses agency (their ability to take action as you define). It doesn't just sit there. It doesn't exist. It's only made real by those with the power to force their will on others. So it's not passive. It represents the will of those who control it.

Yes. He who pays the piper calls the tune.

 

[henrya]

No you didn't. The word "aliexpress" brings an entire world of baggage with it. Anyone who has been here longer than a week knows that.

About this baggage you mention...
Please describe the baggage and then please state whether the baggage is real or illusory. Finally, tell us whether the baggage does or does not support your cause.

 

[CarbideBob]

EZcad is the packaged thing for these lasers.
So troubles or confusion in use but I have not found it not so bad as a software package.
It is big. Complain as you want.
Can you actually write better code? If so do it.
Many whine that this or that crashes. Put up or shut up. This my world in real time code.
You all think this simple but you have no chops.
I have a very low tolerance for bad code be it this or even Amazon stream on that stuff.

But there are bugs, weird things in this software.
GOT THAT.

 

[LOTT]

EZcad is OK for text/numbers, which is all we need it for business wise. I tried to engrave some coins for a friend and failed miserably, could not get it to hatch all the areas correctly. Not saying it can't be done, but I sure couldn't. If we ever actually need to do the more artistic stuff I'll try LightBurn.

@Garwood We did the Cermark on the CO2 for long time, loading up the bed with parts. Fiber is a hundred times better, none of the arts and crafts mess. Usually whoever is running the laser can stack processes like packing or final assembly and flow parts through. And I like the look better than Cermark, but that's just preference.

 

[EmGo]

EZcad is OK for text/numbers, which is all we need it for business wise. I tried to engrave some coins for a friend and failed miserably, could not get it to hatch all the areas correctly. Not saying it can't be done, but I sure couldn't. If we ever actually need to do the more artistic stuff I'll try LightBurn.

Since this is an aliexpress thread anyhow .... one of the things people do with these is take them out to the park and engrave stuff for people. Give them a pdf or a photo and they'll engrave it on your watch or your locket or on a little stone to put on your desk. I've seen where they'll engrave a photo onto a big leaf, all sorts of goofy things.

Whatever they are using for software must be really easy, because these are not cgi wizards, they are country people making a few bucks on the street. I can find out what is common but more to the point, there's got to be some very simple software that works with these engravers, cuz some pretty basic people do artsy-craftsy stuff with them.

 

[standardparts]

Since this is an aliexpress thread anyhow .... one of the things people do with these is take them out to the park and engrave stuff for people. Give them a pdf or a photo and they'll engrave it on your watch or your locket or on a little stone to put on your desk. I've seen where they'll engrave a photo onto a big leaf, all sorts of goofy things.

Whatever they are using for software must be really easy, because these are not cgi wizards, they are country people making a few bucks on the street. I can find out what is common but more to the point, there's got to be some very simple software that works with these engravers, cuz some pretty basic people do artsy-craftsy stuff with them.

 

[LOTT]

Since this is an aliexpress thread anyhow .... one of the things people do with these is take them out to the park and engrave stuff for people. Give them a pdf or a photo and they'll engrave it on your watch or your locket or on a little stone to put on your desk. I've seen where they'll engrave a photo onto a big leaf, all sorts of goofy things.

Whatever they are using for software must be really easy, because these are not cgi wizards, they are country people making a few bucks on the street. I can find out what is common but more to the point, there's got to be some very simple software that works with these engravers, cuz some pretty basic people do artsy-craftsy stuff with them.

EZcad is very Chinese (or something that looks Chinese to me, can't read it one way or the other). Maybe the documentation is better in the native tongue, who knows?

 

[standardparts]

EZcad is very Chinese (or something that looks Chinese to me, can't read it one way or the other). Maybe the documentation is better in the native tongue, who knows?

Had issues with EZcad running on Windows 11 so after a few hours messing around simply bought the Lightburn software and was engraving/marking within an hour.
50w fiber laser bought on Ebay marks surfaces in seconds while engraving in steel can take relatively long cycle times depending on material and complexity of the marking.
Money well spent in my opinion.

 

[EmGo]

after a few hours messing around simply bought the Lightburn software and was engraving/marking within an hour.

I just looked at their docs a little, yes, seems like it does everything people want. So what's all this snivelling over ezcad ? Just go buy lightburn. It's cheap.

 

[standardparts]

I just looked at their docs a little, yes, seems like it does everything people want. So what's all this snivelling over ezcad ? Just go buy lightburn. It's cheap.

I just looked at their docs a little, yes, seems like it does everything people want. So what's all this snivelling over ezcad ? Just go buy lightburn. It's cheap.

Don't know about "snivelling over ezcad".....More likely a and issue of whatever version of ezcad that is loaded in to the fiber lasers leaves a bit to be desired. It's possible some buyers, like myself, found it easier to upgrade to Lightburn.
If you search "issue with ezcad loaded into fiber laser machine" you will see a bunch of issues discussed.

I guess if a person wants a system that has customer support that can lead you thru the twists and turns and other obstacles of using ezcad then you have to pay for it. Buying an import machine due to price point means you have to be a bit of a do-it-yourselfer I guess. That being said there are those who have little problem with the provided software---I'm just not one of them.

 

[EmGo]

Don't know about "snivelling over ezcad".....

Then you haven't been reading this thread

I guess if a person wants a system that has customer support that can lead you thru the twists and turns and other obstacles of using ezcad then you have to pay for it. Buying an import machine due to price point means you have to be a bit of a do-it-yourselfer I guess.

I'd say something about Captain Obvious but seems like a lot of people haven't figured that out. Even funnier when the solution is so simple. What did Lightburn cost, $200 ? What do people save, five grand ? Ten ?

Yeah, I'd be whining up a storm .... (not you, standard, but jeeze. Talk about spoiled, self-entitled brats ...)

 

[Mr. Atoz]

Emgo- you are a joke. You honestly believe you are the final authority on anything Chinese. I have a thought, perhaps drop the M and call yourself EGO. That is all you are. By mouthing such demonstrably false bullshit you highlight the fact that you are nothing buy a schill and apologist for the current reXime in China. But if nothing else, you are worth a laugh. At your own expense.

 

[EmGo]

By mouthing such demonstrably false bullshit you highlight the fact that you are nothing buy a schill and apologist for the current reXime in China.

Good to have a real authority around here, thanks. Maybe you could watch this and explain a few things to me later ?

 

[F35Machinist]

To give an update to this thread, I finally got the new control board from Aliexpress and installed it in my machine. Simple plug and play with identical IO. It turns out that it really was that easy and it worked! Lightburn now works with the laser I have and it only cost the $230 +$150 for lightburn bringing the total for the printer to about $3500. I would have paid more to have it work out of the box, but now that it's all sorted I'm happy with it. I may post again with pictures and links to what I bought if others are interested.

 

[GiroDyno]

To give an update to this thread, I finally got the new control board from Aliexpress and installed it in my machine. Simple plug and play with identical IO. It turns out that it really was that easy and it worked! Lightburn now works with the laser I have and it only cost the $230 +$150 for lightburn bringing the total for the printer to about $3500. I would have paid more to have it work out of the box, but now that it's all sorted I'm happy with it. I may post again with pictures and links to what I bought if others are interested.

Please do, I've been debating a laser purchase for a bit and probably ought to just rip the band-aid off...

 

[LOTT]

I would suggest Keyence ......

I bet you would. That's also got about two extra zeros compared to what's being discussed.

Read some posts by Maritool or Orange Vise to see how vendors can be helpful and valued members here. You're quickly sounding like a spammer.

 

[Strostkovy]

Not sure what happened here but my AliExpress laser arrived almost exactly a year ago and I have sent out at least $5k of invoices for work done with that sub $3k machine, and didn't even have to buy any material, all labor and a smidge of power. And I haven't even used the thing more than 80 hours.

 

[D Nelson]

The laser came and it looks good and works fine. However, there was clearly a lot I didn't know I didn't know. Apparently, all lasers work with this shitty chinese software called EZcad2. It works OK, but if you run into something where it struggles, then you need to edit the files in another program like corel or adobe and then import them into EZcad. Hatching is an especially important function that the software has to be able to do because shapes need to be filled with hatching to be able to laser fill them. EZcad is a very clunky software that was clearly not made with the user in mind. Luckily, there is a recently made replacement software called Lightburn and it is only 150$ for a license. Unfortunately, lightburn doesn't work properly with certain laser control boards. The board that I have in my laser is one of the ones that is not compatible, so I ordered a new control board that I suspect will be compatible for 200 bucks. If it works I will update this thread.

I feel that lightburn is almost required to reasonably use the laser. The issue I had with EZcad is that it didn't hatch some shapes properly. The cost of Lightburn is less than an hour of my time and a tiny fraction of the cost of one scrapped part.

Lite burn for the win way better and easy to use
Don

 

[Strostkovy]

For ezcad2 to work you have to do uncombine-autoconnect-group-hatch. In any other order or combination of tools it won't hatch correctly.

 

[dazz]

Or Evergrande.

I buy a lot of stuff from Aliexpress. Almost all the things you hear about Chinese crap is customer driven. If you seek out the lowest possible price for something, you will get crap.

My experience with Aliexpress is summarised below:

Higher price = higher quality. I normally search in order of price, then jump to the middle page count. Lowest cost = crap product = crap service. Highest price = bulk purchase. I usually aim to buy the most expensive version of what I want.
There are many many "shops" but few manufacturers of any particular item. I usually try and buy from the factory shop (not always easy to identify).
Look at buyers feedback and number of purchases. Good feedback on the product and shop service is a good sign.
Aftermarket service = zero. Most of the shops are straight sellers with little, if any, technical capability. Google is your friend.

Very rarely, purchases go wrong. I just accept the loss of the occasional bad purchase is offset by the money I have saved buying cheaper products.
The Aliexpress arbitration/appeal process is opaque but effective in my experience. The process favours customers. It is far better than the e-bay equivalent.