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Laser Engraving Machine Brands

baran3

Cast Iron
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Location
Littlestown PA
Can anyone provide info on some brands of laser engraving machines and tiers of quality along with the brands? Would get interested in purchasing for part marking in metal anything from aluminum to stainless steel / titanium etc. If there are additional uses that make it logical to get some machine let me know your thoughts on what is a good machine for a machine shop to get.
 
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we bought this from amazon 50 watt fiber. Have not had it long but so far so good. I think it has a 5 year warranty
Don


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Can anyone provide info on some brands of laser engraving machines and tiers of quality along with the brands? Would get interested in purchasing for part marking in metal anything from aluminum to stainless steel / titanium etc. If there are additional uses that make it logical to get some machine let me know your thoughts on what is a good machine for a machine shop to get.
30W minimum is where I would start. We bought what was supposed to be 30W, but turned up as a 20W.

If you want/need dark marks on AL you will need a MOPA fiber. If for some reason you need deep marks on AL, you may need 50W. Buddy of mine is an FFL, and the parts he does need a specific minimum depth for serial #'s and part #'s.

Basically the Chinese fibers are either Max, Raycus, or IPG sources. Max being the low end, but there are several other laser sources. The above 3 have 10,000hr MTBF. There basically is one company that makes the controller for nearly all of them. The software (ezcad) is basically the same for all the generic machines.

Some US sellers have the exact same models as e-bay. Markups are anywhere from 75% to 400%, but some of the US sellers are fantastic at service. We have a local seller that is at the high end on prices, but has been around a long time.

I will dig up a US seller we worked with on a repair. We got our fiber from a seller that is no longer doing lasers.

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Talk to Bryan Chenoweth @ kelanc.com. 763.515.4565. He is really good if you want a US seller, that does support.

Doubt you will have problems with most of the e-bay machines for a while. 10,000hrs MTBF is a LOT of hours. Installing ez-cad is quirky, but once you are setup you will be good.

BE VERY careful part marking highly reflective materials, brass and copper. Angle flat reflective materials to be NOT perpendicular to the beam path, or the back reflection will damage the fiber source. They have back reflection safety detectors that are "supposed" to clamp the output. But don't always work.

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I agree with most of the above (I don't know Mr Chenoworth but have zero reason to doubt Djstorm100 (er Claya's post actually))

I bought one of these, which is probably materially identical to the machine D Nelson shows

E Series 30W Galvo Fiber Laser Marking Machine Compact Type | BesCutter Laser Cutters and Engravers

I found this youtube channel useful - guy goes through what he's learned with a 20w unit. Doesn't seem to be selling them, unclear what his real use case is. But good examples and demonstrations:
JefferyJ - YouTube

Also, there's web page devoted to parameters for various materials with these little galvo lasers.
https://www.fiberlasersettings.org/
(You may get an expired certificate error)

Note that galvo lasers only mark a small area in 1 operation - 100mm square or so. So if you need to mark a larger area, you want a different laser.

The laser's I point to and D Nelson shows don't have enclosures, so you need to separate them from anybody who isn't wearing proper laser glasses.

A rotary 4th axis (of a sort) with a chuck that can mark round parts is a common option. I bought it, haven't tried it yet. Might be handy if you are going to mark pens or barrels or endmills or the like.
 
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My only experience is with new, high end industrial markers.

Control Laser is good, but not great, but also cheaper.

Rofin is great, but not for automation.

FOBA is the creme de la creme for features, accuracy, ease of use, and ease of automation.

No idea about the table top ones, sorry.
 








 
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