Primal Decals

Looking for a laser cutter option

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So i have  the opportunity to adventure out once again lol.  What is a good laser cutter for etching glass(drinking glass or similar )   or like dog tags or small wood projects that wont break the bank maybe for under 500 or less if possible and that would allow the glass to spin true flat so its accurate ?   Thanks

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I will ask a guy I meet dn here. but I think his may have been a lot more than that. he just uses it for wood . he does all types of boxes and signs. told me it burned so clean. when he went to maintenance the filter, it was still clean. looked like hadn't used the machine. you wouldn't believe his wood working shop. I couldn't find saw dust in it anywhere

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the ones i have seen like on ebay etc havent been over that amount ,and i thought someone made a post about having one ,

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I think it was it "Go-C"? If I remember right they put some more money in to it and built their own setup for glasses.

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I have a Full Spectrum Laser, 45 watt, Gen 5 unit (now marketed as an H-Series laser) that I have been pretty happy with.  I chose it because it was relatively comparable to similar sized units offered by Epilog, Trotec, and Universal Laser, but way more affordable for me with a price tag of $3,000 at the time.

Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with the eBay units.  Most of them seemed to have pretty small engraving areas and I couldn't find much information on control software for them when I was looking to buy, which is ultimately what convinced me to buy from a brick and mortar company.  I can offer some insight from my experience though.

40 watts is a good starting point, but you'll soon realize more power would be helpful.  Definitely go with a higher wattage if you can, and you won't be disappointed.  I won't say that wattage doesn't matter as much when engraving, but it really makes a difference when cutting.  At 45 watts it's still a challenge for me to get through 1/4 ply (which is closer to 3/16 really) or 8 oz. leather even with multiple passes.  The fewer passes you have to make, and the faster you can make them, the cleaner your cuts will be.  My first pass when cutting is generally very clean, but subsequent passes will begin to char or deposit smoke.

Equally as important as wattage is the usable engraving area of the machine.  20x12 works for most of my small projects, but as a nice perk, the bottom of my machine is removable which allows it to be lifted up or set on top of large objects that don't fit inside.  Also consider height of the machine too since you're looking to fit a rotary attachment in there.  The rotary attachment plus the object on top of it take up vertical space, and you still need some to spare in order to focus your lens.  I’m not sure I could get a rotary attachment and drinking glass into my machine and still have room to focus without first removing the bottom and raising it up.  FSL even started producing an extension box because of this.

I can't comment much on laser control software as I've only used retinaengrave, so hopefully others on here can speak about the software other machines use.

As an aside, my laser will certainly engrave glass, but I've found that sandblasting will produce a much more opaque and deeper etch than my laser can.  You can get more detail with a laser though, so it's a tradeoff either way.

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Well I'm going to start off with, you can't get a laser to do what you want for under $500.

The ones you are looking at on ebay aren't big enough to fit a rotary.  It's not an easy or cheap field to get into.   I'll be happy to answer any questions you have.    

If you're looking for a quality china laser you can buy from a US company look into Boss laser ot Rabbit laser.   

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