[RabidWombat]

Hi All,


tl;dr: I’m a total newbie, bought a Glowforge cuz it looks awesome. Starting to wonder if I can do better for the money. Looking at a Redsail (or whatever the community recommends) over a Glowforge to get started with laser cutting/engraving (for hobby, not business).


I’m interesting in getting a laser cutter/engraver. I got this idea from the Glowforge(GF) info that I saw. I definitely bought into the hype. It made the process look suuuper easy. Funny side note, I wasn’t even going to buy one. My wife watched the youtube promo with me and her eyes lit up with all the ideas of things she could make. Soo yeah, we bought the Pro model and now the pizzaz has worn off a bit. I’ve done a fair bit of research and I’m starting to think the GF is not as amazing as it is made out to be.

My biggest concern with the GF is that it seems like they’re not as far along with their development as was originally made out. There’s been a few comments on their forum, and hearsay from people at makerfairs talking to them, that makes it sound like they are still in the process of developing A LOT of the features. Who knows if they’ll really make it into the final product? The other thing I don’t like is that everything is custom. Custom tube, filters, etc. If they end up going out of business in 2 years I’m SOL. I'm making a big assumption here, but hopefully laser tubes have some kind of standard shape to them and are at least somewhat interchangeable.

I’m not opposed to waiting for my GF, but I’m also looking at other options. Can you suggest some other options for me? I’ve never used a CNC/Laser cutter. I am a total newbie. That said, I’m moderately technical and not afraid to learn and/or break things…. Hopefully not break though…

My budget is $4,000. This is what the GF costs, so I gotta stay within that.

Materials I plan to use are lots of MDF, various woods (after I know what I’m doing), acrylic, leather, and paper. I’m also going to be doing some engraving on these same materials.

Material cutting width will range from 3mm to 10(ish)mm, but mostly around 4mm and 7mm.

I’ve got plenty of room for a machine. I realize that they can get pretty big.

Now, on to the hardware. Obviously I’ve already purchased a GF, which I can easily get a refund on. I’m OK buying a china machine as long as there are some good reviews and community support. I’ve seen some talk of Redsail. Most of what I’ve read about them has been positive. I’ve found the M900 to be an interesting item.

Here’s the ebay link I've found: Reci 100W 900 x 600mm CO2 USB Laser Engraving Cutting Machine Cutter ENGRAVER | eBay

The major things I like about this one, over the GF, are the vertical space (GF is only 1.5 inch), the rotary attachment, and the 2500 dpi. The dpi is the major reason I’m looking at this particular one vs the x700.

I'm open to other suggestions of brands, machines, etc. I just need to stay under $4k. I know this was a long read. Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. I’m looking forward to joining the community and contributing to it.

-RW

[mateusz1945]

i would get 80W or 100w machine with brand name laser tube like Reci or Puri for that money. Dont import from china it is Rippoff and import fees is at least 800$ and super slow shipping.
Try to find one that are sold in California, and be prepared that customer service is terrible and slow. be prepared to spend extra money for upgrades or in case something doesn't work.
I had bad experience with redsail, they didnt want to return my my money for almost month after i canceled my order. Then i ordered same machine from california and it came with all bells and whistles that Redsail wanted extra money for. I had bad power supply and it takes soooo long and so many emails to replace it. Also couple switches on side were broken, one replacement package were lost, second package they sent me only 1 switch instead of 3. Now i am sending second email with reminder for third package.

[RabidWombat]

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have the info for the California seller that you purchased from? I'd like to check them out.

-RW

[KeithOKC]

A laser engraver cutting flammable wood in a plastic box. What could go wrong with that?

More seriously though no way in hell it's cutting 10mm wood. You want a 60w or 80w real laser for that.

[mateusz1945]

last time i checked they biggest one they had was 500x700. just do search on ebay. there will be like 30 sellers , some from Ontario some from other places in california, but really it is only 3 sellers. They have clone stores on ebay. So it doesnt matter which one you buy from. i bought from warrenau2012 and i was pretty happy. comunication is slow because they reply from china.

[KeithOKC]

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have the info for the California seller that you purchased from? I'd like to check them out.

Also buying from eBay is a terrible idea, lot of junk machines see... Well this entire forum hundreds of posts about horrible ordeals with eBay sellers selling snake oil.

-RW

Why would you want to buy from the California people? He indicated their machine had a bad power supply and they messed up his replacement 3x.

Buying from eBay is a really bad idea, it's a minefield of junk lasers mixed with a few decent ones...maybe. If you need proof read the hundreds of posts on this forum of people complaining about eBay lasers.

[Gozzie]

It's a real catch 22. Do your homework and try to make your best decision.
It's amazing the different responses everybody has on every vendor in the world.
Seller A has many happy customers and then some that would like to kill him.
Seller B the same
Seller C everybody hates but he's still selling that junk to unsuspecting customers because it's affordable. (on paper anyways)
To import or not to import, now that's the question.
Spend more up front from a US reseller or gamble from China direct.
I went with China direct and am very happy.
I have a friend on the forum that bought from the same seller and is having real problems with him.
It's a gamble whatever you do unless you can physically see your machine in operation before you buy it.

Gozzie