I have a Pinnacle M25 and I am very happy with it. The tip on the weight of the machine is accurate: they are heavy, but it’s good news as it shows they are built like tanks. They are also wide. I had a hard time getting them through a narrow doorway (Had to get the M25 sideways…).
Anyway, the money saving is real and there are no differences in terms of quality, support, etc. But, every US laser manufacturer will try to discourage you from buying one, and will try to scare you by saying the customer service is bad, you can’t get parts, there are no upgrades to the software, etc. etc. etc. It’s all untrue. They just can’t compete with Pinnacle, period, so they badmouth them instead of presenting facts. Pinnacle has excellent products, with many cutting edge features, such as some of the largest cutting tables in the industry (mine is 18×24 plus with the door opened, 18x whatever length you want) and some of the best machines bar none for the most affordable cost.
Was the laser hard to set up yourself? I have never used a laser, can you teach yourself? I have corel 9 and have created scroll saw portraits and other patterns with it. I have done a lot of scroll sawing these past few years. There are some cuttings that I have done that took me eight hours to do (all at one setting) and you really can’t charge to much or nobody will buy it. Thought maybe using a laser would speed up my process and in turn wouldn’t have to charge so much for my product and would give me more time to make more products love to scroll saw but it is time consuming. Thanks for all of your input.
The difficulty of setup depends a bit on how far out of alignment the machine is, when it arrives. You might just have to plug it in and its ready to go or you will take at least a few hows fiddling with alignment. It’s nothing hard, but it is annoying. There are 5 or 6 mirrors which all need to be correct The hard part is the visible laser comes from a different source and you want them both to converge at the same point. Then there is a easy method to set the 0,0.
That sounds easy enough. Any .001 line in corel will cut a corresponding cut.
Be sure you actually test your wood and have the laser cut it. I’ve had bad luck with wood on my 30 watt laserpro. I’ve seen mention that there are special plywoods for the laser, but I’ve not checked them out.
If your thinking of cutting a lot of wood, and more then a 1/8″ thick make sure you get a higher wattage machine.
I’d have to agree with that. I have a 35 watt machine and I wouldn’t considering cutting any plywood thicker than about 1/16″. There would just be too much burn at the edges.
I will add my two cents as well. My LaserPro arrived without any alignment issues so to speak, and I was burning, errr engraving stuff well prior to my sales rep coming by to help with setup. However, a month or two later, all of a sudden from one job till the next, the machine wouldn’t cut. The distributor I bought the machine (Jorlink, USA) from was out within a day or so of my call, and spent several hours aligning the laser and even arranged to replaced a mirror all under warranty. After watching the alignment process, and reading the instructions thoroughly, it’s something I wouldn’t have to tackle on my own. In addition, after replacing the mirror, of course alignment was once again required. This time they used a laser power meter to insure that the power reaching the table was within a few percent tolerance all over the table. The power meters run I believe $800 - $900 I think, and renting one is around $100. As far as wood goes, I cut and engrave a lot. For cutting, I use primarily 1/8″ birch ply which is very cheap, 1/8″ spruce which I got a good deal on a number of guitar top rejects and cuts like butter, and 1/8″ cherry which looks beautiful but is expensive. This is with a 35 watt machine. Cutting thicker wood is possible, but charring becomes an issue.
What speeds/power do you use for cutting your 1/8 wood?
I’ll probably be cutting a lot of 1/4 inch wood. I was thanking about getting a 40 or 45 watt, would that be enough wattage. Thanks a lot for all this information.
I have not done much 1/4 wood with my 50 watt laser because it has to run so slow. I guess for any production you would need a 60/70/80 watt laser.
Usually between 1 and 1.2% speed, 100% power. When 1% doesn’t cut, means it’s time to clean the lens and mirrors.