David Bigcheeseplant Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 Our club is thinking of getting a laser cutter, one that cuts to a A3 size would be good as we plan to use it for cutting building parts for our O gauge layout so having a larger bed would be a plus. To be fair I have googled but am a bit confused on what is required or not as the case, can any one recomend a cutter are cheaper chinese ones ok. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Hi David, You may as well ask 'How long is a piece of string?'. It would help if you could give some idea of how much you can spend, and the area and thickness and type of material you wish to cut. Once you have the machine, you will need someone to take on the responsibility for it, instruct and supervise the users, ensure it is maintained correctly in tolerance and is capable of replacing mirrors, lens, etc. I think your club's best bet would be to buy from a more reputable UK supplier (assuming you are in UK) where you should get more support and training, than by importing a cheap system, unless you have someone who is experienced. Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 I was thinking of around the 2.5K - 3K including VAT I am not too sure what that would get I think the bed size in important as we don't what to get something too small and regret it later, I am not too sure how these things read software but I use AutoCAD and can export to DXF format. I think the plan is to keep it at a member workshop so it does not get moved too much plus have an extraction and laser cooling if that is needed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Hi David, I did a search for 'laser cutter spares' these folk may be useful http://hpclaser.co.uk/ I'd talk to them. (I've no connection, never bought, but the site looks OK, and you know where they live!) Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I've delt with HPC laser before (to buy materials, not a machine) and found them very helpful. I also use one of their machines at the Cambridge Makespace and have found it pretty good. Some foibles in the software, but that's to be expected. I'm told that their support is good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt.Shefford Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 A vote for HPC from me. My laser is from HPC - had it now for 5 years, and it gets used nearly every day. I would strongly suggest getting a machine which allows you to set the cutting speed and power in the laser cutting software (with the cheaper, entry level machines you set the power with a dial on the control panel which isn't very accurate). A water chiller is a must - used to circulate cool water through the laser tube. There used to be an education trade show on at the NEC over the Warley weekend where all the companies who sold laser cutters had stands, unfortunatly owing to the governements rebalancing of the national ciriculum the show hasn't been on for the last couple of years (shame as you could get a voucher for free parking if you attended) jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dccbobg Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 HPC will sell you a machine with support. Visit them to collect it and they will give you the training needed to look after it. My small hobby HPC 3020 I have owned for over three years and it has performed really well. I am not connected to HPC other than as a happy customer. Bob Gledhill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointstaken Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Remarkable how coy some vendors are about the price of their offerings. HPC at least bother to put the prices on their website. Dennis Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Does any one know if you can angle the laser to create a 45 degree angle on an edge so corner of buildings can be mitred Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt.Shefford Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Does any one know if you can angle the laser to create a 45 degree angle on an edge so corner of buildings can be mitred No, a laser is only able to cut in the XYZ axis. i use a Proxon mini router table fitted with a 45 degree cutter to put mitres on my buildings. Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold unravelled Posted October 22, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2013 Another HPC 3020 user here. When I was getting started I found their messageboard very helpful when looking for answers to dumb questions. The machine worked straight out of the crate. I only had to source a water tank and distilled water. The machines seem sinple and easily maintainable. I had to replace the HT transformer last year, and that was a relatively easy job with a bit of telephone support. Session to session maintenance is simple too. No complex dismantling or special cleaning materials are neededfor my machine, though things may have changed with more advanced devices. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Does any one know if you can angle the laser to create a 45 degree angle on an edge so corner of buildings can be mitred Not with a standard low end cutter. You can angle lasers with fancy equipment but it isn't trivial. If you want to mark and cut materials and do things like accurate depth control and angled edges you may want to look at going the CNC route instead of laser. Other thing to watch with the HPC stuff is that last I checked the LS3020 only worked with Windows XP, which ceases to get even security updates this April coming. You have to pay them another grand for the "privilege" of being able to use Windows 7, or you can fit a LAOS board to it and drive it with more conventional higher end stuff Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Well the HPC seem to be getting the thumbs up from most, I sent them an email enquiry at 9.30 last night and got a response at 10pm, I am still waiting for a response from another company I contacted on Sunday. At the moment it seems the HPC 3040 and 3050 seem to be in the running although I am not sure if the extra £500 for the 3050 with a slightly larger bed better gears rear slot and the option of upgrading to a 60W laser and rotary attachement is worth it. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 If it's any help the 40W I use will cut 6mm laser ply at about 10mm/s. I don't have any figures for engraving I'm afraid but perhaps that will help a little in deciding whether to go for 40W or 60W. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 Just an update, our club brought a HPC 3050 four of us went to collect it and had three hours training before Christmas a big thumbs up to HPC. We set the machine up yesterday and had a play I think we are on a learning curve but we did get results. Even when at HPC we could load a DXF from AutoCAD but not from DoubleCAD which a number of our members have downloaded as it free, has any one else had this problem? David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Just an update, our club brought a HPC 3050 four of us went to collect it and had three hours training before Christmas a big thumbs up to HPC. We set the machine up yesterday and had a play I think we are on a learning curve but we did get results. Even when at HPC we could load a DXF from AutoCAD but not from DoubleCAD which a number of our members have downloaded as it free, has any one else had this problem? David There are several different types of dxf file. When you save from DoubleCAD are there any options? Try experimenting with the DXF version if it's available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt.Shefford Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Just an update, our club brought a HPC 3050 four of us went to collect it and had three hours training before Christmas a big thumbs up to HPC. We set the machine up yesterday and had a play I think we are on a learning curve but we did get results. Even when at HPC we could load a DXF from AutoCAD but not from DoubleCAD which a number of our members have downloaded as it free, has any one else had this problem? David Can you open the .dxf created in DoubleCAD in AutoCAD? As Rabs said there are several different types of .dxf, if its avaliable in DoubleCAD save to R12 or R14. Might be worth looking in on the Laserscript forum - http://www.laserscript.co.uk/phpBB3/ Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beatty 139 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Just as a word or warning watch out for DXF files from turbo cad as well they often cause issues when importing into laser cutters Regards Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Bigcheeseplant Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 DXF files from http://www.progesoft.com/en/products/progecad-smart/ another free AutoCAD clone does work on the laser cutter software, so will be using this rather than DoubleCAD which HPC could not open when we collected the machine. In fact ProgeCAD is even more like AutoCAD than DoubleCAD David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gt.Shefford Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Just as a word or warning watch out for DXF files from turbo cad as well they often cause issues when importing into laser cutters Regards Andy I've had TurboCAD drawings which upon importing were 'stretched' (had become scaled by different valves on the X and Y axis). Jonathan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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