Official Luthiers Forum!

I have GAS for a laser but so far outsourcing is so inexpensive it makes no sense to buy our own machine unless we figure out more uses for it.

So I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's experience who've taken the plunge.

Kevin Ryan and Bruce Petros both use them extensively, those would be my go-to guys. They're both doing interesting stuff with Kevin doing the super-flexy linings and Bruce doing the cosmetic stuff.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Wow, those Petros brothers are using that laser for all it's worth! Amazing.

I have an 80 watt Shenhui Chinese laser. We got it because my wife was paying to use one for some decorative wood items she makes - jewelry, Christmas ornaments, etc.

I haven't done much luthier specific tasks but I've cut a fair amount of wood with mixed results. I've also cut celluloid inlays with good results. Surprisingly, you can cut celluloid without it catching fire: the air assist blows out the flame.

If you're shopping for a laser, the Chinese machines give you a lot of bang for the buck but the software is quirky and very basic. The overall build quality is ok at best. After spending a few evenings aligning the mirrors, a major PITA that ultimately required me to shim the rails up about 1/4" because the tube couldn't be lowered further, the machine has worked satisfactorily. On the other hand they cost about 1/4 the price of the name brand machines even after you pay the freight, duties and get a bunch of spare parts.

Another difference is the low cost Chinese machines use a DC laser as opposed to a RF laser. I've never used a RF laser but I believe adjusting the frequency can change the cutting characteristics - I'd like to hear if anyone has experience with this.

Hope this is helpful.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Thanks Kevin. I'm surprised that wood didn't cut more consistently. Could it have been a light wood vs dark wood issue or resin causing too much smoke?

Some of the inconsistencies I've experienced were caused by obvious reasons - knots & weird grain.

Others not so much - I found it easier to cut Bocote than Koa which is much softer & less dense. I've heard that Koa has a lot of silica in it which may be the cause.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Interesting. I've been told that ebony can't be lasercut. Or at least not cut well. This company was cutting fret slots with a laser.

I too have a Chinese 80w. Branded as a Cam Five.

For me wood has cut easily. It is a little inconsistent like mentioned because of oils and grain, but no real issues for me including ebony. I use it to cut wood inlay, headstock plates and control covers with good success quite regularly. I find that bumping up the power more than the bare minimum needed to cut through a given material will work better in the long run, even if I have to live with more darkening of the wood edges.

Plywood is a different story.

Thanks Kevin.

Based on your experience with the Chinese lasers, would you guys buy them again or take out a lease on an Epilog or Universal?

Outsourcing laser cutting is so inexpensive it would make no sense for us to buy even a Chinese machine unless I could figure out a lot more uses for it and it didn't tie up a lot of time keeping it running smoothly.

We started with a small 40watt laser, 1ft by 1ft bed, after a year of use we saw the potential, cutting pickguards, cutting wood, cutting templates, laser engraving parts, so we went and got another one 100watt this time with a 4ft by 3ft bed, Thats been running now for two years, literally every day it will be turned on to make something, one of the best tools we have ever bought

Steve

Which company did you buy from Steve?

Company called Quick Cnc , contact is tang taney, really good to work with.

Sheldon,

If I had time to dick around with it and I wanted to pay half the price, I'd get the Chinese one again knowing full well that I'm on my own to get it to work properly and knowing that I have to deal with junk software.

If I wanted a machine that would show up and work without drama, and have useful support, I'd buck up for a new Epilog or at least try to find a used one. At least I hope that's what would happen if I paid twice as much!

-Kevin

I've had luck cutting Baltic Birch that comes in a 5' x 5' sheet but not the stuff that comes in a 4' x 8' sheet. Apparently the 5 x 5 sheets use urea adhesive while the 4 x 8 sheets use phenolic adhesive. We made these



The name brand machines are so much more expensive that I could never justify the expense. If you read up on Sawmill Creek, most folks that do this for a living & have switched from a Chinese machine to a name brand one have no regrets.

My machine has a large 1200 X 900 mm bed which I thought would be great but I think that's one of the problems. Going that large requires all the components to be more rigid and any misalignment gets magnified.

The one area where the name brand machines are clearly superior is for rastering-engraving graphics where the head sweeps back & forth sort of like an ink jet printer. They are much faster.

If you're serious you should go to a trade show. I know that the mfg's deal at the shows, more so than the dealers will.

Also check out the Trotec lasers.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I have a 45W Epilog 36EXT machine that I use extensively for marquetry, inlay, rosettes, template/jig making, kerfed lining (I make my own A4 style kerfed linings under license from Kevin), brace cutting, and engraving (label making, headplates etc.). I don't know what I'd do without it!

Here are a couple of the many jobs that I've done on it:




It's a huge time saver and is very accurate indeed. It's the 3rd Epilog model I've owned since about 2003. I wouldn't even think about buying a cheap Chinese model.

Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"

If anyone is in the market for a laser, the SGIA expo is coming up in Atlanta.

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.