More Laser Machines

This has NOTHING to do with FSL!! We’re talking about a different company here!!

Why do you guess??? I’m going to call Laguna Tools and ask if their machines are re-branded or not!! Guessing does not help in the least!!

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I guess because I don’t care enough to contact them. I didn’t say rebranded, but they could be. I would bet money that they are mostly Chinese parts though. Nothing wrong with that. I almost bought a Sparks laser that is Chinese parts (mostly). Let us know what you find out. I would be quite happy if I’m wrong. :grinning: - Rich

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simmer down with all that punctuation

i think it’s a safe guess, as they use poorly documented chinese controllers in their CNCs, too:

i should point out that i don’t consider it some criminal act or even that it reflects poorly on the company, but i do think it’s worth knowing so you know what to expect if you buy one.

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What is it you needed help with?
@jamesdhatch and @chrgeup were just making a friendly reply based on experience of similar machines in that price range.
Based on the review provided by @jrnelson, I’d say both were astute speculation.

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It is a little frightening that their material chart lists vinyl as cuttable and etchable, with no asterisk or warnings.

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Thanks for the support :slight_smile: There was probably no point in commenting at all about the OP. It didn’t pose a question or ask about anyone’s experience with it so any response was unlikely to be what was being sought. Looks like just an “oh look, here’s another laser” posting. When there’s a similar post pointing to Mr Beam or one of the hundred different ones in the same price range you can buy on ebay, I think I’ll just skip reading :slight_smile: Not really interested in a directory of laser machines.

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Ok, in all fairness, Instead of guessing, I called Laguna Tools and spoke with a salesman regarding their new offering of CO2 Laser machines. He admitted that they are working with a Chinese company to use their laser machines “shell”, but everything else internal is “assembled” here in the USA.

It doesn’t make any sense to me that a tool manufacturer would use the shell from a different company, and assemble the innards themselves.

I had posted this topic to compare and contrast this to the GF, which I am very much looking forward to come late spring, early summer.

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by sourcing their components (including the shell) instead of developing new ones, they can save lots of time and cost. They can (in theory) source better parts than what might come with a similarly-shaped laser from someone else. By assembling themselves, they can (again, in theory) have better quality control. This makes sense from a tool supplier who is not trying to re-invent anything, but rather have their own offering in a growing market. They use proven components of proven tech to make a machine that they can stand behind. From what I have seen here, a lot of people decided not to buy from several other laser companies based on negative feedback regarding post-sale support. Laguna has a reputation of a certain quality, and that can be a huge trust-boost for some people.

Of course, as seen on the craftsman tools buyout thread, not all reputations are able to survive, and brands can fall off the high-quality wagon pretty quickly when they expand too fast, or are purchased and the reputation is bleed dry before being conglomerated.

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Laguna makes some great tools…high quality. I have a 220v band saw from them, and it’s awesome…very powerful, sturdy, precise.

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Are there any opinions here on Rabbit Lasers? Someone on another forum is pushing the brand as a GF replacement. Looks like they are Chinese-made but with US support of some type.

I have no direct experience with them, however, I did do a lot of research on laser cutters about a year and a half ago. From what I found on sawmill creek, leatherworker.net and all sorts of other laser sites, blogs, etc… They seemed to be similar to FSL, but trying to make their name on support. My impression was FSL did more engineering on what they imported and Rabbit mainly controlled quality and parts suppliers but provided better support. That is how I would characterize my research.

I don’t remember any of the posters here who own a laser cutter ever mentioning one. I don’t know which forum you’re using, but I would look at the two I mentioned above. They can certainly be opinionated and biased, but at the core I would characterize it as the senior forum members own expensive US based ones and they don’t appreciate post after post from people who bought an eBay laser with no support asking noob questions. That then becomes all Chinese lasers are awful. Except for the experienced forum members who have a laser with Chinese parts who know what they’re doing. But I haven’t been at either site much at all in the last year. I’m pretty much down to here, but my work commitment is finally slacking a bit. So there is hope.

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Thanks for that. I keep forgetting Sawmill Creek, though they often come up in laser searches. I’d not heard of leatherworker.net and will check them out, too.

I have no idea, sorry…

What little I know about laser cutting and engraving I learned on the 80w Rabbit at the local makerspace. Here’s my first post mentioning the Rabbit…

The local distributor for Colorado provides great service, which is good, as it required a lot of setup and tweaking after delivery. And a new tube. Then a new driver board. ::smirk:

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Thanks - I missed that Rabbit reference. It looks like the RabbitUSA site tries to offer several options for support, which is a good thing given that they are sourced from China.

Are you still satisfied that the GF will give you the sort of alignment you needed (and that Rabbit failed to deliver) in that engraving from your older post? It seems like some GF tweaks are needed (and expected) in order for that to be delivered at the moment.

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Absolutely. While I haven’t had the opportunity to use a GF yet (hint, hint :wink: ), the examples that @marmak3261, @takitus, and others have shared evidence sufficient alignment for most of my projects. I’m also confident that the development team will continue to tweak the system to increase accuracy & precision, as well as reduce engrave times.

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I tend to think the same thing but every once in a while its good to take stock and see what is working now, what is working better than before, and what hasn’t been documented to work at all. The engraving sure is encouraging and it is looking like alignment might be at least adequate for most things.

Good luck on getting a pre-release unit!

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Most of the “China made” lasers originate with wklaser.com. I believe (but am not sure) Rabbit does. Assuming that’s the case, you can shop around from a number of vendors who import that laser, including wklaser themselves (who usually charge about 1/4-1/2 as much as their importers) before deciding.

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Thanks, but I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that. It’s a good idea to be prepared, so that’s what I’m trying to do.

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