Options for a non-web based laser cutter

I am looking to purchase a laser cutter that I can actually use.

Tired of the EXTREMELY SLOW response of the “APP” that must be used to get my brick to do something other than just take up space.

Please do not bother with troubleshooting my setup. It is not on my end. The App is taking half an hour just to open a simple cut file. Tried multiple browsers, different computers, the WIFI is strong, and yet the browser just sits there “Rendering your design…”

I would like a laser cuter that can actually cut something. My previous cut file that would have taken a few minutes to complete is still languishing and I am coming up on 2 hours and am not even close.

So please just keep this on topic:

Anyone have experience with a Laser Cutter that does not require the internet or some companies site to be useful?

Thanks,
Doug

Hard to make any recommendation without a budget mentioned.

Under $10K, similar to what I spent on my Pro.

https://www.epiloglaser.com/laser-machines/product-line.htm

Starting at $8k…

So, I get that you are irritated, but we aren’t idiots and we all have good enough performance.

Let’s ignore your phrasing for a sec and also ignore that you think you can’t possibly have anything else to do to fix it (maybe you’re right, maybe not). Either your expectations of what “slow” is are different from mine (and most of the rest of us), your “brick” is either super special and dorked up or your art is the problem, if we’re to take you at your word that your wifi is all set.

Did you ever go through support to try to find out what is up? Probably, I mean you wouldn’t be so mad if you hadn’t taken reasonable steps to figure it out.

Generally slow means that either your network is slow or your artwork is massive (or both). I’m not going to go any further with this troubleshooting because you specifically asked not to, but I am very skeptical that what you have is a brick.

11 Likes

The files worked last week. Took a few minutes to load and print.
Today it is still sitting on the “Rendering your design…” Not sure it will every return.

I just want to cut out the pieces so I can ship them to customers.

Removing the reliance on an external APP would at least enable me to have all of the pieces to debug. Toss in an “APP” that just doesn’t update anything and it means I lose yet another day either waiting or debugging or both. I would rather use a laser cutter and not just play around “trying to use” a laser cutter.

Well, good luck. Let us know if you want help troubleshooting, but the bulk of us aren’t experts on comparative laser cutting shopping.

I’ll only say that “a couple of minutes” is not out of the question, but again, it’s usually reserved for highly complicated designs.

1 Like

Aren’t most of the Chinese lasers under 10K?

Never tried one, but they are readily available:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xlaser+cutter.TRS0&_nkw=laser+cutter&_sacat=0

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=laser+cutter&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

1 Like

Really looking for anyone with experience with one. I really don’t want to randomly pick and end up in the same or worse place than I am at right now.

No help there, Glowforge was my first. Sorry. :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like

You might try a FB laser group (of which there are many) instead of a forum filled with GF users if you want people with other experiences. Obviously some of us have experience with other things, but it’s not really an ideal spot.

3 Likes

FSL’s Muse starts under 10k, once you start throwing in the assorted add ons like autofocusing camera it easily goes above tho.
A propmaster friend of mine has one and we play compare and contrast a lot. There are pluses and minuses to both depending on the project needs, ultimately I’m still happy I went with GF (and I had an older “dumber” FSL model before)

With everyone working and going to school from home our connection has been tenuous. It went done twice today.

1 Like

Turnkey is going to be a fair amount more once you outfit it with a vector cutting table, a matching tube (to the GF), buy an appropriate exhaust, buy an air compressor along with a desiccant dryer, oil separator etc.

I see used Zing 24’s going for over $10k.

1 Like

Just trying to help! :upside_down_face:

1 Like

Want some sticker shock?

I have a ULS VLS4.60 right now but sent out a couple of quote requests to add a much needed additional laser to the stable. I just received this quote back on a new VLS4.60 (a 60-watt Universal, 18x24" bed). Thankfully the power cord is free… back out the tax, BOFA (which I didn’t even inquire about), and freight and you’re looking at $25k (btw, the freight is a joke - over 2x cost). The tube alone is a $10k line item. (these are all negotiable, which is a big reason you don’t see any prices listed hardly anywhere on the web… if you search around, you can find a GSA Advantage Price List though that shows what government entities can buy for)

1 Like

wow, that’s nuts. we have the pls-6 / 150 (with just one 75w tube and a larger bed) and a BOFA (probably larger than the one they were quoting you, i’m sure, you wouldn’t want ours in your RV, we have the 1000iq), as well as separate air assist compressor and it was only about $12k more. and that included not just shipping, but on site installation and support for a year from the vendor. pretty sure we paid $43-44k for that.

So, still don’t want to troubleshoot?

2 Likes

Wondering why users with identical machines have very different experiences, the one major variable the machines all have in common is signal integrity. You can remove WiFi from the troubleshooting by creating a hotspot on your cell phone and connect through it, which you can put right on top of the laser.

Personally I have never had a connection issue, but I found article enlightening, particularly this point - Airtime.

(https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/02/the-ars-technica-semi-scientific-guide-to-wi-fi-access-point-placement/4/)

Rule 10: Your Wi-Fi network is only as fast as its slowest connected device

One device with a crappy connection can kill the quality of the network for all connected devices—not just itself.

One device with a crappy connection can kill the quality of the network for all connected devices—not just itself.

Jim Salter

Unfortunately, one person struggling to watch a YouTube video in “that one bedroom with the crappy Wi-Fi” isn’t just having a bad experience themselves—their bad time is bringing everybody down. All by itself, a phone in the same room with its associated access point might only need 2.5 percent of the available airtime to stream a 1080P YouTube video at 5Mbps. But a phone in “the bad bedroom,” struggling with buffering and slowdowns, can consume 100 percent of the network’s airtime trying—and failing!—to watch the same video.

Of course, streaming is very download-intensive, and routers or access points will typically refuse to transmit 100 percent of the time. An AP with lots of data to send will generally leave a little bit of airtime available for other devices to “speak up” and request their own data, after which it splits up download airtime between the nearby device and “the bad bedroom” in order to try to fulfill both their requests. However, that still adds tens or hundreds of milliseconds to the time it takes those other devices to wait for the access point to leave them a window, though—and they still have to compete with one another when such a window opens.

It gets even worse if the user in “the bad bedroom” tries to upload a video, send an email, or post a big photo to social media. The router tries to leave some airtime open for other devices to speak up—but the user’s phone is under no such restraints, and it will cheerfully eat up every bit of airtime it can. Worse, the phone has no idea how much data other users may have requested, in any brief windows they had to make requests. The router knows how much data needs to be delivered to each client individually, so it can allocate airtime for downloading data appropriately—but all the phone knows is it wants to get this stuff uploaded , so everybody’s experience is awful while it does it. So if you leave all this wisdom behind with just one rule in mind, this should probably be it.

Whatever you choose to do, Good Luck!

3 Likes

Ouch to those other laser cutter prices!

I will open a new thread in troubleshooting. I just now finished my first 5 minute print (started to do this about 3 1/2 hours ago). I had to recreate the design (took an hour) and print without ever saving (going back home). I will wait until I have finished cutting out this design before I will try leaving and reloading and see if it can handle it.

2 Likes