I've been e-mailing a few Chinese companies about pricing, a productive thread is copied below:<div><br></div><div>*****</div><div><br></div><div><span>Dear Chris</span><div>The laser tube is warranted for nine months, and it can used around 9000hours</div>
<div><br></div><div>For the 80w laser tube cost of replacement is USD403 (EXW price) (for this laser tube the biggest power can arrive 95w)</div><div>For 100w is USD629(EXW price)(the biggest power can arrive 110W<span style="font-size:10pt">)</span></div>
<div>So that is why this laser tube is a little expensive than other brand</div><div><div><br></div><div>Best regards</div><div>Sincerely yours</div><div>Vivinar</div><div><br></div></div><div>
<br><div><div></div><hr>From: <a href="mailto:team@sector67.org" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">team@sector67.org</a><br>Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:24:08 -0500<div style="outline-style:none;outline-width:initial;outline-color:initial;padding-top:10px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:0px;width:22px;margin-top:2px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px">
<span style="line-height:6px"><br></span></div><div><div style="margin-top:5px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:0px"></div><div style="color:rgb(80,0,80)"><br>Subject: Re: Inquiry about ZY-1613 laser cutting machine (<a href="http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com</a>)<br>
To: <a href="mailto:vivinar@live.cn" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">vivinar@live.cn</a><br><br>What is the cost of replacement tubes? How many hours do the tubes provided in the machine last?<div><br></div>
<div>Thank you for the quotes,</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Chris<br><br><div>2012/4/12 tanvivinar <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vivinar@live.cn" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">vivinar@live.cn</a>></span><br>
<blockquote style="border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Dear Chris<div>Thanks for your letter again.</div><div>For the follows size i will do the 80w laser tube for example</div>
<div><br></div><div>ZY-9060 80w FOB guangzhou USD 3550 one pcs of extra honeytable is USD80</div><div><br></div><div>ZY-1310 80w FOB guangzhou USD3870 one pcs of extra honeytable is USD104</div><div><br></div><div>All our machine is including water cooling system, air pump, exhaust fan .</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>We three phase stepper motor which is more precision than two phase stepper motor.Now many other company is still use two phase stepper motor.The mirrors we used from Singapore, High speed linear guide from Korea</div>
<div><br></div><div>May i know what kinds of materials that you cut, in this way i can give you more suggestions.</div><div><br></div><div>Looking forward to your reply</div><div><div>Best regards</div><div>Sincerely yours</div>
<div>Vivinar</div><div><br></div></div><div><br><div><div></div><hr>From: <a href="mailto:team@sector67.org" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">team@sector67.org</a><br>Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:53:28 -0500<br>
Subject: Re: Inquiry about ZY-1613 laser cutting machine (<a href="http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com</a>)<br>
To: <a href="mailto:vivinar@live.cn" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">vivinar@live.cn</a><div><br><br>Hello,<div><br></div><div>I'm interested in:<br><br><span style="font-size:14px;font-family:Arial">ZY-6040</span> </div>
<div><span style="font-size:14px;font-family:Arial">ZY-9060</span> </div><div><span style="font-size:14px;font-family:Arial">ZY-1310</span> </div><div><br></div><div>Thank you,</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Chris<br>
<br><div>2012/4/12 tanvivinar <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vivinar@live.cn" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">vivinar@live.cn</a>></span><br><blockquote style="border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Dear Sir<div>Thanks for your letter about our laser cutting machine.</div><div>May i know which size do you need?</div><div>Then i can give you the certain price.</div><div>Best regards</div><div>Sincerely yours</div>
<div>Vivinar</div><div><br><div><div></div><hr>Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:57:03 +0800<br>From: <a href="mailto:team@sector67.org" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">team@sector67.org</a><br>To: <a href="mailto:vivinar@live.cn" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">vivinar@live.cn</a><br>
Subject: Inquiry about ZY-1613 laser cutting machine (<a href="http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com</a>)<br><br><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" border="0">
<tbody><tr><td width="1%" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><a href="http://www.diytrade.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank"><img border="0" width="160" height="70" alt="www.DIYTrade.com"></a></td>
<td valign="bottom" width="99%" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif"><hr color="#003399"></td></tr></tbody></table><br><font style="font-size:15px"><b>Dear vivinar</b>,<br>
</font><font style="font-size:15px">You have a new inquiry from <a href="http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://www.vivinar.diytrade.com</a></font><br><div style="border-top-width:3px;border-right-width:3px;border-bottom-width:3px;border-left-width:3px;border-top-color:rgb(255,127,80);border-right-color:rgb(255,127,80);border-bottom-color:rgb(255,127,80);border-left-color:rgb(255,127,80);border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;padding-top:10px;padding-right:10px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:10px;line-height:16px">
<b>Please Note:</b><br>Recently, a phishing scam was found in the name of buyer sending inquiry message to members via DIYTrade platform. When members replied to the message, an email with a hyperlink attempt to direct members to a fraudulent website with the intention to capture their email login and password. <br>
To protect your interests, please pay attention to this kind of email. Thank you for your attention.</div><table border="0" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif">
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="20" width="100%" align="center" border="0" style="border-top-width:1px;border-right-width:1px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-left-width:1px;border-top-style:solid;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(206,206,206);border-right-color:rgb(206,206,206);border-bottom-color:rgb(206,206,206);border-left-color:rgb(206,206,206)">
<tbody><tr><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px"><table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tbody><tr><td align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b>Subject:</b></td><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Inquiry about ZY-1613 laser cutting machine</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b>Company Name:</b></td><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Sector67</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b>Country/Region:</b></td><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">United States of America</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b>Inquiry Date:</b></td><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">2012-04-12 13:56</td></tr><tr><td align="right" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">
<b>Inquiry Content:</b></td><td style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px"><b><u><a href="http://my.diytrade.com/diyep/siteMain/report/rpt_enqlist?page=report/rpt_enqlist" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">Please login DIYTrade.com to read the Inquiry details.</a></u></b></td>
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<font style="font-size:12px"><b>If the link on above does not work,</b><br>please copy and paste this web address into your browser :<br><a href="http://my.diytrade.com/diyep/siteMain/report/rpt_enqlist?page=report/rpt_enqlist" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">http://my.diytrade.com/diyep/siteMain/report/rpt_enqlist?page=report/rpt_enqlist</a></font><br>
<br></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><font style="font-size:15px">Don't miss this valuable opportunity and please response to it promptly!</font><br></div></div></div></blockquote>
</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div><br></div></div></div></div><div>****</div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div>*****</div><div><br></div><div>For this price (~$4k), I'd have a hard time building a machine with the same capability, *safety*, and footprint. That said, I've had a large medical punch sampler (all belt drive, dual steppers/axis, very overpowered/fast) just waiting to have a laser integrated onto it, and have offered to buy the laser, supply and mirrors for anyone that will show coordinated movement on it but nobody has taken me up on it at our hackerspace :-) The thing about building it is making sure it becomes someone's responsibility to keep it working so anybody can walk up and use it; without knowing to poke this part and sometimes that other part falls off and has to be glued on to get proper ventilation so it doesn't burn up, etc. </div>
<div><br></div><div>At risk of being shunned by this list ;-) , I have to bring up the thing that scares me the most - someone being blinded by something they couldn't see because the optics came loose and it wasn't in a fully enclosed in a designed housing. I've done graduate school and worked around in/visible lasers for 4 years, we took careful precautions to make sure someone couldn't walk into a laser experiment without proper equipment on with lasers that couldn't melt through 1/16" plastic and would evoke a blink response. The idea of something that will burn through my polycarbonate glasses and remove my vision that's completely invisible is a whole level scarier, especially to put this in the hands of someone who's semi-trained to know how to run it (which *is* the whole point of a hackerspace), much less know how to safely approach servicing it.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I've been using a 40W Epilog that eats PDF's as 'prints' and have to say I don't see the need for a traditional CNC operator interface (offsets, etc). The idea of pulling up Inkscape, vectorizing something I want, hitting print, and watching it go has been effective in everything I've needed to do. I can see more experimental operations that having direct control of the machine/axes would be handy, like keeping the laser in a single spot while cutting in half a wine bottle or something. But it seems to me that disconnecting the X or Y stepper could emulate the same effect (command the laser to cut a horizontal line at 100% power with the X stepper unplugged, it'll just sit in one place and doesn't have feedback to know any better). The only limit to this approach is that you couldn't blast something for more than the length of time to cross that axis of travel. As far as integrating a rotary axis into it, do the same thing. Unhook the Y axis stepper and hitch it to a stepper on a rotisserie, squish your image in that axis appropriately for the linear to rotary motion conversion, and it should work well enough.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Just my $0.02, if you have better leads on cheap but functional lasers I'd like to hear them (group buy? Offer a Chinese manufacturer reviews and PR on our blogs in exchange for a discount?). Thanks to the OP for a well written question!</div>
<div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Chris Meyer<br>Director<br>Sector67<br><br><a href="tel:608-241-4605" value="+16082414605" target="_blank">608-241-4605</a><br><a href="http://sector67.org/" target="_blank">http://sector67.org</a><br>
<br>2100 Winnebago St<br>Madison, WI 53704<br></div>
<div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 1:10 AM, Bryan Bishop <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kanzure@gmail.com" target="_blank">kanzure@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div>On Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 12:12 AM, charlie x <<a href="mailto:charlie@finitemonkeys.com" target="_blank">charlie@finitemonkeys.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> I do want to go back to building our own with the 40W tube, and we will do something with it<br>
> eventually, well apart from fire it up with just the tube and power supply and burning holes<br>
> in things.<br>
<br>
</div>At the risk of risky thread hi-jacking, does anyone have suggestions<br>
for the optics and lenses on a "nearly submicron" laser cutter? I am<br>
putting together what will eventually be an open source project<br>
running LinuxCNC, but I am somewhat shaky on how to make sure I get a<br>
spot size on the order of 1 to 10 microns (ok, maybe up to 20). Any<br>
takers ?<br>
<br>
- Bryan<br>
<a href="http://heybryan.org/" target="_blank">http://heybryan.org/</a><br>
<a href="tel:1%20512%20203%200507" value="+15122030507" target="_blank">1 512 203 0507</a><br>
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