Hello. I am totally new to this and am trying to absorb as much information as I can find.
As I am waiting for my Altmill to ship in December, My plan at this point, is to add the Sienci laser set up as well.
My question is in relation to the comments and discussions I have read on the 7watt laser being too light duty for people. I have noticed a lot of discussion based around users with the Longmill routers.
It seems the 20w options are popular for the Longmill.
So… What is the opinion on getting a laser for the Altmill, Given that this unit has quicker speeds and feeds? Were would that extra operating speed lead to with the Altmill setup? Would it matter?
Looking forward to experienced laser users chiming in with any discussion as I decide which way to go.
I am a LM2 user with a 7W unit and can tell that if I would upgrade to an altmill, it would not effect my speeds and feeds for my laser files that are purely etchings for cutting anything, even simple 3mm multi or cardboard takes realy… realy long and multiple passes.
I know a guy that runs a dedicated 60w co2 machine and that too takes long in comparison to how fast we can cut with a mill. So I cut with the mill and etch with the laser.
Etching wise, however, the 7W diode unit is way more suitable than the 60W co2 my knowaguy owns. I bet a 20W diode can work a lot faster than the 7W unit, but how much faster that would be, is up to speculation cause I don’t own something that powerfull.
I use the 7W unit for small etchings (400x400 max). Large ones are obviously possible but they would take a looong time to complete. I did a 1m by 15cm etch that wouldn’t be possible on most dedicated laser units because those machine beds are mostly pretty limited.
If you only need the laser to do line etchings on say, 3d landscapes, you can take on larger projects. A more powerfull unit would certainly help there.
I see the laser as a nice upgrade for the mill, giving the option to do some amazing stuff that would otherwise need a huge investment to pull off. If a more powerfull one was available when I went for the sienci one, i prolly would have gone with that.
@Verno FWIW, I’m with @Spamming_Eddie on this. Much depends on what you plan to do with the laser. If you want to cut with it, forget the 7w unit. I have a true 10w unit and would not use it to cut anything thicker than 3 mm. Even then, I only use it to cut 3mm when I want a charred edge.
In terms of feed rates, IMHO you will not be able to use the max feed rates of the AltMill even to etch with a 7w diode. I don’t run my Mk1 LM at its max with my 10w unit.
If you do decide to go with another company’s diode, read the specs very carefully. Many times, the touted power is the input power to the laser, not the output power from it. To its credit, Sienci accurately reports the output power of the laser to be 7w. Many of the “10w” units out there are nowhere near that output power.
Thanks for the replies, @Spamming_Eddie , seems you clearly stated what i was thinking,
I think as this is so new I may get the 7watt to learn and burn logo in projects.
This may be the best way to get better plug and play reliability until I learn more. Then I can move up once I get my feet wet.
It is good to know that I shouldn’t expect to cut 1/4" plywood easily if at all. That would be the most i would shoot for to start. @gwilki Grant, I am glad to hear how to compare wattage.
while learning about other brands I am confused as to how easy they would play with the Altmill controllers.
@Verno Any diode laser unit you choose will run on the AltMill. As far as cutting 1/4" plywood, don’t even think about it with a 7 or 10 watt diode laser. You may be able to do it with a couple dozen passes, but the edges will be charred terribly. You had better have very good smoke extraction, too.
Well, that’s the second reason I went with the sienci one and not shop around. Sienci is a company that injects an enormous amount of warm fuzzy feelings into my bloodstream.
First, it’s a Canadian founded company. And it shouldn’t make the difference that it does but my country was liberated by the Canadians back in the days and my generation was indoctrinated with the believe that every Canadian is a honoust hero that will never rip you off.
Finding the Longmill late in my search for an affordable cnc machine comfirmed that believe. Here was a machine with twice the machine bed, rigidity and speed at a fraction of the costs of a local build machine. And that was including vat and whatnot.
And this miracle was made by self made Canadian heroes actually passionated about cnc, not some rotten stock company selling out their clients to their investors.
I never included laser capability in my vision of my future machine, but the longmill including all bits and laserunit was still only half the price of whatever I came accross elsewhere so I went all in, thinking that if their own product was worth double its price, I could trust them with selecting a decent laserunit too. Knowing people that regret getting a 60W co2 unit after seeing the results I get with my 7W one tells me I was not wrong there either. Sure it’s slow running on a machine build to mill, but it was never ment to be more than a side-hussle anyway.
@Spamming_Eddie
As a Canadian I thank you for the kind comments.
Thanks for reminding me why I also went with Sienci Labs as well. I am actually only about 3 hour drive from their shop and as such have arranged to pick up my mill from them. I would love to meet them and see their operation when I do.
I took a look at some of the projects you have posted with your mill and laser combined. I am very inspired with how you experimented to accomplish such cool results.
The 7W sienci laser unit has a unique feature with interchangable lenses with a large focal distance that make them capable of hovering quite a distance above the project. Not talking about a few centimeters either. This, gives a relative large focal range that gives you the capability to etch 3d models without the need to somehow have to compensae in the z-axis.
This, I think, makes the sienci laser a beginner friendly unit for you don’t need to be exactly on focus to still be able to etch one out on a flat project.
All other units I have seen are project huggers, inching above the project like hoverboards. If the sienci unit was like that and I didnt crashed it out of the box, I would have not be able to pull off the 3d etchings and the unit would prolly be collecting dust allready.
So yeah, I think the sienci 7W unit is uniquely beginner friendly, specific for a machine that has a large z-range. It cannot be an accident sienci went with this unit, with these weird specs because it combines so beatifully with what a cnc mill can do.
Thanks for the compliments. I could have not done these experiments without the 7w unit, and I lucked out finding sienci when I did.
Yes the sienci unit is wonky in some ways, but I feel there went more thought into why it is what it is than I have yet discovered.
