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OMTech Lasers - 50w co2 laser engraver - build log and experience

We mounted a few planes on the walls here at the shop.

mounts - 1 (1).jpeg


Nigel decided he really wanted these at an angle. And they work.
mounts - 1.jpeg
 
We got some 2mm foam tape from Amazon, the 5mm wide is a perfect fit for the wood, but 3mm thick might be better for painted spendy planes.
 
@Hank GB Z They are made out of 5mm mohogany plywood i get locally. I had originally made them kind of on the spot just to get one speicific plane up on the wall. And than since i was dropping by @Wayne shop i made a few other ones just for him to look at. So right now its kind of in the "hey these are cool do you think they are cool?" stage. We need to figure out what a specific size for depth and arm length will work for "most" people.
 
thenated0g said:
@Hank GB Z They are made out of 5mm mohogany plywood i get locally. I had originally made them kind of on the spot just to get one speicific plane up on the wall. And than since i was dropping by @Wayne shop i made a few other ones just for him to look at. So right now its kind of in the "hey these are cool do you think they are cool?" stage. We need to figure out what a specific size for depth and arm length will work for "most" people.
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If you had some listed for specific aircraft you might get more sales. Say... Freewing AvantiS guys would gravitate to products for their cup of tea. Ya -- I'd buy one for my new Avanti S.
 
thenated0g said:
I finally cracked and ordered a chinese laser cutter from omtechlaser.com. They are a company down in the LA area i think, they import them and make sure they are working, so you have a US based company for any problems. Its a 50w (probably 40w as most of the chinese lasers are rated at peak and you gotta keep it at 80% of that). 12x20 cutting area, same as glowforge, but has passthru. After shipping tax it comes out about $1,300 less than a glowforge. If you have any interest in the experience let me know. Im sure at some point ill do a little video about how well/not well it goes. I made sure to get one with a Ruida controller so i can easily transition over using the same Lightburn software im already used to on my little 5.5 diode laser engraver.

Heres the specific model i ordered with a 10% off coupon. Being in california the shipping was free which is usually $250-300.
omtechlaser.com

50W CO2 Laser Engraver Cutting Machine with 12” x 20” Working Area

Engrave your dream creations with our 50W CO2 Laser Engraving Machine. This laser engraving machine has an LCD display, red dot laser, and air assist.
omtechlaser.com omtechlaser.com

Starting this thread here to document the experience.

Heres some related videos if you interested:

Made a base for the laser this weekend. The laser is 40" wide and 26x25 so it needs to be raised off the ground.
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I used to be a proud Omtech user, but the disappointment of my machine breaking down and the lack of customer service assistance led me to switch brands. I switched to the Monport laser and it is a solid alternative.
 
We ended up working the Omtech customer support pretty hard after we had some issues with our first machine. They actually offered my employee a job providing technical support for them in our area. Kind of funny. We were down for a few weeks as we waited for replacement parts from china. In the end they sent the wrong parts, and that would not have solved the issue anyhow. We finally found the issue and fixed it ourselves, but then we found more issues, this time just bad design limited the machines accuracy. We used our warranty and stepped up to the next larger machine as it had a slightly different design. It has been working well for us, but again we have found a weakness in the design and we will be making our own parts to improve rigidity of the chassis.

Looking at the photos of the Monport laser, they seem to have a slightly different motor layout that looks to improve on the Omtech designs. Hard to say from just a photo. Otherwise looks very similar to the Omtech. Will keep them in mind if we should be in the market again.
 
thenated0g said:
Didnt get as much shop time over holiday as i thought i would, but did get some engraving and cutting in.
Machine loves anything in the 1/8 range. Engraving paint off stuff is a breeze and finally i can really bite into rocks. Its not super clean, but my daughter things its cool. And apparently it will remove bluing off of gun stuff and does plastic gun stocks very easily.
View attachment 5546View attachment 5547View attachment 5548View attachment 5549View attachment 5550View attachment 5551View attachment 5552View attachment 5553View attachment 5554
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The Monport Machine has proven to be a reliable and cost-effective solution for me. You must try it bud.
 
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