I have the creality 5W (output) laser they came out with but, unfortunately I’ve been too busy to really do much more than just get it together.
However I did a fair amount of research before I went ahead and jumped on it for a meager $250 (on sale).
I found a couple of things to take note of when asking around.
1). Everybody’s always going to have an opinion, and you’re going to run into a lot of people that are die hard one way or the other. I’ve heard people say that diode lasers are awesome and work great for their particular usage. I have also heard some of these other diehards that will get very condescending and tell you that you wasted your money and you should have just went and got a CO2 laser or that a diode laser is completely useless (not the case actually) or even for the same price just go get an x tool there’s so much better but they offer no actual bases other than just a statement of opinion. Don’t get me wrong, x tool is cool but I just couldn’t justify the layout for that just yet.
2). A lot of people that tend to have really negative opinions without much to go on usually site that it’s either Chinese (creality does have a really good reputation though) or that the wattage isn’t as high as they want it to be so you have to go a little slower. Those people tend to be people that have businesses and they’re trying to turn out 100 or 2000 piece runs and don’t take into account a lot of time is a hobbyist that’s not overly concerned about having the fastest production time.
3). The one that I have is supposed to have a whole host of materials it can mark, grave or cut but again, I would reference YouTube and start looking at what some of those guys are doing with the particular laser you’re looking at. I know there’s a lot of videos up about the 10 Watt and I’ve seen several about the 22 start showing up since it was just released in February.
3). Ultimately, it’s going to be one of those scenarios whether or not it’s worth it to you to take the risk, purchase it, test it out on what your particular use would be and see if it’s something that’s acceptable to you. If not, just make sure you do your testing within the first 30 days and you can always return it.
Myself personally, this is a good entry level for me because I’m not trying to cut out a whole lot of items out of 6 mm, I’m just looking at doing some light marking and engraving on some of my items that I already have as an extra custom add-on or embellishment.
Later down the road I’ll probably start looking at cutting one or two millimeter maybe 3 mm leather so at this point the 5w will do what I need it to.
When I want to move on to something and more in-depth, I have the option to be able to upgrade the laser head itself and still be able to use my frame, controllers, light burn, etc.
