New Laser Cutter

The Dallas Makerspace has placed an order for a new laser cutter with Thunderlaser in China. The model is a Nova 63 with a 130 watt tube. It will come with three different focal length heads and a rotary attachment. If you’d like to familiarize yourself with the new laser cutter there are some links below.

http://www.thunderlaser.com/download/down/nova/Nova63_catalog_Marc.pdf
http://www.thunderlaser.com/download/down/Thunder%20Laser%20Software%20RDWorksV8.0%20USER%20MANUAL.pdf
http://www.thunderlaser.com/download/down/User’s_manual_for_NOVA63.pdf

Thunderlaser sales folks said it takes approximately 10 days to produce the laser cutter. Form there shipping from China to Houston will take a little over a month (32 days on average from previous records). Once it arrives in Houston it will go through customs and then it will be delivered to the Dallas Makerspace. Based on current information the new laser cutter should arrive around 50 days from now.

The total cost is expected to be around $15,000 which is slightly more than what we paid for the Full Spectrum ProLF 36x24 that we have currently which was around $14,000. The plan is to replace the Full Spectrum Laser machine with this new machine. The fate of the Full Spectrum Laser machine is still to be determined. As new information becomes available I will update this thread.

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The new laser has been assembled. Thunderlaser sent this video of the machine this morning. Next step is paying for the machine, filling import papers, and then waiting for a while. I’ll post again when the machine has shipped.

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Well I guess it’s “LUKE’s” machine and not DMS’s. Actually a pretty cool demo video.

Thunderlaser sent some photos of the machine being packed up for shipping. Today it left the factory and is on it’s way to the docks. Next week there will be some paperwork to do and it will get loaded on a boat headed to Houston.

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Nice, the crate picture needs a banana for scale, is it 10 feet long? (I think machine itself is 7’ 3")

Another CO2 machine, but no action on getting a YAG, capable of far more at the same power levels…

Like this one?

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Gotta replace the functionality of the current failing laser.

We looked into getting 2 yags from Fred’s but we decided we couldn’t use them for a reasonable cost

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That’s the thing, though. There’s nothing a CO2 machine can do that a YAG can’t, & plenty the other way around.

Sounds like you should join the Laser Committee!

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The wavelength of Nd:YAG is well suited for cutting and engraving metals. It performs poorly on basically every other material (like wood, acrylic, leather, etc.). It would be nice to have a Nd:YAG laser but it’s definitely not the end-all and be-all super laser you describe it as.

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Luke, I’m surprised a man of your age and experience doesn’t know the tool you don’t own is always superior to that which you currently possess.

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The new laser is headed this way at 21 knots, currently off Japan coast

https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9410789

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I don’t know why I find this tracker so cool

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'Cause it is cool! and it’s better than saying “It’s somewhere in the pacific right now”

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Sorry, been out of pocket. Whats wrong with the full spectrum that it needed to be completely replaced?

The Full Spectrum Laser machine is fixable with enough labor and tracking down parts. It will be up for sale or trade soon.

If youd like a tour of the fsl issues find me tomorrow (thursday) night and I can show you around it

Any idea on price?

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It will likely be an auction style sale where it gets posted for a week or two and we take the best offer. So I’m not really sure what the price will be. I’ll create a new thread on Talk at the appropriate time.

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