As with all shop machines, lasers can pose a risk of personal injury. Be sure to read and understand all of the safety information that comes with your tools and always wear appropriate eye protection.
You should be careful with shiny Objects like polished surfaces. The reflection of that can destroy the laser as well- Sorry about my english, its my 3 language and i have difficulty to write.
@@frankgrimes4336 I did turn that on, which is how I got into the situation, but turning it off had no effect. I tried toggling it and fiddling with other settings, but I couldn't get it to switch off. It's possible there's a workaround, but I didn't figure it out.
They definitely picked the right person to review their product. I’ve been a fan of James and this channel since he did his lead screw project. For the cost of one laser they got a genuine review by a professional engineer. Great work as always with James
I think you should mention proper eye and lung protection. I have a friend who got an enclosed laser cutter and air removal and filtering was a big deal.
awesome video but i must say im very surprised you didnt mention anything about enclosures and eye protection as thats a massive issue with this new wave of lasers.
FYI you need to run some kind of vent fan or fume extractor when engraving with a fiber laser. Metals like to throw up ultra fine dust when engraved, and plastics give off nasty fumes that are obviously terrible for you.
Metal fumes are probably worse. Since engraving works by superheating the surface of the metal part, the bit that is indented afterwards will partially evaporate and partially turn into ultra fine dust like you said. Inhaling that must do a number on the lungs and the body, I hear aluminum is not that great to have in your blood stream, not even to mention chromium or nickel, molybdenum and zinc, and other metals that are present in steel. If I'd use this, I'd filter it AND vent it outside.
@@dingdingdingdiiiiing Correct, dust inhalation in general is terrible for you, moreso when heavy metals are involved. Proper fume extractors SHOULD have HEPA filters and a mix of activated charcoal and iodine or potassium permanganate that will filter the dust and VOCs effectively. I know from experience though that venting does a better job with keeping smells down than my fume extractor. While I did check with an air quality monitor to make sure it was safe, there is always a lingering smell when I use a fume extractor.
We have been working and servicing various chinese lasers for around 10 years, there are lots of well built machines and with good customer and service support. The only downfall with most is their manuals and software. For just about most companies you have to use a backdoor when processing something. Especially when using high end software to design your components. So far, for the most part it always seems to work well with most, cnc and lasers when you utilize a second piece of software, before importing it to the proprietary software the vendor uses. 80% of the time, old versions of coreldraw seems to do the trick
The current sale price seems reasonable and I wish I could buy this. It would really help me make custom heat press tooling for my leather projects (to be used for hot pressing gold leaf onto leather). Manually carving the tooling out of brass using a dremel does work (which is what I'm doing) but it's a very laborious and time consuming process. At least I'm proud to have the skills to do that. But having a way to easily make the initial design, perfectly as I've drawn it in Illustrator, (at even 0.5 mm deep) would make carving the rest of the piece away so much faster and easier. Sadly, I'm just starting to sell leather goods so I'm not making enough money to justify spending it on this machine. Maybe one day. Thanks for the info though! It's always good to learn of different methods to accomplish a result.
MOPA lasers are typically required for creating black marks on aluminum. They are higher precision fiber based systems that control heat to the substrate. MOPA lasers also produce the colors on heat reactive metals like stainless. Also the lens is solely responsible for determining the size of the workspace (i.e. 150mm x 150mm). Swapping lenses is common in order to get the smaller space for the item being etched. Power is a function of area and smaller areas (from lens selection) yield higher power/sq area and can run faster.
I really appreciate your reviews. I suspect that if you have difficulty with the software, many of us would be completely lost. It does appear that the manufacturer recognized your concerns and may take steps to remedy them unless it involves large payments to us other software.
I bought one based on this video and have not been disappointed at all. There’s been some communication issues but their team is helpful. Interestingly I’ve found that varying the focal distance off of the recommended specs can make big improvements. I’m using the rotating accessory for marking brass tubes. Tech support told me I can also cut the tubes in half with enough burns which if true will be very helpful for me to mark then part off. I learn a lot from your channel but have to force myself to watch bc you are so persnickety! But I guess that’s what makes you good at what you do.
Don't even think of cleaning the mirrors. They are usually first surface mirrors, and will be ruined. Way back in the 80's our lab was very fortunate to purchase one of the earliest FTIR spectrometers. I think it may have been an HP model. Very expensive back then. One of the lab techs noticed some dust on one of its mirrors, cleaned it and screwed up the whole machine. On day one. Took many digit money to get it fixed.
Thanks for the review. I recently checked the 3D printer box, now I’m looking at a laser engraver. I would prefer to have one that can cut materials such as gaskets, etc.
A nice balanced review -thanks for sharing. Although I understand the reasons, it fascinates me that something that'll mark metal will barely touch cardboard. If only I could get once through Mrs Finance Department...
@8:54 dark black marking aluminum isn't possible with 1064nm alone, at best you'll get a dark grey. you could use cermark or some other coating to get black. @10:47 you can soak wood in baking soda + water mix to allow marking of wood. it isn't great but it's better than nothing.
Excellent review, would have loved to see demos and ratings of the accessories received of he roller and mini chuck rotators. Oh well maybe some one else will post them.
would love to see more in depht videos about the mashine, i backt it at kickstarter a months ago and i'm exitet to play araoud. keep up the good reviews and projekt videos, love your channel!
Try the Glowforge post processor for F360. It will make a svg file with a different colored line for each operation (e.g. Trace) in your setup. Hopefully, the included software can import the svg and take it from there.
A tips at marking on aluminium, you can make the marking very dark but it takes time, so i use an acid for signmakers so when you engrave the surface and take away the oxide layer on aluminium you dropp some acid on it and it will get black in 20 seconds and doesn't rubb off either. Anyway i have been dealing with Gweike for 10 years and also visiting their factory in Jinan and they are serious and have great prices but i noticed on the bigger fiber cutters they can be a little lazy and you have to check the electronics before starting the machines otherwise their machines have never let me down and their support will help even when the warranty is out
Just to clarify, just because the laser source hooks up to the laser head with a fiber optic cable, does not make it a fiber laser. Its a fiber laser because laser diodes energize a laser cavity in a loop of fiber optic cable (which is usually multi-layered), and the core is doped with a active element like neodymium which will absorb the higher wavelength from the laser diodes and then lase at 1064nm. You lose some power (which is why all those fans are running, removing the heat), but you get a very bright, coherent beam. As the optical combining of output from laser diodes get better, I expect we eventually will see fiber lasers go away, except maybe at the very high end.
Yep. All "red metals" are a pain with lasers. Between Al & Cu, I have destroyed far too many lenses and corner mirrors on CO2 lasers, and have fought with them on fibers. What we found that helps is to coat the work area with milk of magnesia.
I'm curious if you tried using it to "etch" a PCB? I've long been curious about how well such a lower power fiber laser would fare at that task. The current cost of this laser is attractive to me if I can use it to quickly make prototype PCBs.
Noob question: When engraving your ELS panel, why do the labels show up as a lighter color? Is there a layer of lighter colored plastic underneath the black layer? Or does the laser discolor the plastic?
For ~$1600, it's honestly not bad -- that is, IF you can use other software to interface with it. Not very familiar with laser engravers, but judging from the Lightburn website, seems like laser engravers all use different protocols and control schemes (other than low-end/hobby-built ones that use G-code). Would be nice if there was some standardized abstraction layer for laser engravers/cutters -- kinda like HPGL or Gerber X2. Maybe there is and I don't know about it. Then the manufacturer could either include a translator program to convert it into machine-specific controls OR the controller could accept it directly if it had a more powerful MCU. Edit: I guess you could use Inkscape, Illustrator, ACAD, or F360 ... assuming the included software can properly convert from SVG or DXF without mangling the layer assignments and scaling... lol
James, Thank you for sharing! It's a hummm for now. Hopefully, gwek will send you all the update as available. Further, your additional review after a time would be greatly appreciated by all. Thanks again.
As always, brilliantly detailed and simple to understand ! As a total idiot, a question: Can this engrave glass to look like sandblasting ? I have no knowledge about these things, I was just wondering.
I'm not an expert here, but it might work if you paint the glass with a spray can first, perhaps using black. My thought is the paint will absorb the laser light, ablate, and in the process "micro fracture" the glass surface. Not sure if this will work, but perhaps you could try on a cheap glass item.
@James. I have not yet read. through comments but you can get a cleaner called "First Contact Polymer" to clean the mirrors and lens. This is a coating you apply to mirror(s) (w/o touching them), let dry, and then peal off. Although not inexpensive, I highly recommend looking into purchasing some. Also, being nit a bit, this is a NIR wavelength as opposed to a CO2 laser which is in IR spectrum. Thanks for the review as I was looking into a low power fiber laser for metal stuff in my shop. If I buy one I'll use your link and you can buy me coffee... LOL Have a great day
We got one of these at work. It was fantastic and marked steel, plastic, aluminum, titanium, and painted surfaces no problem at all. Then after about two months, the IR laser quit working and it only "engraved" with the red LED from that point on. I'm sure it's some dumb problem in the laser unit but it went into the junk pile and hasn't been touched since.
What's preventing the laser beam from reflecting off a workpiece and causing an eye injury? I'm used to things like an Epilog, which has a laser-tight enclosure and interlocks to ensure it's closed before applying power to the beam.
Unenclosed laser engravers scare the bejeezus out of me. Not only light scattering, but also potentially dangerous fumes depending on what you put in it.
Do you have a pointer to those regulations? There are lots of US companies selling industrial products in this class with similar design. One example: bosslaser.com/boss-fm-station/#laser-power-upgrade
really enjoy this channel so please, please do something to prevent inhaling whatever it is you're vaporising. Eye protection is one thing but lungs are a much more serious matter.
PVC and Teflon have some nasty byproducts when you burn them (Chlorine gas for the first, see Polymer fever for the second- fatal to some pet birds). PETG and PLA seem to be relatively benign, but..
@@spehropefhany Makers Muse did a video about this some time ago. The serious laser engravers / cutters from the big manufacturers come with a sizable fume handling system. Yes PTFE is bad, I think it gives off HF which will eat anything.
Already on clearance… that’s the problem with this space. But at least they’ve added Lightburn support. Let’s see if we can get an xtool F1 Ultra for James to review.
If it's anything like EZcad2 (and it moatly seems so from the few images) the software will accept ai files but very old verions. Try selecting older versions when exporting. Also keep a close eye un the "Mark Selected" or rather Select Mark checkmark at the bottom because if its unchecked it will engrave everything you have on the workspace rather then what you actually have selected.
Good idea. It's very likely that the software isn't broken as much as it is living in the past, so to speak. I've been separating the geometry into the different tool groups and then enabling and disabling them individually to align the workpiece with one set of geometry, and then switch to what I want to engrave.
I tried engraving a red gummy bear this morning, and sadly it had no effect. Even at 100% power and carefully focused, there was no mark, no smoke, nothing. I had to swap out the target, just to make sure the laser was working.
LightBurn support should really be table stakes for any of these laser cutters/engravers. It makes their products way more desirable, really not sure why these companies always skimp on getting their tools included in the software everybody actually _wants_ to use.
Second time watching this, I guess YT saw I needed more laser info, anyways according to them Lightburn is now useable. I haven't tested this myself though, still looking for a real fiber like this one, instead of "fiber-like."
I just sold my 30w JPT source galvo. the market is becoming saturated with these units so I needed that value back out of it before I look to upgrade to a 60 MOPA. I will agree though, the lack of light burn usability is a dealbreaker for me now. EZcad2 is an absolute abomination. eventually we will see domestically sourced high watt mopas soon with great software to pair with it for some respectable asking prices.
Marco Reps reviewed a pretty nice 60W Mopa on his channel about a month ago, spendy but a nice looking unit, you may want to check it out, lightburn compatible.
The fact that copper is difficult to engrave with an IR laser has less to do with its thermal conductivity than with the high reflection and, conversely, the low absorption of copper at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The absorption here is only 4%. This means that of the 20 W, only approx. 0.8 W is absorbed by the material and can be used for the actual engraving. Steel has an absorption of approx. 40%. It is therefore much easier to engrave. If you change the laser wavelength to green or blue, things look completely different. As for the GWeike package, I find it incredible what you can get for your money these days. However, I would invest in better safety goggles. I can't stress this enough: Actual certified laser safety glasses cost $200. Much cheaper than a new pair of eyes. Remember the 4% absorption of copper? Well, in the worst case 96% of the laser power is reflected right back onto your face.
Very interesting. Software is always the problem with these types of machines as well as some inexpensive CNC machines and 3D printers. I’m not sure what the people in these companies are thinking about compatibility, but they should be more concerned, as it holds sales back. I would buy this other than for the software., though I would really like something more powerful, in the order of 60 watts and a larger working area, though they do get expensive. This one is not expensive.
I bought into the kickstarter for this thing. I ordered the g2 with 110x110 work area, manual lift, chuck rotary and roller rotary. This was in August. They assure me that it is due to arrive in the East US warehouse next week. Probably. I should receive it on to two weeks after it arrives in the east US warehouse. Probably. I feel like such a chump. I promised my customers that I would be able to provide samples late November. Maybe some time in January. Maybe. And I missed the detail that it is not supported by Lightburn...
when you save your Illustrator work files as .AI and when you click save , illustrator options don't chose illustrator 2021 instead use illustrator 3 and it should read it
ive worked with galvo lasers before... I think i would have cleaned the galvo mirror off. ive seen those mirrors get burned. very expensive and a huge pain in the butt to replace.
Does anybody have a recommendation for a similar product but more refined to "just work" if I intend to use this in a business setting where time is money and fiddling around is not acceptable?
As a note, today, 10 december 2023, they have it "on sale" with 1000$ off :) But it seems that "regular" price is 2499 for 110mm and for 150mm, and that seems wrong. Maybe they should pay attention to details (marketing side) and don't start with a lie..? "G2 20W Metal & Plastic Fiber Laser Engraver Sale price$1,599.00 Regular price$2,499.00 Sale SAVE $1000" and "G2 20W Metal & Plastic Fiber Laser Engraver Sale price$1,999.00 Regular price$2,499.00 Sale SAVE $1000"
I could get past the software problem by using Flexisign for the designing, but not being able to burn wood is a big turn off :( shame, I actually looked into these to upgrade my cheap chinesium laser.
The fiber will give you white on anodized aluminum. Back the power off and maybe speed it up some. If you're cutting thru the anodize you're running the power too high.
I took it down to 10% at 4000mm/s, to the point where the marks became pretty faint, and still didn't get the white I expected. I might need to push the frequency up to reduce the energy density. So much to learn, and yet another example of why a comprehensive material library would be useful.
What is a "galvo diode laser"? I assume this would be a regular continuous wave diode laser but shot in to a galvo head? Those actually exist? I've never seen one. Real fiber lasers are usually powered by a diode laser, boosted via the fiber, that's how it works.
Yes. There's a whole crop of galvo laser markers that use a diode laser source directly in the head (i.e. no fiber gain medium). They're 1064nm, typically around 2W actual output, and they use some technology I don't fully understand to compress the energy into short pulses. It's surprisingly effective, but nowhere near the power of a typical fiber laser. The AtomStack M4 is one example. It was originally marketed as a "fiber laser" but they appear to have backed off of this branding.
@@Clough42 Oh, now I know what you're talking about. I've been trying to get my hands on one of the non-galvo versions of those so I can take it apart and see what they're doing. The small focal point is what I'm most interested in. 0.03mm is the claim but like the 0.08mm CW diode claims that are actually more like 0.125mm, we'll see.
@@_droid yeah, it's pretty amazing what they're getting out of those 455nm diode machines. As far as I know, they're beam-combining 5W laser diodes and then focusing them very tightly. I see 40W optical modules advertised now. The precision required in the optics to combine and focus eight beams must be intense
As with all shop machines, lasers can pose a risk of personal injury. Be sure to read and understand all of the safety information that comes with your tools and always wear appropriate eye protection.
The Fingerprint on the mirror can cause damage on the mirror. Becauce now the laser dont get reflect 100% and can burn in/ engrave the mirror.
6:49 There is a checkbox on the bottom left corner "Continuous Mark" maybe that was your problem?
You should be careful with shiny Objects like polished surfaces. The reflection of that can destroy the laser as well-
Sorry about my english, its my 3 language and i have difficulty to write.
one last thing, you should use an filter Mask or use a fume extractor, this fumes/dust is breathable and can cause cancer
@@frankgrimes4336 I did turn that on, which is how I got into the situation, but turning it off had no effect. I tried toggling it and fiddling with other settings, but I couldn't get it to switch off. It's possible there's a workaround, but I didn't figure it out.
A reviewer that actually gives objective observations as opposed to sugar coated subjective opinions?! Well done Clough.
Looks like it has some potential. The fact that they actually updated their manual when they said they would is a good sign.
They definitely picked the right person to review their product. I’ve been a fan of James and this channel since he did his lead screw project. For the cost of one laser they got a genuine review by a professional engineer. Great work as always with James
I think you should mention proper eye and lung protection. I have a friend who got an enclosed laser cutter and air removal and filtering was a big deal.
awesome video but i must say im very surprised you didnt mention anything about enclosures and eye protection as thats a massive issue with this new wave of lasers.
Got to love an open frame IR laser that people are going to use for engraving on highly reflective materials like metal coffee mugs
FYI you need to run some kind of vent fan or fume extractor when engraving with a fiber laser. Metals like to throw up ultra fine dust when engraved, and plastics give off nasty fumes that are obviously terrible for you.
Metal fumes are probably worse. Since engraving works by superheating the surface of the metal part, the bit that is indented afterwards will partially evaporate and partially turn into ultra fine dust like you said. Inhaling that must do a number on the lungs and the body, I hear aluminum is not that great to have in your blood stream, not even to mention chromium or nickel, molybdenum and zinc, and other metals that are present in steel. If I'd use this, I'd filter it AND vent it outside.
@@dingdingdingdiiiiing Correct, dust inhalation in general is terrible for you, moreso when heavy metals are involved. Proper fume extractors SHOULD have HEPA filters and a mix of activated charcoal and iodine or potassium permanganate that will filter the dust and VOCs effectively. I know from experience though that venting does a better job with keeping smells down than my fume extractor. While I did check with an air quality monitor to make sure it was safe, there is always a lingering smell when I use a fume extractor.
We have been working and servicing various chinese lasers for around 10 years, there are lots of well built machines and with good customer and service support. The only downfall with most is their manuals and software. For just about most companies you have to use a backdoor when processing something. Especially when using high end software to design your components. So far, for the most part it always seems to work well with most, cnc and lasers when you utilize a second piece of software, before importing it to the proprietary software the vendor uses. 80% of the time, old versions of coreldraw seems to do the trick
The current sale price seems reasonable and I wish I could buy this. It would really help me make custom heat press tooling for my leather projects (to be used for hot pressing gold leaf onto leather). Manually carving the tooling out of brass using a dremel does work (which is what I'm doing) but it's a very laborious and time consuming process. At least I'm proud to have the skills to do that. But having a way to easily make the initial design, perfectly as I've drawn it in Illustrator, (at even 0.5 mm deep) would make carving the rest of the piece away so much faster and easier. Sadly, I'm just starting to sell leather goods so I'm not making enough money to justify spending it on this machine. Maybe one day. Thanks for the info though! It's always good to learn of different methods to accomplish a result.
MOPA lasers are typically required for creating black marks on aluminum. They are higher precision fiber based systems that control heat to the substrate. MOPA lasers also produce the colors on heat reactive metals like stainless.
Also the lens is solely responsible for determining the size of the workspace (i.e. 150mm x 150mm). Swapping lenses is common in order to get the smaller space for the item being etched. Power is a function of area and smaller areas (from lens selection) yield higher power/sq area and can run faster.
If they get that working with Lightburn, or even ezcad - that is a must buy for the price it's going for.
Lightburn working! beta 1.7 works and works with the rotary and roller also.
I really appreciate your reviews. I suspect that if you have difficulty with the software, many of us would be completely lost. It does appear that the manufacturer recognized your concerns and may take steps to remedy them unless it involves large payments to us other software.
Very good honest review. Thanks James, Merry Christmas.
I bought one based on this video and have not been disappointed at all. There’s been some communication issues but their team is helpful.
Interestingly I’ve found that varying the focal distance off of the recommended specs can make big improvements. I’m using the rotating accessory for marking brass tubes.
Tech support told me I can also cut the tubes in half with enough burns which if true will be very helpful for me to mark then part off.
I learn a lot from your channel but have to force myself to watch bc you are so persnickety! But I guess that’s what makes you good at what you do.
Love your reviews and that you don’t ONLY do reviews, you pretty objective to me!
Looking sharp today James! As always, a fantastic review.
Could you please make a video of a new front panel and flexible buttons, how you made it and how it works/looks when completed.
Don't even think of cleaning the mirrors. They are usually first surface mirrors, and will be ruined. Way back in the 80's our lab was very fortunate to purchase one of the earliest FTIR spectrometers. I think it may have been an HP model. Very expensive back then. One of the lab techs noticed some dust on one of its mirrors, cleaned it and screwed up the whole machine. On day one. Took many digit money to get it fixed.
Thanks for the review. I recently checked the 3D printer box, now I’m looking at a laser engraver. I would prefer to have one that can cut materials such as gaskets, etc.
That was interesting. Thanks for the video keep on keeping on.
3 years ago i bought industry class fiber laser for engraving. This one that you presented will be enough for me for 1/10th the price :)
A nice balanced review -thanks for sharing.
Although I understand the reasons, it fascinates me that something that'll mark metal will barely touch cardboard.
If only I could get once through Mrs Finance Department...
Good review, thanks.
@8:54 dark black marking aluminum isn't possible with 1064nm alone, at best you'll get a dark grey. you could use cermark or some other coating to get black. @10:47 you can soak wood in baking soda + water mix to allow marking of wood. it isn't great but it's better than nothing.
I bought the AtomStack laser after watching your video, and I've been very pleased with the results. Might consider upgrading to this one.
Excellent, comprehensive review. Thank you!
Hi, I have just received information on G-Weike chat that G2 20W Laser will be compatible with lightburn in late Mar or early Apr. Hopefully so.
Excellent review, would have loved to see demos and ratings of the accessories received of he roller and mini chuck rotators. Oh well maybe some one else will post them.
would love to see more in depht videos about the mashine, i backt it at kickstarter a months ago and i'm exitet to play araoud.
keep up the good reviews and projekt videos, love your channel!
Try the Glowforge post processor for F360. It will make a svg file with a different colored line for each operation (e.g. Trace) in your setup. Hopefully, the included software can import the svg and take it from there.
Oh, awesome tip. I'll check it out.
A tips at marking on aluminium, you can make the marking very dark but it takes time, so i use an acid for signmakers so when you engrave the surface and take away the oxide layer on aluminium you dropp some acid on it and it will get black in 20 seconds and doesn't rubb off either.
Anyway i have been dealing with Gweike for 10 years and also visiting their factory in Jinan and they are serious and have great prices but i noticed on the bigger fiber cutters they can be a little lazy and you have to check the electronics before starting the machines otherwise their machines have never let me down and their support will help even when the warranty is out
I'm always amazed at how fast those galvo mirrors accelerate.
Just to clarify, just because the laser source hooks up to the laser head with a fiber optic cable, does not make it a fiber laser. Its a fiber laser because laser diodes energize a laser cavity in a loop of fiber optic cable (which is usually multi-layered), and the core is doped with a active element like neodymium which will absorb the higher wavelength from the laser diodes and then lase at 1064nm. You lose some power (which is why all those fans are running, removing the heat), but you get a very bright, coherent beam. As the optical combining of output from laser diodes get better, I expect we eventually will see fiber lasers go away, except maybe at the very high end.
This particular model uses a Ytterbium-doped fiber as the gain medium, according to the web site. I haven't opened it.
You’ll put your eye out!
I would love to see how thing thing can handle engraving some .999 fine silver and gold!! I have some great ideas for jewelry.
Nice review James 👍
The fast burn time is impressive..
ATB....
I thought one of the reasons copper was hard to engrave with IR was because of how reflective copper is to IR, but this seems to do great. huh.
Yep. All "red metals" are a pain with lasers. Between Al & Cu, I have destroyed far too many lenses and corner mirrors on CO2 lasers, and have fought with them on fibers. What we found that helps is to coat the work area with milk of magnesia.
I'm curious if you tried using it to "etch" a PCB? I've long been curious about how well such a lower power fiber laser would fare at that task. The current cost of this laser is attractive to me if I can use it to quickly make prototype PCBs.
Was wondering the same!
I think MarcoReps might have one or two videos on the subject
Fiber is great on pcb's works a treat for marking them
I would run an exhaust fan when engraving. Metal vapors can add up in your body over time.
Noob question: When engraving your ELS panel, why do the labels show up as a lighter color? Is there a layer of lighter colored plastic underneath the black layer? Or does the laser discolor the plastic?
Not sure of the physics, but an IR laser usually leaves a lighter mark on black plastic.
For ~$1600, it's honestly not bad -- that is, IF you can use other software to interface with it. Not very familiar with laser engravers, but judging from the Lightburn website, seems like laser engravers all use different protocols and control schemes (other than low-end/hobby-built ones that use G-code). Would be nice if there was some standardized abstraction layer for laser engravers/cutters -- kinda like HPGL or Gerber X2. Maybe there is and I don't know about it. Then the manufacturer could either include a translator program to convert it into machine-specific controls OR the controller could accept it directly if it had a more powerful MCU. Edit: I guess you could use Inkscape, Illustrator, ACAD, or F360 ... assuming the included software can properly convert from SVG or DXF without mangling the layer assignments and scaling... lol
James, Thank you for sharing! It's a hummm for now. Hopefully, gwek will send you all the update as available. Further, your additional review after a time would be greatly appreciated by all. Thanks again.
Marco Reps did a nice review of a 60w fiber laser. Think you might want to check his video out. Patreon only. His obsessive precision suits you
Pretty sure said review is on his "public" youtube now.
@@prototype3a well what do you know. I watched that whole video in Patreon. Doh!
As always, brilliantly detailed and simple to understand ! As a total idiot, a question: Can this engrave glass to look like sandblasting ? I have no knowledge about these things, I was just wondering.
I'm not an expert here, but it might work if you paint the glass with a spray can first, perhaps using black. My thought is the paint will absorb the laser light, ablate, and in the process "micro fracture" the glass surface. Not sure if this will work, but perhaps you could try on a cheap glass item.
@James. I have not yet read. through comments but you can get a cleaner called "First Contact Polymer" to clean the mirrors and lens. This is a coating you apply to mirror(s) (w/o touching them), let dry, and then peal off. Although not inexpensive, I highly recommend looking into purchasing some. Also, being nit a bit, this is a NIR wavelength as opposed to a CO2 laser which is in IR spectrum. Thanks for the review as I was looking into a low power fiber laser for metal stuff in my shop. If I buy one I'll use your link and you can buy me coffee... LOL Have a great day
We got one of these at work. It was fantastic and marked steel, plastic, aluminum, titanium, and painted surfaces no problem at all.
Then after about two months, the IR laser quit working and it only "engraved" with the red LED from that point on.
I'm sure it's some dumb problem in the laser unit but it went into the junk pile and hasn't been touched since.
I bought a 20 watt laser last year. What I found is that if I want burned bit of wood the stove does it cheaper and quicker
great video, thanks for sharing!
You should have tried to carv out some ´PCBs, 20w fiber laser should work fine for that
As usual an excellent review thanks for your opinion
The lack of lightburn support is a dealbreaker.
Lightburn works with the G2 now.
Nice vid, nice machine.. thanks for sharing
How long does it take to blind you? Im guessing it can do it pretty quick .
20W IR? You can’t blink fast enough
@@briansmithwins Yep....this thing REALLY needs to be in a proper enclosure with interlocks.
Can you try to make some PCBs, it would be interesting for quick prototyping.
What's preventing the laser beam from reflecting off a workpiece and causing an eye injury?
I'm used to things like an Epilog, which has a laser-tight enclosure and interlocks to ensure it's closed before applying power to the beam.
Nothing what so ever, I’m surprised he never brought it up😑
Absolutely nothing.
You are 100% right - in fact, a USA made laser of this class is required to have an enclosure and interlocks.
Unenclosed laser engravers scare the bejeezus out of me. Not only light scattering, but also potentially dangerous fumes depending on what you put in it.
Do you have a pointer to those regulations? There are lots of US companies selling industrial products in this class with similar design. One example: bosslaser.com/boss-fm-station/#laser-power-upgrade
really enjoy this channel so please, please do something to prevent inhaling whatever it is you're vaporising. Eye protection is one thing but lungs are a much more serious matter.
PVC and Teflon have some nasty byproducts when you burn them (Chlorine gas for the first, see Polymer fever for the second- fatal to some pet birds). PETG and PLA seem to be relatively benign, but..
@@spehropefhany Makers Muse did a video about this some time ago. The serious laser engravers / cutters from the big manufacturers come with a sizable fume handling system. Yes PTFE is bad, I think it gives off HF which will eat anything.
Like the review, thanks James
Already on clearance… that’s the problem with this space. But at least they’ve added Lightburn support. Let’s see if we can get an xtool F1 Ultra for James to review.
yes i saw it on their website, is that really a problem? i see they have the g2 pro now or something, maybe they make space?
It seems like a nice unit, although the deal breaker for me is they don't have a mounting bracket for a shark's head.
The laser head has a square socket and is secured to the bracket with one thumbscrew, so it should be pretty easy to rig something up if you need it.
If it's anything like EZcad2 (and it moatly seems so from the few images) the software will accept ai files but very old verions. Try selecting older versions when exporting. Also keep a close eye un the "Mark Selected" or rather Select Mark checkmark at the bottom because if its unchecked it will engrave everything you have on the workspace rather then what you actually have selected.
Good idea. It's very likely that the software isn't broken as much as it is living in the past, so to speak. I've been separating the geometry into the different tool groups and then enabling and disabling them individually to align the workpiece with one set of geometry, and then switch to what I want to engrave.
wonderful video
I bought the new 30w version but came back here to click the link. I hope it worked. 🤞
I feel like we're being baited with those gummy bears and the laser in the same frame. I was going to watch till the end anyway, I swear!
In retrospect, that was a missed opportunity.
I tried engraving a red gummy bear this morning, and sadly it had no effect. Even at 100% power and carefully focused, there was no mark, no smoke, nothing. I had to swap out the target, just to make sure the laser was working.
LightBurn support should really be table stakes for any of these laser cutters/engravers. It makes their products way more desirable, really not sure why these companies always skimp on getting their tools included in the software everybody actually _wants_ to use.
I agree and have provided exactly this feedback.
Second time watching this, I guess YT saw I needed more laser info, anyways according to them Lightburn is now useable. I haven't tested this myself though, still looking for a real fiber like this one, instead of "fiber-like."
I just sold my 30w JPT source galvo. the market is becoming saturated with these units so I needed that value back out of it before I look to upgrade to a 60 MOPA. I will agree though, the lack of light burn usability is a dealbreaker for me now. EZcad2 is an absolute abomination. eventually we will see domestically sourced high watt mopas soon with great software to pair with it for some respectable asking prices.
Marco Reps reviewed a pretty nice 60W Mopa on his channel about a month ago, spendy but a nice looking unit, you may want to check it out, lightburn compatible.
LB support is here ! Beta 1.6 or ask Gweike for 1.7. Official LB release is coming very soon.
Has an AR lower receiver engraved with one of these when I SBR’ed it. Very cool.
The fact that copper is difficult to engrave with an IR laser has less to do with its thermal conductivity than with the high reflection and, conversely, the low absorption of copper at a wavelength of 1064 nm.
The absorption here is only 4%. This means that of the 20 W, only approx. 0.8 W is absorbed by the material and can be used for the actual engraving.
Steel has an absorption of approx. 40%. It is therefore much easier to engrave.
If you change the laser wavelength to green or blue, things look completely different.
As for the GWeike package, I find it incredible what you can get for your money these days.
However, I would invest in better safety goggles.
I can't stress this enough: Actual certified laser safety glasses cost $200.
Much cheaper than a new pair of eyes.
Remember the 4% absorption of copper? Well, in the worst case 96% of the laser power is reflected right back onto your face.
Pretty surprised it doesn't even support EZ Cad
Very interesting. Software is always the problem with these types of machines as well as some inexpensive CNC machines and 3D printers. I’m not sure what the people in these companies are thinking about compatibility, but they should be more concerned, as it holds sales back. I would buy this other than for the software., though I would really like something more powerful, in the order of 60 watts and a larger working area, though they do get expensive. This one is not expensive.
I bought into the kickstarter for this thing. I ordered the g2 with 110x110 work area, manual lift, chuck rotary and roller rotary. This was in August. They assure me that it is due to arrive in the East US warehouse next week. Probably. I should receive it on to two weeks after it arrives in the east US warehouse. Probably. I feel like such a chump. I promised my customers that I would be able to provide samples late November. Maybe some time in January. Maybe. And I missed the detail that it is not supported by Lightburn...
feel bad no longer if you still have the G2 it works with lightburn beta 1.7.
this vs the pecker should be good for the market, although I do wish it were a bit more polished
could it etch circuit boards?
I see Gweike advertises that this laser now works with LightBurn. Have you tried it? If yes, how's it going?
Can it etch prototype pcbs?
@Spirit532 Any suggestions on where to find more information about the matte black paint process?
@@Spirit532 Would that also work with the cheap Diode lasers?
Did I see a giant gummy bear tub there?! That can only mean one thing PRUSA XL content haha
I didn't get a tub with my 5 head, it was a 1 kg bag.
@@goldfingerdash I got a tub of giant gummy bears in my single tool, the packaging inside even had a cutout for the tub!
if you rub-in some squized lemon juice on aluminum and stainless before you laze them you'l get beautifully dark engravement.
RUST REMOVAL... can you see how it goes for removing rust?
when you save your Illustrator work files as .AI and when you click save , illustrator options don't chose illustrator 2021 instead use illustrator 3 and it should read it
Good tip. I assumed it might be something like that.
ive worked with galvo lasers before... I think i would have cleaned the galvo mirror off. ive seen those mirrors get burned. very expensive and a huge pain in the butt to replace.
haha I like the gummy bears cameo 11:37
I wonder what level of eye protection is needed to operate these
Do you happen to know whether it can engrave transparent acrylic?
Does anybody have a recommendation for a similar product but more refined to "just work" if I intend to use this in a business setting where time is money and fiddling around is not acceptable?
Epilog and Trotec.
As a note, today, 10 december 2023, they have it "on sale" with 1000$ off :)
But it seems that "regular" price is 2499 for 110mm and for 150mm, and that seems wrong.
Maybe they should pay attention to details (marketing side) and don't start with a lie..?
"G2 20W Metal & Plastic Fiber Laser Engraver
Sale price$1,599.00 Regular price$2,499.00 Sale
SAVE $1000"
and
"G2 20W Metal & Plastic Fiber Laser Engraver
Sale price$1,999.00 Regular price$2,499.00 Sale
SAVE $1000"
@7:39 pet-g! yay!
C-CAD? C-Light? Is that how you spell it? I can't find it on Google
I could get past the software problem by using Flexisign for the designing, but not being able to burn wood is a big turn off :( shame, I actually looked into these to upgrade my cheap chinesium laser.
It's OK to own more than one for different purposes.
For black alu engravings you need a mopa or uv laser. Just saying.
Have a hitec 60watt mopa m7. Not gotten black marks on aluminum. I thought it was impossible on aluminum.
Could be I'm mistaken. It wouldn't be the first time.
@Clough42 no sweat if you figure it out just feel free to share!!
How will this handle Polymer or ABS
I tried it on black polycarbonate, and it left a similar light gray mark. It does the same on PLA.
Can it etch granite?
The fiber will give you white on anodized aluminum. Back the power off and maybe speed it up some. If you're cutting thru the anodize you're running the power too high.
I took it down to 10% at 4000mm/s, to the point where the marks became pretty faint, and still didn't get the white I expected. I might need to push the frequency up to reduce the energy density. So much to learn, and yet another example of why a comprehensive material library would be useful.
@Clough42 up the frequency to 55, speed 4000 and 100% power, two passes should give you a bright white
Fix the software and I think that's one hell of a machine
Oof no lightburn support.
Can you make a tattoo with it? 😂
...I personally didn't make that mistake twice, but I've heard stories 😂😂😂...
What is a "galvo diode laser"? I assume this would be a regular continuous wave diode laser but shot in to a galvo head? Those actually exist? I've never seen one.
Real fiber lasers are usually powered by a diode laser, boosted via the fiber, that's how it works.
Yes. There's a whole crop of galvo laser markers that use a diode laser source directly in the head (i.e. no fiber gain medium). They're 1064nm, typically around 2W actual output, and they use some technology I don't fully understand to compress the energy into short pulses. It's surprisingly effective, but nowhere near the power of a typical fiber laser. The AtomStack M4 is one example. It was originally marketed as a "fiber laser" but they appear to have backed off of this branding.
@@Clough42 Oh, now I know what you're talking about. I've been trying to get my hands on one of the non-galvo versions of those so I can take it apart and see what they're doing. The small focal point is what I'm most interested in. 0.03mm is the claim but like the 0.08mm CW diode claims that are actually more like 0.125mm, we'll see.
@@_droid yeah, it's pretty amazing what they're getting out of those 455nm diode machines. As far as I know, they're beam-combining 5W laser diodes and then focusing them very tightly. I see 40W optical modules advertised now. The precision required in the optics to combine and focus eight beams must be intense
Where does the metal go?
Straight into your lungs. Which is why laser cutters / engravers need to be enclosed, with proper extraction.