Hello All. I am considering buying a multiple diode laser machine. Are there any users of such machines on this forum and can the users say anything about the quality of build and the actual use of such machines. Thank you for any input or thoughts about higher output of stacked diode machinery. Additionally, I have seen that companies such as XTool produce a 2W infra-red module specifically for engraving metals. IS engraving metals with this type of module a practical proposition?
I have an Atomstack S20 pro and love it…so far. As long as the life of the diodes holds up I’m a happy camper.
I have been using multiple 60-80;watt co2 lasers for 12 years now so I have thousands of hours on them for my business. I can easily compare the two systems.
Now a few years ago I had tried a couple 10 watt output diode lasers and was not a fan. While they worked fine they were slow and the output was just not enough for my use. But I liked the fact that they were light and portable as I engrave on large
processed wood slabs so it was easy to set on top verses trying to slide one through the pass through on a 80 watt machine.
Now with the stacked diodes I get really good results for engraving out of the S20 that I might go up to the 30 watt output machine. This will depend on how the 20 watt machines diodes hold up this year.
The build quality on mine was excellent all things considered…stock homing switches…nice sturdy gantry…decent color lcd display and a nice
included air assist pump. Way better than just a few years ago.
Big plus is no mirrors to go out of alignment ever. Plus the output is much more stable than a sealed co2 laser. While not usually an issue as the power output fluctuates maybe 5% on a sealed system it does get to be an issue on lower power settings on a co2 laser as you get down around 15% power or so. While the diode laser does not generally suffer this issue. This generally becomes a visual issue for me on low power engravings like say the white tile method. I have done many many many hours of testing and output on white tiles using a co2 laser and to me the diode just does a better job due to a stable output at lower power settings.
Haven’t had any issues using it with lightburn and it easily installed the laser profile.
So overall very happy as long as the life of the diodes holds out since a replacement head is about 75% the price of the whole machine.
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This is a very informative answer, Scott. Thank you very much for outlining your use case. It is difficult to assess any of these machines from afar and I have not found any place in the UK that has the machines available for a visual inspection. Air assist is going to be useful. I have only had about 3 years experience with a single diode laser of 4.2W and that did not use air assist.
I have been able to engrave glass, ceramic tiles, slate, hard woods, soft woods and anodised aluminium. The size of the Atomstack unit looks very useful for my small shed space. I would hope that the stacked diode head lasts well. I also noted a module for (xTools D1?) that was only 2W but used infrared and appeared to be capable of engraving many metals. I guess that Atomstack may follow this trend too.
I am obliged to you for your very helpful post.
The near infra red lasers are good for metal marking and cutting. Industrial lasers use YAG lasers that run at 1064 nm which works great and doesn’t need a tone of power to mark. So I imagine an ir diode would be near that wavelength.
Yes, this one from Atomstack looks like it will do a good job. It is utilising 1064 nm and is a great addition to hobbyist laser capabilities.
Never saw that module but…cool