So I am thinking about picking up a K-40 class laser for my Christmas gift to myself. I have a budget that will just cover that.
And now that these things are available with a controller that works with Lightburn it seams like a good time to get a laser.
This would be my first laser.
I am considering either the OMTech or the Monoport as the are the two that I know that are upgraded to work with Lightburn.
Both come with Air Assist heads and both have the pointer laser.
The Monoport is about $50 cheeper than the OMTech but the OMTech has a removable base, that I believe is to work with a rotary unit. Not something I plan n getting or using but, I am just starting out in this journey so who knows where I will end up.
I have looked at a lot of the sites talking about K-40s and the limitations as well as how to upgrade in the future. But it has been a year or so.
I am a model builder as a hobby (small structure and such mostly for model railroading) So cutting thin stock is more important than etching to me. And most of what I want to cut will fit on a K-40 but…
My other hobby is woodworking and I do CAD work for a living.
So my questions are.
Any preference for one brand over the other?
Is anyone else selling an upgraded K-40?
Any new 2023 sites with updates for the K-40 I should check out?
Anything in a similar price range ($600-650) I should consider vs the K-40?
I just want to make sure I don’t have any avoidable regrets before I jump in.
I was at where you are now about two years ago. I too was looking at a K-40 (OMTECH) and I realized that I would very quickly outgrow the bed size of that machine. I ended up buying an OMTECH MF1220-50 watt (and loved it), but I outgrew it a year and a half later. I now have an OMTECH ZF2028-60 watt and couldn’t be happier. It was just going to be a hobby until it turned into a small business (which paid for both machines in a little over a year. Get the biggest machine you “can’t” afford. You won’t regret it. BTW, I’ve been very happy with OMTECH’s quality and customer service (I bought both machines from their eBay store).
Just one consideration… I believe the OMTech also has an adjustable focus laser head… if so, this is a great thing. Not sure if the Monport does. The Cloudray adjustable laser head was one of the MANY upgrades I did on my no-name K40 that I bought off Craigslist a couple years ago. (Also added a Lightburn compatible motherboard).
I too, outgrew the K40 bed and moved to a 60W Monport that I have now.
The K40 is a great learning machine… you will enjoy it, but you will find the size limitation quickly as you want to do larger and larger projects.
… almost the same way here, only with the difference that I have also had a diode laser first. I spent far too much money on upgrading my K40, but I loved the machine and the experience I got.
Yes a larger cutting bed would be nice. But you jump from $650 to $1400 or more. That is simply beyond me. It is now and will be next year or anytime foreseeable time.
This is not the be all and end all hobby for me. This is a tool to be used n other hobbies.
So it is get something for less then $700 or get nothing at all. There is mo third option.
And whatever get (if anything) needs to be able to cut thick enough stock to build scale model buildings.
And yes the LEDs look nice but to get ne powerfull enough you are once again well beyond my price point.
What materials are you needing to cut? I started with a 5W or so LED (Sculpfun S6) a couple years ago and was able to cut 3mm plywood, tho it needed about 5 passes. Added an air assist and got it down to 4 passes. I now have an Atezr P20 (26W, with extensions so about 400 x 800 mm / 16" x 32"). It does 3mm in one pass no problem. That one is a bit out of your budget, tho the P10 (12W, about 400 x 400mm / 16" x 16") is $609 right now and includes air assist and roller. There are others with similar power for around the same or less.
Downsides with a LED - no enclosure / ventilation, materials somewhat limited (for example, only dark acrylics, and even those I’ve had trouble), slower, lower power.
Upsides - larger area, cheaper, a bit less complex (no dealing with mirror alignment or external cooling)
Just a little food for thought. If the K40 meets your expected needs, go for it! I hem and hawed between the K40 and an LED at first and went for the LED because at the time the K40 were all pretty sketchy requiring weird hacked software and seemed too small. Still glad I went with LED since the size would have been too constricting for me. Tho the current K40s would make the decision harder.
This, in itself, is worth the cost of a K40. Any cnc usage will make you learn more about how it works and the how to get the best results for what you have.
The footprint of the K40 needs to increased large enough to handle a bucket of coolant or chiller.
Most dpssl do not have any kind of ventilation, but both types need to be vented out of the workplace.
I mostly will cut thinner plywood or other this stock, but the ability to cut thicker stock would be useful.
Cutting acrylic or etching it would also be useful.
I have experience on an industrial scale with creating files for CNC router systems for cutting ACM panels amongst other things.
I have a ventilation system located adjacent to where the laser would go that I can tap into created a gated system that will vent whatever I need at the time. But obviously only one device at a time.
This is a high volume theoretical explosion resistant system that vents directly out of the house.
I am away of needing a chilling system. I have room for that below the unit. By pure coincidence I also have a sink near this location to drain the system if needed.
And I would LOVE a bigger cutting area but that comes with a high cost. And frankly most things I need/want to cut will fit on the K-40s work area.
As for LED systems I would need some sort of enclosure as where I want to use this unit would require that for A) ventilation and B) fire safety. So that would increase the costs as well.
It reminds me of when we were going to buy our first home. We told the realtor we could only afford a condo, until she reminded us about all the monthly fees associated with owning a condo. She said, for the same money you can pay the mortgage on a house. I spent a significant amount of money making my diode laser safe to use, it pushed it up into CO2 territory. Getting a moderately sized CO2 machine allowed me to actually make some money with it (and paid itself off). I’ll shut up now and leave you be, good luck with whatever choice you make.
I have considered an LED machine. but for the available price point i have of about $700 i can only get a 10w or a few companies 20w. And i am not sure they will do what i want/need.
I mostly expect to cut not engrave.
Mostly thinner stock 3mm ply would probably be standard as it is often used to make wall of scale buildings. But thicker 1/4” (6mm) would occasionally be useful.
In an ideal world 3/4 cuts and bigger surface areas would be great but that is way way outside my price range,
And while the idea of “making money” with the laser to help pay for it sounds great. I have no idea where to begin with that. And in my case what i would personally be doing is not what i would expect to be financially viable. I am looking at basically making model buildings. That is mostly a cutting skill set not an engraving skill set. So i would need to learn a while new set if skills to try and start a business that i know nothing about.
And while i would love to have a side hustle that brought in a bit if money i wonder how many folks ever actually make money with a laser? You hear about it but how much call is there and how much profit? It is like the folks on wood working forums that talk about doing woodworking as a side hustle. How many if them ever make money? vs would be better off working part time flipping burgers.
I totally hear you Doug. For background, I was medically retired from my job at Cape Canaveral (30 years), and I was going stir crazy. So, I bought an Ortur LM2 Pro to play with. My wife got to talking with her tennis partner (a realtor), who needed someone to make housewarming gifts for her clients. In the last two years I’ve made nearly 100 custom cutting boards (at a C note a pop). It was a random conversation that turned my hobby into something else. The lady I sold my first CO2 laser to quit all her jobs and did the same thing. I never thought this is where I’d end up, and I wasn’t actively seeking it, it just sort of happened. You never know where things might go. Future proof yourself if you can. Just my .2 cents worth.
The challenge like with anything is finding clients.
I have built furniture for pay over the years but… most folks seam to think it should be as cheep to get a custom solid wood piece as a pressboard junk from a big box store.
I do Architectural /Design cad work for a living as a consultant. Finding clients is of course the hard part.
I would LOVE to be able yo do something like wood working or laser cutting as a living but…
So at this point it is not a good idea to assume that a better laser will “pay for itself”
In an ideal world I would buy a nice fancy powerfull laser with lots of bells and whistles
For example the new laser by a tool the S1 looks great. Pretty powerful (for an LED) a nice enclosure, rotary tool and the conveyor belt thing…
But at $3000 it is way way beyond my price range.
But I am sure if you had enough clients it would be worth the cost.
That being said. I have been doing some investigating and it looks like a “20w” led laser may do most of what I want, I was not aware that the 20w units were able to cut as think as I expected.
So it MAY be possible to get one of those. For instance the Longer Ray 20w with the extension to the cutting bed would perhaps do what I want and have plenty of room. I would need to build an enclosure but that is not that hard to do.
Ever heard of the Internet… That’s where many seem to be cashing in…
I saw a You tube on this and the link to ebay was for $5k artwork they cut out with a laser… It wasn’t just one, it was a long list of $2k and up artwork…
There are a million videos on this, so someone is making money with them.
Yeah, but there are a lot of folks posting on Youtube about how they make tons of money doing all sorts of things. It is easy to claim to be making money on Youtube,
And you can list something on Ebay… getting it to sell for the price asked is a different thing.
So yes you COULD in theory make money wuth a laser, but how many actually do?. And using the assumption you can make money to justify spending more money on a tool then you can aford is a fast way to go bankrupt.
I did wood working in the past for money but i never made enough to pay off my wood shop full of tools.
Obviously some folks do but… That is a far cry from being able to assume that just because you have a shop you will find clients enough to pay for itself.
yes it takes work, but in the past 10 years or so there are a lot of folks that seam to try and convince others that they can start making money at whatever. Usually these folks have a web site or are trying to attract views or whatever.
I know a number of folks in various professions such as wood working cabinet making etc and yes you can make money at them. But just buying a laser and deciding you will turn it into a buisness is no garrentee of anything.
You have to have a product folks want an access to clients. And I will bet you like many “home businesses” such as the the various candle or other “party” businesses going back to Avon in the 50s or 60s. that most that attempt to make money with a laser cutter or a 3d printer or what ever never actually make money.
