I was able to purchase a Roly Lasermatic MK2 10/30 today before they sold out again. Four to seven day wait now and it’s killing me. My first was a sculpfun s9, 5.5 watt, then a subsequent upgrade to the 10 watt module, then an Ikier 24/48 watt. Sculpfun is a very decent entry level machine for sure. Any faults in operation were mine, both software and in putting it together. (Belts,etc.) It was slow but the beam size was amazing. Upgrading to the big boy 48 watt Ikier has been nothing but a nightmare. From mystery screws falling out, to autofocusing working randomly, from now laser module housing screws dropping out, it’s been bad. I highly doubt their support wil help 7+ messages in…so here’s hoping that Roly delivers. If not, it must be fate and lasers are not for me lol. I so hope that is not the case, but I’m broke. No ones for me anymore.
These machines are just a bunch of motors and a laser .
step step laser on laser off .
Its that simple …BUT we make it hard when we expect that things will just work like we want them to. When they are doing exactly what we told them to do . Its like the machine understands the code we send to it but we might not understand the code we send .
Keep in mind that they are dumb and simple machines . Its also why a grbl controller that is well known is your best bet to gain knowledge of how simple they are.
Dont give up. controllers are cheap and it can be a fun hobby .
True…very true. But, and maybe I’m wrong, I expect a higher end “hobby” laser to work out of the box when that is what I paid for. I know, now after my first, how to tighten belts, eccentric nuts, etc. This machine, I did NOT put together, it was pre-assembled…badly. I have no idea how to access either side of the Y axis. None.
I dispute theirstrong text**ute their claims of power, their claims of work space size, their ability to have a functional auto focus ability, and most of all, their quality control and customer support. Atomstack/Ikier is a joke. It is very obvious all my responses are handled by different people each time…and I am just repeating the issues over and over. Yes…lasers are simple, so is binary and machine language. However, when I buy the latest Windows or Apple software, I do expect more functionality than a 1980 TI calculator, running on those same principals.
The Y rails are pretty simple but awkward to service since most everything is accessed from the work area side of the extrusions. It’s just a car/pillow block riding on a rod. The rod is held to the extrusion by a block on either end. Two screws thru the extrusion into each block, and 1 or 2 grub screws each that lock down the rod ends. No endstops for the rods. Grub screws only. The hard stops for the Y travel are the mounting blocks. I want to say the limit switches also mount to those same blocks. No adjustment is available in the cars (they’re just sleeve bearings pressed into aluminum housings) but the rod mounting blocks can be shifted slightly if the gantry rubs. One could also use shims between the Y cars and the gantry.
The focus thing still has me baffled. Somebody on LA Hobby Guy forums with focus issues reported some success by changing from imperial to metric, but I don’t understand why. The focus code is entirely self-contained in the firmware and I’ve not found a way to edit it. (But I’m not real comfortable decompiling, editing, and recompiling firmware code, so I haven’t dug real deep)
I must say, tho, that after completely disassembling the machine and reassembling with thought and care, it has been nearly flawless. It still has a slight harmonic buzz/rattle at a certain speed and location that I haven’t been able to isolate, but other than noise seems to have no adverse affects. I really like how rigid the frame is. It’s noisy because it’s all metal-on-metal bearings, but it’s pretty solid at quite high accelerations. I’m seriously considering keeping an eye on eBay for a parts donor machine to retrofit my 5W head into.
I don’t have extrusions…these are solid pieces with belts, etc. running through them. I am probably misunderstanding what you are saying, and while I can disassemble the x and y, I do not see a way to access the interior of the Y. In other words, I have no idea how I would ever replace the belt if needed, and indeed it IS a belt. Metric or Imperial has no difference in how the control panel would handle focus…ehh. doesn’t add up.
Dude, it’s a bad overly priced machine. QC never existed and QS is damn close to the same. It’s crap. I didn’t but ,at the time, the highest priced Hobby to Small Business machine to beta test this for them. It’s sh*t. Period.
As far as taking it apart…to fix their mistakes. Nope. I didn’t but a start up company’s 1st try. I bought an Atomstack that bought Ikier. And they failed. Hard fail.
Sorry apparently all my Y’s come out as T’s lol
The Y…let’s call them “housings” are extruded. They’re just just not the typical 2020 v-slot extrusions everybody is familiar with. Regardless of name, tho, your machine is built exactly like mine. If you ever decide to really tear into it, it will be obvious how to do it.
Remove gantry cover, remove gantry, loosen y axis shaft coupler, remove y axis housings.
Mine is an earlier model that shipped in pieces and had to be assembled. I can probably dig up the old assembly instructions if you’re curious.
Regarding the rest … I’m not going to defend Ikier/Atomstack/Atezr. I 100% agree with you that the QC is non-existent and the customer service is a joke. I’ve done the same dance you have. Technical and carefully worded mails with diagrams that got canned responses (“read the owners manual”, basically). Thanks, I have the manual and I’ve read it. It sucks. How does that apply to a change log for firmware releases or connector pinouts or inoperable focus (yes I had that too)…
I don’t have the budget to get a replacement and I’m comfortable working on machines, so I just fixed it. Fortunately, mine doesn’t (yet?) have the focus bugs others are reporting or I may well have returned it and disputed the charges since I can’t fix broken code or diagnose PCBs.
I feel for you. I really do. And, I sincerely hope (and honestly believe) that Roly will treat you right. I’ve heard nothing but good things.
I was a Field Service Engineer for urethane processing equipment. I QC’d a machine before it shipped, making sure everything was there and all the bolts were tight. I would do the startup, so I tried to make sure it was good. Delivered, parts were loose and some falling off.
Moral: Shipping is not kind to mechanical equipment. For this reason, check EVEYTHING pre-assembled. The set screws on the Xaxis drive of my S30 were loose.
I actually would be curious as to the assembly instructions. Mine did not come with any except how to attach x gantry and module. I did not take everything apart down to me basically having to assemble from scratch again but I really am stumped how to access, even the belts. I would imagine doing so would void their non-existent warranty. And I’ve only dealt with a machine where I installed everything, from X and Y rails to the belts. Sometimes I feel that may be better, even if it is more time consuming.
They are now fixated on sending me screws to attach my control board, ignoring the z axis issues altogether, and it’s quite obvious I am dealing with a new person each e-mail transaction. They have asked me twice for my order number and address and want me to download an app to send a video of the issue as my email won’t allow large files. Bahh. I told them to keep their screws. It might be a language issue…might them hoping people get so frustrated that, like me, they simply drop it. On a side note, I did order replacement lenses a while back, their confrimation e-mail has a bad tracking number. So I guess one more time into the flames with them.
This is a link to the old support site.
I swear they used to have a PDF of the assembly manual, but now it’s just a video. I know the link looks suspicious but I have detected nothing hinky over the last 6 months from using it.
https://h5.clewm.net/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fqr71.cn%2FoIsRvn%2FqG2AaOL
This a scan of the paper booklet I have. I apologize for the quality, my good scanner is dead and I haven’t replaced it yet.
Ikier K1 Assembly Manual.pdf.txt (678.8 KB)
(download, then remove the “.txt” before trying to open.)
Thanks. Appreciate it.
Not opening correctly even when removing .txt. But the on line manual looks very similar if not exact. Not sure all the screws are the same, but I will check tomorrow.
Thank you so much for this. I really appreciate it. I am still waiting for their final…offer?.. to fix this. Today they offered me replacement lenses? Besides the fact I had already ordered some with a bad tracking number, I have no idea what lenses have to do with the z axis issues and screws just falling out. Once I am sure they are not really gonna do anything, and my Roly gets here, I will do a full break down and see where these mystery screws go, if anywhere. Although, I did find one and immedietely dropped it that came from the module itself. Now its gone. No response yet as to how that should occur. This should really help me. Again, thanks. Here’s a pic of the module where the screw fell out and was just sitting on the work piece.
Seems like you got a “Monday” machine. Do Chinese laborers get weekends?
I recall checking those screws for torque and they were OK on mine, but these machines are all delicate snowflakes. No two alike.
If you end up needing better copies of that manual, let me know. I can post of some better scans. Those last pics are derezzed and compressed to an inch of their lives. The PDF actually doesn’t look too bad, but I’m not sure why you can’t open it.
Apparently they do. Or at least Customer Reps do anyway. Last Friday I responded to their e-mail and got an automated response saying that ‘due to the weekend, they were unable to respond until Monday’.
I realize at this point I’m beating a dead and mutilated horse so to speak, but avoid the newer Atomstack and Ikiers guys. (Most likely Aetzer is also the same company, at least the same hardware.)
This AM, recieved an e-mail sayimg they were sending replacement screws and a z axis, although I wasn’t sure what this meant as the actual z axis mount has no bearing as to my issues. Just now I checked e-mail…and they said since I had ordered replacement lenses, they were not shipping anything, as this should fix my problem. Needless to say my next message was not exactly nice…altnough still PG rated. It was hard to keep that rating.
Been there myself. I have self censored a few emails to them. I could accept a “lost in translation” issue if they at least showed an attempt to understand (follow-up questions to clarify, for example), but mostly seem to get irrelevant or canned responses. It’s infuriating.
Pretty sure all 10+ now emails have all been from different people. That or either they can’t, or just don’t care to, access my previous messages. Or it’s intentional as company policy. Oh well. Live and learn. Slightly bummed the Roly will not get here until Sat now instead of tomorrow, but really looking forward to it.
If there is anything not right with this, well that’s a sign to give it up altogether 
. Again, thanks for the diagrams and I’ll be breaking the Pro Max down soon. Maybe I can fix it like it was supposed to be new.
They offered to send me a shipping label to send the laser back and once they receive it, they will send me a new model. I am not sure if I have all of the foam inserts and such anymore for packaging to send back to China. They have also, through their messages, confirmed that Support is indeed a 3rd party not directly affiliated with Atomstack or Ikier. I don’t trust them. I think I will hang it on the wall with a “only use in case of emergency” sign.