Beam Buddy is now selling replacement lenses for your CO2 laser. We are offering USA CVD ZnSe AR coated lenses fro ii-vi infrared, a world leader in lenses.
You can get yours at https://shop.beambuddy.xyz
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They are now on sale 
when will these be ready for the boss laser machine? How long after ordering will it take to get?
What diameter lens does a Boss laser use? We have 20mm diameter lenses in stock, and they ship within a day or two.
Sorry about that I thought this was the better focus lens. I am interested in the high resolution laser head for my boss HP-3655 laser and the time frame if I pre order one?
What makes the lens/tube special? āHigher resolutionā doesnāt mean much to me without something more concrete to back it up. I canāt find anything beyond that on the site.
Not being snarky. I just donāt see value in the product without additional detail.
This reminds me of this saying which helped me tremendously in a former life
The best way to sell the problem it solves is to have a side by side comparison of the item presented for purchase vs āthe othersā showing a āhigher resolution and a lower resolution.
My 2 cents
Sasquatch
We are expecting to ship the Boss version in 4 -6 weeks, but as with everything else due to covid-19, shipping is just a guesstimate.
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A quick google provided me with more info on said āHigher resolutionā laser head.
November of last year: https://lasergods.com/beam-buddy/
Here is their FaceBook page: Redirecting...
And to quote information from their site: https://shop.beambuddy.xyz/
āThe Beam Buddy high resolution laser head is a replacement head for your laser. It allows you to engrave at a much higher quality than the stock laser head that came with your laser. Its design makes the laser beam more focused into a smaller focal spot than the standard laser head, which makes the engraving result more detailed. It is suitable for engraving high precision photos and also a good performance on 3D engraving. ā¦ Both versions of the high resolution laser head are capable of producing a dot size that allows for engraving at a true 800dpi. Adjustable air assist capability is built right into the head. The higher resolution creates a significant increase in detail on photographs. Your creations will be incredibly life like and produce very accurate reproductions of your photos. The head itself has a blue anodized finish that looks very sharp. (We love to bling things out!)ā
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The information available does not āshow the output of this upgrade up close.
Anything can look great from far away even billboards.
I too have run into the same frustration as @rojhan
Yeahā¦ it still doesnāt tell me āhowā I found those same links when I searched.
āHereās a tube and a lens. Itās higher resolution. trust us.ā
Howās it constructed? Cutaway view? Machining tolerance? Compound lens? ā¦
āIts design makes the laser beam more focused into a smaller focal spot than the standard laser headā means there is some form of optical design change. If there is an optical design change, what are the knock-on effects?
I donāt have any trouble (other than āCFOā, AKA wife :)) spending money on something that will make my life easier. But ~2-3x the price for āitās higher resolutionā doesnāt help me make the buying decision.
Understood. I provided what I found in my quick look. I see you found similar information.
I did not search for examples. I believe these are compound optics but I have not played with these myself. @Grumpy_Old_Man
Iād prefer they call it a compound lens system, which is what it is. To me saying itās āhigh resolutionā reminds me of the days when everyone advertised everything as āhigh definitionā without defining what that meant.
To their credit, they do say what it actually does. āIts design makes the laser beam more focused into a smaller focal spot than the standard laser headā¦ā Somewhere else I even read where they say that on anodized aluminum they are able to get a spot size of .03mm. So, thatās something concrete. Thatās what it is designed to do.
I havenāt had a chance to try the BeamBuddy but I do have the compound lens system thatās sold by Cloudray and designed by Russ. I can say that the system I bought does indeed do what I expected it to do. It allows me to get a much smaller dot than I could with a standard, single lens. My understanding is that their design is different from the one I have in that the two lenses are not in contact with each other. This has some supposed advantages. Theyāve been tight lipped about what the specs are of the lenses they are using. They havenāt said what focal length, type, coating, distance from each other, etc. And I get why they donāt. It took them time to figure it out and manufacture a product. Good for them!
I know the specs on the compound setup I have with regard to the lenses. Does it matter? Not really. It does make it easy for me to replace a lens if I need to however and I can get it from wherever I please. If you need to replace a lens on a Beam Buddy I suspect youāll have to get it from them. Again, not a big deal if they arenāt price gouging for the lenses.
Two things Iād really like to see that Iāve yet to see. First, a comparison of the BeamBuddy to the compound lens system from Cloudray. If I thought the BeamBuddy could give me a smaller spot than the cloudray version then Iād buy it. Or if it could give me the same spot but had some other quality that I felt made it better. But Iāve yet to see an objective comparison between the two. If theyād like to send me one for testing Iād be happy to post some actual test results and comparisons. Better yet, send one to Russ and have him do a comparison.
The other thing Iād like to see is some reality talk. Iām afraid that most users will buy this thinking it will immediately make their engravings better which I donāt believe is the case. Why? Most people arenāt getting the best they can from their existing lens as it is. I see so many posts from people with 2" lenses trying to engrave photos at 300-600 dpi and wondering why they canāt get their engravings to look as good as others they see. Or they try to use greyscale instead of dithering. They clearly donāt understand the process. And for someone who has a vague understanding, they see the .03 dot claim and think, great! Then they go engrave on wood and again are frustrated.
I believe the BeamBuddy or any other compund lens is a tool. If people donāt know how to properly use it, theyāre going to blame the tool. Thatās a shame. Iām sure itās a great tool but Iām also afraid a great many people wonāt think so because they donāt know how to use it. They also probably donāt understand the limitations of the material theyāre working with or other factors that can affect engraving quality.
The person for whom this is a useful tool doesnāt need the marketing language. Do some tests, different substrates, and show the results of dot tests from the BeamBuddy compared to a 1.5". Show me how, on different substrates, using only dots, it compares to a commonly available 1.5" lens. That would be all Iād need to sell me on this product. The marketing language is for the guys who donāt understand it in the first place and probably wonāt get any better results than what theyāve been getting.
@rojhan I can attest to the fact that compound lenses are not snake oil. They very much work. I can go dig up Russ videos and link them here if youād like to give you an understanding of the principles of how they work. I donāt claim to understand all the optical science but I canāt argue with results.
But Iāll also say, switching to a compound lens should be the last step in your quest for good engravings. Everything else has to be there first. Youāve got to understand why dot size even matters, how to measure it, and how to turn those measurements into settings that matter.
The depth of focus on my compound lens is extremely shallow. For me a change in focus height of just .3mm can make a difference. This means your material must be extremely flat and parallel to the plane of the laser.
I would buy one as well.
A video showing it in action then a closeup of the finished engraving would help me āseeā why I should invest in the product.
I second that the compound lenses work and are not snake oil. What I want to see is a side by side comparison with the CloudRay compound lens so that It justifies the higher investment of almost $200.
$66 vs $260
