HI. I am currently using SnapMaker Rey. The machine is excellent when comes to the overall quality, but I have a problem. It seems that the 40W advertised power is not what I have. It seems lower. I did test cut (small circle) using the piece of the 3/8" /10mm thick baswood plywood they ship with the machine and I was able to cut the circle at 5mm/s (full power) through. The 10mm/s did not go through. I wonder what is the actual power of the 40W. To me seems lower than the advertised 40W. I did some cuts cutting 5mil polyester laminated cover paper and it barely cuts through at the 10mm/s (40w). Using before CO2 laser using just around 15w to cut through the same laminated paper at 36mm/s I was cutting through with no problem and about half of the time. I wonder If I should return the Snapmaker and go back to the CO2 I can buy for same money with higher power.
What was the color of the paper? If it was white then this may not be a great comparison test. Blue diode lasers will struggle with white paper. You may want to test against a wider variety of materials before making a decision about the laser unless that’s the primary material that you use.
I’m not aware of any inexpensive instruments you could use to directly measure output power.
Russ Sadler has a doHICky for measuring the power of a co2… I’ve never tried to measure any of my ssl, of course the big ones only rated at 5.5w.
This is his video of how generally these work and talks about the doHICky he sells. About 10:50 minutes in he talks about the doHICky.
How well this works is based on how much energy is absorbed from your laser. This could be different from a co2…
Problem solved. My SnapMaker RETURNED.
Initially, I was thrilled with my SnapMaker. It was a problem solver, a tool that I could rely on. However, this perception quickly changed. My SnapMaker, once a reliable companion, became Not So Snap, losing all its power. The first test was promising, but then I noticed the power was gradually diminishing. I could not cut at 40W 1/2 MDF at 17 passes, a task that my friend’s 24W diode laser could accomplish in 11 passes. After cutting for 6 hours, 40W and 10mm/s speed, a stark contrast to the 15W Co2 laser that could cut the same material at 36mm/s. The next day, I attempted to repeat the original Lighburn power test, only to find that the Snapmaker was unable to cut through a 100# sheet of paper.
After testing some materials, I noticed erratic cutting power, such as cutting only the corners of test squares. I am still waiting for an answer from the technical support when I contacted them regarding the low power two-weeks ago. Spending all this money to get a lotto ticket instead of a working machine is scary. I am going back to CO2. Atomstack is sending junk and cleaning its Facebook page for bad reviews. SnapMaker is impressive regarding the overall quality of the finish, but there is no customer support. They are good at their mechanical stuff, but Diode Laser is overhyped junk for me.
I’ve got a 40W co2 and I know I can’t cut through mdf at that speed… that’s great…