Could simeone give me suggestions on a good laser to buy that will engrave slate and cut wood? Did have an Ortur but it kept shutting off and it couldnt engrave slate. I need it compatible with lightburn…and easy to use
If you aren’t happy with your Ortur, before you buy another LED Diode Laser, you should figure out whats happening with your Ortur first.
Until you hit the $9k level or so, you’ll need to do your own troubleshooting.
NEJE is OK but they have the same issues.
AtomStack, you’ll find that your experience varies, however they have the same issues.
Pretty much any unit will be close if not the same as your Ortur.
If you have a $ range that might help folks narrow it down for you.
I’ve been happy with a Nova 24, 60 watt CO2 laser sold by Thunder Laser USA. They have excellent support through their FB group or their tech support portal/email. The lasers are made in China, but sold and supported by the USA distributer. Their pricing includes all the basic equipment needed (air assist, refrigerated chiller, exhaust blower, customs, taxes, and delivery to your curb. The Nova 24 is around $7k now or a little less, I think.
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Was thinking around $2500, too cheap? With the more expensive ones are they “easier” to use?
Going to be real honest. I haven’t used those systems, but they’re designed for ease of use. That’s why they cost so much. The FSL Muse Core is near that range, but then there are other issues. Some people upgrade those as well.
But then you can’t use LightBurn.
When you ask directly, I can recommend a (my) OMT 60Watt CO2 laser, it can do what you are looking for and is moderate in price, approx. $ 3000.
This type of machine is used a lot and many here in the forum have good experiences with it, including myself and Willy 
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Thank you guys, your information is well appreciated. I am going to look into that laser
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I would NOT recommend this lase if your Ortur is giving you problems.
Is it more capable? YES
Ease of use? You REALLY have to tinker with it. I mean, it’s not something you unwrap and stick in your corner office and expect things to turn out OK.
BOSS lasers can be found in that range and they have an excellent build quality and don’t need 90% of the “tinkering”.
It will require a lot more setup.
If you want ease of use, portability etc you can get a fairly reasonable LED with double the power, very easy setup and maintenance and you can buy enclosures etc for.
Post yours needs please.
Power? You have about 5 watts at max now.
Ease of use?
Easy Setup?
Cheap Setup?
Easy to maintain?
What are you making with it? Do you need a lot of tiles at once or a few are fine.
Ease of use is the biggest hurdle. I feel sometimes you need to be an engineer to set these up.
I would do one tile at a time as they are 12"x13" or 17"x7"
Would like it to also cut ( engrave) thin wood 1\8-1/4
You should look into desktop models, 90% chance you won’t be able to use LightBurn.
Honestly, find someone to help you get your Ortur going, save yourself more money and time and setup. Lots of things available for that laser. You wouldn’t be able to cut out 1/4" wood, but you can engrave it no problem.
All of the other stuff in your range is going to be used (it’s own problem) and require lots of setup.
Just my own thought on it.
I just got a Gweike Cloud. I think it’s the best deal right now. I am having issues getting the camera to calibrate with Lightburn so I really can’t say how good it is yet. But I can say I have received amazing support over the past month. I ordered it a few days before their New Year celebrations and it got lost in shipping logistics. At that same time, they released an improved model. I ordered the previous model and they really could have stuck me with that. My sales rep seems to be available 24/7. She once apologized for the delay in returning my message because she was sleeping! I think I am one of the first to get the new model and suspect the issue with lightburn has something to do with a change. Still, I don’t mind being an early adopter. The new model has a major change. The original came with an air filter and air assist ib a separate “box”. This increased the footprint by about 12". The new model has everything built in to the laser.
I want to update my recommendation. The GWEIKE still seems like a good deal. BUT, the company does things I’ve never seen a tech manufacturer do. They make changes to the machine whenever they have a reason. Actual physical changes. I got a model that had just been released and it seems like they released it before the design was finished. Problem is, my version does not match the documentation or help videos. Their support reps try to help, but frequently point to videos that don’t match my controls. It’s great that they will elevate the problem to “engineers” (who I suspect are just more technical reps) reps, ) but through translation software, I ended up arguing over a switch that was not in my model. Very frustrating! I imagine it is frustrating for the reps to be supporting multiple versions of the same machine. I would hope that after a few months this would settle down.
In the mean time, Im going to replace the camera and air assist myself rather then spending any more time speaking with support. I don’t know if there is anything else at this price point that is better. It is a sturdy, well built machine. Though, it does leak a lot of smoke into the room.