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Any advice on a new router please?
We are going to purchase a new engraving machine.
On Tuesday we are going to look at a machine called ‘Quest’ made at MasterGrave.
Looking to spend around £10,000 and we want to make a choice we will not regret.
Any advice or reccomendations would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Nick
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7 Replies
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I have always used and will always use Gravograph equipment.
Never been let down and can do most repairs myself on them.
You can engrave from true type fonts and it is possible to do 3d engraving as well, though I haven’t attempted that yet.
This is just pesonal choice as I have used Gravograph computerised engraving machines for 28 years.
Dave
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Why dont you drop Fred , the owner of quest engravers a line. We met him at the ARA Expo in Las Vegas, he is a very reputable man and produces his machines, by listening to the requirements of his end users.
A truly practical engineer, with his feet firmly on the ground.
He will answer any questions and be only too happy to aleviate any concerns.And the machines are very robust.
regards
Peter -
Ex Demo machine sale just been emailed to me. Might be worth a look
http://www.addemar.be/files/cust_311/fi … 006_05.pdf
Dave
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You really need to have a look at your requirements if you are spending that type of money.
What are you engraving?
Do you need routing?
What about a laser?
What is wrong with your old machine?
do you need 3 axis interoplation?
What spindle will be best? and so forth.
I have 3 Isels , a small Roland , a very large Tekcel , pantographs and 6 laser engravers , all do different things.
As an aside Have a look at the machines coming out of china , perhaps not that sophisticated but like 1/5th or less of the cost of the "traditional" machines and they do the job quite well. To give an example a 80w laser with a 1200x 600mm bed size is around $4000 from china vs at least $35k from a traditional supplier. Even if the machine only lasts a year , it is a bargain.try http://www.alibaba.com and search for engravers.
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Rodney… i remember u talking about the far east lasers… did u ever import one as I see you mentioned u have 6 lasers engravers.
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No , but I did a lot of investigation and am still considering one.
Basically these are rather primitive lasers compared to machines costing 10x more , I looked at the software and users manuals (bad translations – but hats common for machines from china)
The mechanics seem ok , rails and bearing I know and there were some surprisingly well made parts , the laser source would be somewhat suspect , but they are $125 to replace and are rated for 3000 hours , about 4 months, I think they decrease in power over time. I was a little bothered by the fact that I think the lasers alignment would be a worry , a fiddley but achievable process and I dont think the beam quality would be great. Stepper motors not servos etc.Software was messy and klugy , but thats not that relevant , one can design in other programs and just use it to drive the laser. Lots of bells and whistles and "make life easy" things missing. It comes supplied with everything tho , pumps for water circ , exhaust blowers and so forth.
Basically , if I bought one , I might throw away $6K inc shipping.
IF the thing works 1/2 as well as my existing ones at 1/2 the speed , it would be worth it and if you really think about it , the machine has to be considered a disposable. If it could be serviceable for a year , well I could easily afford to dump it.
I did the sums , Apart from value added products (like cutting acrylic for our acrtylic fab section) where laser time cant be measured in $X per min and profits are much higher , I would average about 25 GBP an hour with it and would prolly average 150 a day , 700+ per week , or about 2500 a month , over twelve months thats 30k — for a 4.5 K GBP investment. Apart from that the bed size is useful , my top size is 1m x 500 , this is 1200 x 600 so can do a little larger jobs.
At the worst , it will cost me the machine to find out about it first hand???
Dunno , I have a few other issues right now that need sorting out as Im trying to get my Co to run well without me being there constantly so thats kinda taking a lot of my time and effort. The new laser is something I would personally have to be involved in wiith setup , testing , programmingetc – I don’t feel like it right now:)
What has bothered me is communication with the co that makes em , very rittle engrish spoken and tardy replies to mails etc. -
Nick,
Please tell us the choice of machine you made…and the reasoning behind your decision…
regards
Peter 🙂
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