Behold the New Tested Workshop Laser Cutter!

12 thoughts on “Behold the New Tested Workshop Laser Cutter!”

1. I don’t have any hands-on experience with laser cutters, but the lack of scorches is something I noticed immediately in the time lapse. Nice stuff.

   How much does that all go for roughly? Cutter and filtration system in all?

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2. I bought a 40W VLS6.60 from Universal about 6 years ago and with the BOFA fume extractor it was right at $25k. Last time I looked, prices hadn’t changed all that much.

   Also, just for reference, the size of the table didn’t make all that much difference in price. The smaller (11X18-ish) desktop models were still $18-20k, and I think that was sans fume extractor.

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3. NEVER EVER process wood in an enclosed space, where you exhaust the fumes back into the room, even with a filtration system.

   Even though a good filtration system with a prefilter, HEPA filter, & activated carbon will capture the smoke, particulates, and larger molecules, it will not capture carbon monoxide, and may or may not capture formaldehyde. (It will only capture formaldehyde if the activated carbon is treated with Potassium Iodide or Potassium Permanganate). In confined spaces these fumes can build up to unhealthy levels. If you have any questions, please PM me.

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4. Thanks for looking out for us! The filtration system is designed for optimal extraction and filtration with laser cutting and indeed uses a carbon/Potassium Permanganate mix. We also have multiple CO detectors, a fire extinguisher and direct outside ventilation in the room.

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5. Is there a way to actually check if that mix worked? Like it discolouring or something?

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6. I just thought of all the hours i spent cutting out balsa wood parts for old airplane model kits. The kits came on sheets, and each sheet was printed with patterns for pieces, and sometimes half-cut through, but you had to do a lot of the cutting and cleanup yourself. But this thing can do hours and hours of work in a few minutes.

   I imagine it could cut out all the parts for a small model in one pass.

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7. I bought a laser cutter mainly for that purpose (cutting balsa for planes I wanted to design). I got a large one — but of the inexpensive, Chinese (as seen on eBay) variety.

   Early X-20 attempt: https://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/5/0/4/8/8/2/a6357296-169-X-20%20Photo%2001.jpg

   A curious thing happened though. When prototyping things like the flaps, I started printing my templates on a laser printer (like actual paper laser printer) and then Super-77’ing the print out to sheets of balsa where I would then cut them out with an X-Acto knife. I know, old school!

   I just found that turn-around was quicker this way when trying to zero in the layout of the parts.

   When I was happy with the hand-cut results I would laser-cut the parts in question for final fitting.

   I guess what I’m saying is: start with a vector drawing program to lay out your bulkheads, ribs, etc. Print your design to any inexpensive laser printer and cut the kit out by hand.

   There are places online you can send the final artwork to have a few kits laser cut from balsa for you when you are happy with the design.

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8. Does this mean the end for the Glowforge?

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9. Doormat: The Glowforge at the Tested Office is a pre-production test unit that Adam got through his collaboration with Glowforge. I.e. they don’t own it and it’ll have to go back at some point.

   Also, having the flexibility of a larger laser makes a lot of sense for the variety of projects they do and might want to be doing in the future. 🙂

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10. Hi, Universal Lasers are fun tools to use, I’ve been using them for about 11 yrs now. I use Corel Draw to create the drawing and use the Advanced setting to cut and create all kinds of designs in many types of materials. If you need any help contact me. I would love to show you how to use this tool. I use a Vl350 50 watt And a Pl475 75 watt. Be careful trying to cut plywood that is thick or has a lot of glue layers like Finland made plywood with 5 layers of glue, I used some one time and it caught on fire on the underside and melted part of the cutting table. Make sure you keep your Optics and Mirrors clean.

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11. my school has vls 6.60 60W for 3+ years, recently the lenses gather ashes very fast and sometimes the assist program would glitch until restarting the computer, I dont know if anyone else runs into the same problem. We only allows cutting max 1/4 inch materials.

    Aiso, for cutting, would you suggest highest speed with high power or low speed with lower power

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12. Hi I am doing research, I want to buy a laser cutter that I can use to cut balsa wood and make earrings, are there any lasers that cut as well as paint ? What is the best type of laser to buy ? any advice you gentleman can offer ?

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