What version of k40 to start with?

[george graves]

First post here - just need a bit of help to get going...

Awesome forum. So glad I found you guys. I had a zillion questions, but most have been answered on this board.

My question is this: What K40 machine to start with? There seems to be a few flavors on ebay.

- Knob and amp-meter controlled power.
- Digital controlled power with membrain keyboard.

I'm plan on buying the machine, and (attempting) to run it for a few months as it comes from the factory as there is a project I need it for. Then upgrade to the DSP kit later on. (I've built a reprap, and a CNC milling machine - so, I have some experience)

So - what's the better unit to start with? I noticed the compartment for the digital version seems smaller. Pics for reference:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/High-Precise-40 ... 2c756127ad


http://www.ebay.com/itm/40W-High-Precis ... 2c8c3cb04b

[madjalapeno]

I hope the consensus is for the smaller digital one, as my one is arriving tomorrow.

[BrianJenkins]

Just get the one with LaserDRW - it's usable.

Mine has the analog display and knob, all of which will likely be replaced with a DSP at some point. So why pay extra for something that will get junked...

I paid $459, delivered, shipped from California via FedEx.

Here's some videos I did if you're interested
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7he_p ... nTCxtPnjiQ

[jeckardt]

I observe that the smaller one's physical cabinet is 67cm vs 80cm of the larger cabinet. The size of the laser tube is limited by the cabinet size, so the smaller cabinet is going to have a shorter (and lower wattage) tube than the larger cabinet. [The larger cabinet comes with a 720mm tube. The longest that's going to fit in a 67cm cabinet is probably a 600mm tube.]

Suppose you could get one of the cabinet extensions from LO and get back 300cm of tube length.

Joe

[BrianJenkins]

I've gotten a few PM's on the price I mentioned paying. Here's a few tips/suggestions

These are from Chinese importers, here in the USA. I did not want to deal with duty/customs/etc, plus the shipping time was 5 business days from CA to MD.

The $459 I paid was a reply back after submitting a best-offer on Ebay. The original list price was closer to $489.

This price varies some as the importers run out, the price starts going up. So if the price is high, I'd suggest waiting a few weeks and the price may come down. I saw this before 1/1/15 after which it went up to $500-600. I've had mine since Feb, so for all of Jan the price was high.

LaserDRW is usable (I use it with CorelDraw X7, on Win8.1 x64), but it does not support any type of color separation, and if you plan on doing anything 'real' with your laser - either plan on adding a DSP or buy the more expensive Shenhui unit ($2100). The DSP's Marco has no do not support CorelX7 although he is testing a different unit.

Still, it's fun to play with. To me, it's a practice unit and I push it to its limits. I almost wish I'd paid the $2k to get the larger unit as I find the size can be limited. So much so that I've reconfigured the lens on the carrier which gave me 260 x 315. I see a larger unit in my near future, but I promised myself to make this one pay for itself before I buy another. I still may do the DSP upgrade on this one, I really want to buy the Ruida DSP he's testing at the moment since I have CorelX7.