Need some input on cutting plotters / laser

manikyath · April 9

I was planning to 3D print some big flat things, but then i realised that that's really not a sensible thing to do.

so my first solution to this problem was to print some cutting patterns on my A4 printer and cut/saw them out of some form of board.

unfortunately my printer has a very slight deviation on the 'length' of the paper, so a square doesnt come out square, and i dont feel like doing offsets in the drawing software to fix that.

then the other day i was working on a shopping list for an entirely unrelated project, and i happened upon this cutter/laser that's a much more palletable price than the CO2 laser stuff:

https://www.xtool.com/products/pre-order-xtool-m1-worlds-first-desktop-hybrid-laser-blade-cutting-machine

in short; Xtool M1, it's a combo laser cutter and vinyl cutter (the classic style with a blade)

it's available here locally for €1000.

however.. i'm REALLY not home in the cutting plotter market, and i've no idea if Xtool is a reliable company to begin with.

available from the same site are also some options from cricut and silhouette, ranging in price from around 500 bucks all the way down to 180. these are all only cutting plotters ofcourse.

there's 3 considerations that i'm hoping to get some feedback on;

- i've no idea if the 10 watt laser can actually cut plywood, like they claim it does. if the laser cant cut 3mm plywood i'd rather buy a cheaper cutting plotter and some woodworking tools.

- this thing (only?) works with Xtool's special sauce software, i presume this is the same issue for both cricut and silhouette. does anyone have input on how well these softwares work and/or how much one could assume the company behind said software to keep supporting it?

- does anyone have experience with how accurate these things actually are? if i dont get sub-millimeter accuracy i may as well fudge an offset on my A4 pritner.

my viewpoint on it is that i'd really enjoy being able to cut at least 3mm materials, but if the cutting is questionable at best or if the software is questionable i'd rather buy a cheaper vinyl cutter and use the budget for woodworking tools. besides that i'd also much prefer a €180 paperweight over a €1000 paperweight if the manufacturer breaks the software because they feel like i need the new model.

Kilrah · April 9

Weren't you able to get imported 60W CO2 ones for cheaper than that several years ago already?

manikyath · April 9

4 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Weren't you able to get imported 60W CO2 ones for cheaper than that several years ago already?

i'd love some cheap CO2 lasers that make their way into europe, got some sources for reliable units on that part?

Kilrah · April 9

Usually by the time they get imported the price will be tripled so no, but $650-ish from aliexpress...

manikyath · April 9

8 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Usually by the time they get imported the price will be tripled so no, but $650-ish from aliexpress...

i did run into this one at my usual supplier for parts that keep the wanhao 3D printer alive.. and one google later apparently i dont even need to import it from sweden (as opposed to the wanhao parts..)

https://www.3djake.be/nl-BE/creality-3d-printers-reserveonderdelen/falcon2-pro-lasercutter-22w

there's cheaper ones too, but i'm quite opposed to running lasers without an enclosure.