Both the 5 watt and the 10 watt variant of the Comgrow laser engraver are on sale again. Both units are on stock at the US warehouse.
The 5W one costs $220.15 instead of $299 and the 10W one costs $339.15 instead of $499. The discounted prices show in the shopping cart.
These are 5 watt respectively 10 watt
optical power ratings, not electrical power ratings that some other manufacturers use. It's what others usually sell as 20W electrical power respectively 40W electrical power.
The main advantage over many other similar laser engravers is size of the laser spot. The focus of the Comgrow Z1 laser modules compresses it to 80 microns * 80 microns, resulting in a higher power per area, which improves its ability to cut quite a bit. You can see how much it does in this YouTube
video [youtube.com].
The 10W module combines two of the 5W lasers in one and merges them into one beam. If you want to do cutting primarily it's the better choice to get the 10W one, if you just want to make creative gifts etc. and cut thinner materials the 5W one is sufficient.
Both lasers are powerful enough to engrave stainless steel and other metals if they are coated. Wood, leather, cardboard, plastics etc. that don't require that much power work as well of course.
- Machine size: 22.64"*22.65"*8.07"
- Weight: 11lbs
- Work Area: 15.75"*15.75" (400mm*400mm)
- Optical output power: 5W or 10W
- Laser spot size: 0.08mm*0.08mm
- Laser wavelength: 445nm
- Engraving resolution: 1000dpi
- Software: LaserGRBL (free), Lightburn
- Frame material: Aluminum
- Laser type: Diode laser
- Mechanical precision: 10µm
- Power supply: 24V 2A
The laser is prepared for wifi use, the App is still in development though. Currently you can use it with the USB connector. They were looking for beta testers for the new App in the Facebook group already though, so I guess it will be available soon.
The set contains everything you need to start, including some laser protection glasses.
https://www.comgrow.com/products/...1516595243
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank s4sooch
Mine came missing parts and I had to email them. The responded promptly within two business days but it took two weeks for the parts to be sent to me. I never got any tracking information or estimated delivery time so after a week I just ordered some parts on Amazon. The parts that were missing were the mounting screws for the laser unit which are standard M3 bolts and the M5 T-Slot self locking nuts.
If yours comes without these parts, it is easy to find replacement parts on amazon for relatively cheap. Still a hassle though and I couldn't use my new engraver for a week and a half
The Rollers on the gantry were a bit tight so I would recommend you SLIGHTLY loosen the bolts on the rollers so they can spin more freely.
Even the 10 watt laser that I have is barely strong enough to cut through 3 mm plywood at 100% power and 80 mm/min. This is mostly an engraving machine so don't expect to do a lot of cutting.
you REALLY need to use this in some kind of vented enclosure if you are not operating it outside or a VERY well ventilated room.
The engraving area is about 15 inches squared. It is not too difficult to modify this machine to cut a much larger area. I have mine modified to cut a 22 x 32 inch area as I use it to cut fabric for making cosplay outfits.
If you want to engrave on a cylindrical object you will need to get a roller. You don't have to buy their roller. Any brand roller will work you just have to set it up properly and set the roller diameter in the settings of the software. You have to do this even if you are using the comgrow roller so it doesn't matter what roller you get.
That being said this is a decent machine and represents probably the best capability for hobby level laser diode based engraving.
One other thing to note if you get the 10 watt laser, the focus distance is 45-46 mm from the laser heatsink. This translates to a 5-6 mm distance from the bottom of the red plastic shroud to the surface of the material you are engraving/cutting. Nowhere is this mentioned in the instructions and I only found it by chance when I was looking up replacement laser diode parts on Ali express and found the actual laser unit used. This distance is VERY important to know as that is the focus point of the laser
Hope this helps someone
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you REALLY need to use this in some kind of vented enclosure if you are not operating it outside or a VERY well ventilated room.
I have to ask as a Glowforge owner which is a closed system, how bad does this smell?
Also for anyone looking to get into lasering, look into what materials are safe as a lot of types of leather, vinyl are not safe. So this isn't something you would use to replace say a Cricut with.
Also for anyone looking to get into lasering, look into what materials are safe as a lot of types of leather, vinyl are not safe. So this isn't something you would use to replace say a Cricut with.
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I know they sell one for the Ender 3 [comgrow.com], so I'm sure if you search around you can find one. I haven't looked into it for anything beyond that since I ended up buying a separate laser.
in any case, some hackerspaces or makerspaces have engravers they'll let the community use (sometimes for a fee), so look those up in your area
We manufacture lasers and have a guy who blew out a spot on his retina. It's no joke.
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