How to Choose your Own GCC Laser Engravers | GCC: Laser Machines Leader Since 1989
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| GCC, a global forefront equipment-manufacturing provider in the visual communication industry, is glad to share this article written by our distributor to help customers choose the right GCC laser engravers. |
It is important to start any successful business with the correct choice of equipment. If your company is planning to purchase laser equipment for quality engraving and cutting, the Laser Engravers by the GCC Company (Taiwan) will be your best choice. |
High-quality engraving and cutting, plus high-speed, better reliability, more stability and ease of operation - these are the main differences which distinguished the Laser Engravers of GCC Company (Taiwan) from the other competitors. |
There are instances when the sellers of the laser equipment mislead buyers and persuade them to purchase a laser machine which is made with glass laser tube from China instead, when the machine is needed for tasks that require high-quality engraving and cutting, along with high speed. Usually, laser machines with this kind of laser tube and stepper motors are suitable for customers with a limited budget, for rough cutting or material nesting. |
The low price of the equipment caused the customer to ignore the fact that they needed it to produce high quality tasks and focus on the budget. Besides, some buyers tried to deceive themselves and convince themselves that they can tweak the Chinese laser machine to perform European or American quality. In reality, it is like an attempt to force a Zaporozhets car to provide the equal comfort and speed of a Mercedes car which is near to impossible. |
Sometimes sellers of the laser equipment convince buyers that it is more cost-effective to start a laser business by purchasing a laser machine with the glass laser tube from China, forcing the buyer eventually to sell what is profitable for them instead of the quality product they intended to produce. However, having made such a purchase, the buyer automatically cuts off a portion of the lucrative segment of the laser business - a high quality laser engraved and marked production line. |
After spending a certain amount of money on a laser machine with the glass tube, the buyer may be disappointed by the poor quality of engraving and cutting, as well as low-speed engraving on such equipment. Ultimately, the buyer may even lose interest in the development of its laser business because of the unsuccessful investments in equipment. |
Conclusion No. 1 It is impossible to have a successful start in the laser business with a cheap laser machine. It is important for buyers to carefully and consciously buying their first laser engraver. |
 Almost all of the laser engravers of the GCC Company have US Laser Tube mounted on them in a closed metal case produced by Synrad or Coherent, which support the regime engraving of halftone photographs, the regime engraving of seals and stamps with micro text and regime 3D engraving. In addition, all of the GCC Company's laser engravers are equipped with high-precision servo motors, which can provide high quality engraving and cutting, along with high speed. |
Conclusion No.2 Laser engravers of the GCC Company allow customers to make a successful start in the laser business to justify their investments and increase profit. |
The main advantages of the GCC Company’s laser engravers:
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Next we will do a brief overview of technical specification comparison of GCC Company’s laser engravers series C180II, Spirit, Spirt LS, Spirit GLS and T500. We will also provide you some practical advice on choosing a laser engraver for different tasks. This information will be useful to all buyers of the laser equipment. |
Selecting a laser tube with the right wattage |
| When buying a laser engraver with a CO2 gas tube, the first question that arises from the buyer to choose correct laser engraver for their tasks is “what wattage should be chosen?” The line of laser engravers from the GCC Company (Taiwan) are presented by models with different wattage of the laser tube: 12, 25, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100 or 200 watt. The higher the wattage needed by the laser tube, the more productive the laser engraver will be in its cutting and engraving regime. With the increasing power of the laser tube, you will have the opportunity to cut thicker materials in a single pass. High power laser tube will allow you to reduce lead time in cutting and engraving. |
Benjamin Franklin once said: "Time is money". For example, in the European and American market, the cost of laser services in the execution of orders on CO2 laser engraver in most cases is calculated by the lead time or standard hour operation of the equipment. Average cost of a standard hour of laser engraving in the American laser market is $ 40-60. The greater the power of the laser tube for your laser engraver, the less time will be spent on the execution of the order. Therefore, if you use the method of calculating the cost of laser services through standard-hour operation of the equipment, it will lower the cost of laser services to customers too. Reserve laser power in equipment will allow you to produce more effectively shaped pricing policy and make competitive offers of laser services for the end customers. |
For Belarusian buyers of laser engravers, the recommended standard hour cost is $25-30. An alternative method to calculate the cost of laser services for laser cutting of materials is to calculate by the cost cutting per running meter. As for laser engraving, it can be charged by calculating the cost per square centimeter. However, as owners use different operating equipment with laser tube that requires different wattage, do not adequately fix the price for all laser services. For example, laser engraver Spirit LS with laser tube 60W will perform a typical order for engraving or cutting five times faster compared to the laser engraver Spirit LS with laser tube 12W. |
We will give you some general advice on choosing a laser engraver in the following: Laser engravers with laser tube 12W are ideal for tasks where there is order in bulk for laser engraving and marking services, as well as for cutting materials up to 5 mm thick. Typically, the most important concern of these customers is a small initial investment in equipment; the speed of the work is not a key consideration. The laser engravers 12W can be used for: engraving and marking of promotional and premium products, production of signs and nameplates, production of stamps etc. The models of laser engravers recommended are: laser engraver series S180II and Spirit LS with laser tube 12W. |
Laser engravers series S180II, Spirit and Spirit LS with laser tube that runs with 25W and 30W are considered as the best sellers. Laser tube 25-30 W is the optimal and most effective for engraving and cutting of materials up to 10 mm thick. Information for buyers planning to purchase a laser engraver series C180II for production of stamps: average performance of the laser engraver with laser tube 12W - 8 stamps per hour, with laser tube 30W - 18 stamps per hour. |
 Laser engravers series S180II, Spirit LS and Spirit GLS with laser tube capacity 40-60 W are suitable for high-speed engraving and cutting materials up to 12 mm thick. The higher wattage of the laser tube, the higher production. Subsequently, the more money you can earn, and faster return on investment in equipment. |
If your orders in bulk consists of orders for high-speed engraving and simultaneously cutting materials up to 15 mm thick, the laser engraver series Spirit LS and Spirit GLS with laser tube capacity 80-100 W are ideal for such tasks. For productions that require cutting materials up to 25 mm thick, we recommend laser engravers series T500 with tube laser 200W. |
To perform a deep 3D engraving on wood, we recommend laser engravers with a large capacity 80, 100 or 150W. With the laser tube 30, 40 and 60W, you need to perform 3D engraving in multiple passes with a smooth decrease in the focal length for each pass. |
Mechanics of the laser engravers |
| Laser engravers series C180II, Spirit, Spirit LS, Spirit GLS and T500 by the GCC Company provide high quality engraving and cutting, along with high speed. Precision of positioning of the laser beam and high resolution of engraving up to 1500 dpi are provided at any point in the working area with the use of reliable actuators which are installed on all models of laser engravers. |
High-precision servo motors from the Tamagawa Seiki (Japan) company are installed in laser engravers series Spirit, Spirit LS and Spirit GLS. Servo motors are equipped with encoders that are constantly transmitting real information about the position of the laser carriage and eliminate the loss of coordinates in the process. High-precision servo motors from the Hansen Corporation Company (USA) are installed in laser engravers series T500 and C180II. |
You can engrave on Spirit LS and Spirit GLS at a speed of 2 meters per second, thanks to the linear guidance with bearing installed. Laser engravers series C180II, Spirit and T500 support the engraving speed up to 1 meter per second. |
The main advantages of servo motor in the laser engravers from the GCC Company:
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In the process of laser work, you can stop a task by pressing Pause on the control panel. In pause mode, you can move the laser carriage in the direction to see the initial results of engraving. If necessary, you can adjust the speed and power of the laser directly from the control panel of the laser engraver. After pressing Pause again, the laser will return to the starting point, where it was stopped and continues the job with the new parameters. |
Anyone who works with laser engravers knows that the most vulnerable part of the equipment is its mechanics. Laser engravers series Spirit LS and Spirit GLS are equipped with a new mechanism of movement of the carriage along the X axis, protecting guide rails from contamination during cutting and engraving. The new mechanism DuraGuide, unlike other models of laser engravers has closed system of the carriage along the X-axis. Technology DuraGuide provides maximum protection of the Spirit LS and Spirit GLS’s guide rails against dust, smoke, oil and other contaminants. |
To eliminate belt stretching during work on the mechanics of Spirit LS and Spirit GLS laser engravers, reinforced belts of very durable and wear-resistant material Kevlar are installed. Reinforced Kevlar belts are installed on the X-axis and Y-axis of mechanics of the laser engraver. Kevlar belts provide high resolution of engraving and cutting, increase the accuracy of the mechanics and increase the reliability of the laser engraver operation, series Spirit LS and Spirit GLS. |
On top of that, the Spirit LS and Spirit GLS additionally installed high-precision linear rails on the X-axis of the laser engravers. Movement of the laser carriage along the X axis occurs through bearings along the rail. Laser engravers Spirit LS and Spirit GLS can work for a long time at maximum speeds and with high quality engraving and cutting. |
 The performance of the mechanics laser engravers series C180II, Spirit and T500 had been proven by time. The laser graver carriage is moved on the leading axis X and Y through plastic rollers. The standard belts are set on the mechanics of laser engravers in this series. The maximum speed of movement of the carriage is 1 meter per second. |
Select the size of the laser engraver’s worktable |
| The size of the desktop of the laser engraver directly affects its cost. The GCC Company offers CO2 laser engravers with different size of the desktop: S180II – 458 x 305 mm, Spirt / Spirt LS – 736 x 460 mm and Spirt GLS – 960 x 610 mm. Laser Engraver Series T500 has a maximum size of the desktop - 1300 x 916 mm. |
Laser engravers series S180II, Spirt / Spirt LS and Spirt GLS supports the regime of automatically move desktop along the Z axis. Due to the motorized positioner along the Z axis, laser engravers are equipped with automated installation of the focal distance sensor. You can easily install the necessary operating focal distance from the lens to the product. The maximum product height for engraving is 165 mm. |
Laser Engraver Series T500 with a large size desktop does not have a built-in motorized positioner along the Z axis. The required working focal distance from the lens to the material is manually set with the help of special metal plank that can change the level of the table along the Z axis. |
The laser beam come out of the laser tube, tends to increase in size or disperse. The longer the optical path of the laser beam is from the laser tube, the greater the loss of power in its farthest point, due to the dispersion of the laser beam. The larger the size of the laser engraver desktop, the harder to achieve quality of cutting and engraving at the farthest field - in the lower right point of the table. |
Collimator (optical device) is installed to increase the quality of the laser beam on the laser engraver series Spirt LS, Spirt GLS and T500 with laser tube 30W and above. The collimator is a system of two optical lenses, which flattens the laser beam and reduces its dispersion, and also provides the desired size of the laser beam at the output of the laser tube. The laser beam passing through the collimator retains its size and the forward direction around the path of the optical system of the laser engraver. The collimator enhances the quality of laser cutting and engraving in any area of the laser engraver desktop. |
In conclusion, we want to draw your attention to the fact that the majority of China manufacturers of laser machines do not install the collimator on their equipment and focus on large desktop, but not on a perfect quality of cutting and engraving on the entire working area of the table. The loss of the laser power in the lower right point of the desktop on such laser machine could be up to 30-40%. For many buyers of laser machine by China manufacturer, it is not a work zone, but "dead" zone. |
Good luck in choosing a right laser engraver! |