I’m honestly not qualified to give an opinion. I have the A40640, but I haven’t done much besides turn it on.
@robertbu and @dkj4linux would probably be able to say something intelligent about it. I know Robert has cut a lot of stuff with his A40640. I think David said it was maybe already too powerful to do well on engravings.
Thanks. The newer one (E40) says it has one of the two diodes for “pulse” power, while the other one is for 10w of “continuous” power — while the A40640 seems to have “pulse” power for both its diodes. I think this is why the newer one is said to be better for cutting!
I cannot say anything about the E40. If cutting is your goal, then I have concerns about the NEJE A40640 being too “delicate” for extensive use. There was a fine print warning on the warranty statement when I purchased my module which has me being somewhat careful. I keep my cutting jobs under an hour (i.e. break up larger jobs into smaller pieces), confine longer jobs to cooler times of day, and will often use 90% rather than 100% power. I do a variety of “bigger” jobs like these 8" x 8" x 20" boxes:
I’ve already replaced this cable once, and the charring is on both ends (i.e. at the laser end as well). There is a simple fix on the control board end, but I hesitate to disassemble and rewire the laser.
As for the XTool, Quad Diode laser, it looks fantastic, but I just can’t justify the $550. Maybe if my NEJE craps out. And I have to wonder where these laser modules will go. Will we be able to purchase 6 or 8 diode modules next year or the year after?
Those boxes were made with cheap 5mm underlayment. It runs $23 for a 4’ x 8’ sheet. The sheets typically have large sections of nice wood, but they have drawbacks. Whatever they use to fill internal voids is harder to laser cut than the wood, so I have to take precautions to avoid pieces not completely cut out. And it is not the flattest material around even when I hand pick the sheets. Lately I’ve been making things to help me organize (instead of gifts), so I care less about the quality of the wood.
It seems that the E40 might have a slightly wider beam in the sense that the cone shape has slightly more divergence. The “vertex” of the cone is probably equally small between the two models. The A40640 (which I own, but have not used too much) advertises a ‘20mm’ depth whereas the E40 claims to cut 13 mm of thickness, which I am inferring is a function of the width of the cone.
they now make a machined aluminum air nozzle for the A40640 that takes the place of the orange sheild, but the E40 has it built in. still a nozzle with a side port air tube, but it 90’s off and runs vertically for a connection up top
I actually just bought the E40 in the Fall 10% sale. pushes it very close the $200 i considered my upper boundary for price
I bought it direct instead of an alternative (Laser Tree) on amazon because - from what ive read here- the NEJE is pretty much plug and play with my skr pro1.2 board with it being 3.3v PWM. i spent an hour looking into Laser Tree and could only find info saying pwm was 5-12V.
