Has any one used a Laser kit from Endurance ?
I am not sure but I think they used to have a different name.
They used to market them as the “L-Cheapo” and be sold by Robots Everywhere. The L-Cheapo seems to have universally positive reviews.
They appear to be very similar to what you can build from DTR laser shop core components and some other eBay accessories. However I do find the complete and tested unit to be attractive.
I have been on the fence about pushing the buy button on the J-Tech for a while now or going the DIY route. The Endurance laser is a nice looking compromise, but at list price I was still leaning toward the J Tech.
I noticed yesterday the Endurance website has a popup promotional offer that could tip scales for me. It has an expiration date of 6/13, but it looks like they are still honoring it (as of 6/15). As I write this, I have an invoice for a 5.6W open in another window. Still close to twice as much as building one from parts, but now substantially cheaper and more powerful than the J Tech 3.8W…
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With the diodes, the power rating can be deceiving. They really need two numbers on there, watts and spot size. When we were all getting the 2.5W’s I think a 3W came out, turns out the spot size was so large it actually had less “cutting” power. In reality we needs a watts/area rating.
Also one other thing to consider, if you plan on etching pictures in wood I would get the weakest laser they have. This will easily allow for more levels of grey without hacking the firmware. The 2.5 I have gets used in etching up to about 50%…meaning half the levels of grey. I don’t think you will end up doing much actual cutting.
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I’ve been noodling on the spot size consideration - J Tech talks at length about different lens options and trade offs; high efficiency vs high definition (smaller, rounder spot).
Running a laser side-by-side with a spindle sounds like the best way to go and then I think I would mostly use the laser to only engrave and supplement other work. However, it seems like it would be simpler to swap out and use one tool at a time. Then I feel like I would be more inclined to cut thin stock with the laser instead of using very small cutters to get sharper corners. I am trying to power protect for cutting 1/4” at a reasonable speed or number of passes. 5.6W is the recommended size on the Endurance site.
Most laser drivers I have researched have a variable current setting. The modulation is proportional to the current setting, so I figure I can dial the laser max output down and use the full 8-bit resolution of the control signal to engrave greyscale. Am I wrong on this one? Regardless I suppose I should inquire about the driver before I commit.
Thanks for moving me away from the “pay now” button 
I ended up with two lasers 2.5w and 6w The spot sizes are noticeably different. Here’s a good (but long) video on the NUBM44. Around 16:30 he goes over spot size and true power at the focal point. Lens won’t correct the spot size or the “Wings”
- https://youtu.be/RDfwJw7S_CE?t=16m31s
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Hi Larry,
I picked up the 8W laser from endurance with the intent to use it for cutting ply where I wanted small kerf size.
instead I got distracted by burning images for a while so haven’t finished the air assist to do the cutting project I was intending to work on
I followed the youtube series by Russ on the adventures he has had with a C02 laser as he works through the princicals its all applicable to diode lasers find him by searching- RD works Learning labs, Sarbar multimedia
The dot from the 8W is more rectangular than square I’m using a tight focal distance of around 10mm with the lens I picked up from Endurance and am able to burn 256 DPI images with measured pixel size (laser dot size) that is ~ slightly smaller than whats needed to actual burn 256DPI.
I haven’t used any of the other lasers (except a C02 previously) the results I have been able to get with the 8W really surprised me with their quality.
I used image2Gcode originally but its just to slow to burn anything of size due to limitations in Marlin with the way Gcode commands are processed, i.e. moving and setting laser power in separate lines results in a limitation for max movement speed. Instead I found a version of Marlin Kimbra that allows these commands to be combined - the original versions I found were full of bugs I have a working version now… but the next step for me on this project is to move to GRBL control software and compatible board as I believe it to be far more mature in this area.
I’ve given you a bit of a brain dump here, I have notes I can refer back to if you need details. I was in the same position as you before I purchased it, in summary - It works, its better at burning than I expected, the test cuts I have done are great for my purposes - my effort has gone into every other aspect of the project the diode laser just basically works and limitations I have hit are Marlin related. I’d get it again as I do want to cut with it.
Good luck,
Mike
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How have you hooked your 8 Watt laser up yo your Ramps 1.4 board, I have an 8.5 Watt laser that requires 12v and 5A but at the moment my connection on D9 is only giving me 12v with 2a - 3a.
My PSU is a 12v 30 Amp so there is no issues with power / current requirements.