Quote Originally Posted by curious aardvark View Post
the thing is they ALL use low power diode lasers. for a few very good reasons. 1) all you can do with a diode is mark things, so spending a lot of money on the laser component does not make sense2) there is NO shielding on an all-in-one, so you don't want a laser powerful enough to harm a user via a deflection. 3) you will be used to the speed of a 3d printer, so when the laser runs at the same speed or slower - you won't be disappointed.4) it's purely a gimmick not meant for anything other than light hobby work, so again, why waste money. 5) NOBODY has 10 watt diode lasers. anything listed over 5 watt is a con. They are actually listing the INPUT power NOT the laser output power. A '15 watt' diode runs at about 2.5watts actual laser output.6) high wattage diodes run hot and have bugger all cooling, so would not last long enough to do anything at 3d printer speeds.All-in-ones look good, but at the end of the day they are gimmicks, well the laser side is anyway. The spindle/cnc side will do more or less what a cheap dremel style rotary tool will do, but at a much lower rpm - so slower. BUT it will engrave metal, stone, wood, glass - anything you can mark with a diamond basically. Not sure what kind of precision you'd get and it would be S-L-O-W and you'd need to add a decent suction system. But I can see real use for that aspect.The snapmaker is probably the highest quality budget unit around. My views on creality quality control are fairly well known.That said I have seen their all in one 'in the flesh' as it were, and it LOOKED (lol) like a solid piece of engineering. So who knows :-)I was contacted by creality and offered one to try - when i said I could compare it to a 40 watt co2 laser, I think I scared them off and that was the last I heard from them.My advice. skip diode lasers entirely. Get a reasonable 3d printer, add your own spindle and then get yourself a decent K40 co2 laser machine. The 18 months and £300 I spent playing with diode lasers, I consider both wasted time and money. The k40 on the other hand is an amazing bit of kit: a genuine deathray in a box !Tried to cut slate the other day, you can't - because the slots you make fill up with molten slate, in little bubbles - DEATH RAY ! :-) There have been a few all-in ones over the years, most fell by the wayside but the Z-Morph is still going. Despite the fact that most of the individual tools cost more than a lot of 3d printers. And even that only comes with a 2.8watt laser. But it does have a paste extruder - Ooooohhhhhh, shiny :-)here's a list: https://all3dp.com/1/all-in-one-lase...-engraver-cnc/
This is such a nice and genuine advice. Thank you so much!!You remind me of a moderator on another tech forum when I was inquiring for an all-in-one printer, lots of members had various opinions, but the moderator posted something that is still with me today, and I have followed his advice without regrets. He told me that an all-in-one printer will never be as good, and economical as compared to a regular inkjet black printer, he told me to get an inkjet printer with jut black colour, and buy original cartridges. buy a cheap copier and a fax machine if you need.I had used several all-in-one printers years back, and most printers died within a year or so, and even so, the prints were never good, and cartridges were expensive because I had to buy all colour cartridges.With the black inkjet printer, every single print is awesome, and the ink is cheap too.If i ever need to print something colourful, i will drop by the nearest library, and they print it for me for 50 cents per page.The advice you gave me is legit and I agree to it.Do you mind me pointing to a great 3d printer, something that has the least amount of distortions and lines in (that rough scaley) finish? Ideally if the printer can print in multiple colors?This is truly for hobby, I really do not have a use for the 3d printer, but I would like to buy that is good.As for the CO2 laser engraver.. what is the best price offered and where? On ebay i see price ranging from 360 to 800 or even 1200. Not sure what additional components are not offered in the lower price range?I would love it if you can post a link for a great CNC engraver as well. My 8 year old kid is pretty excited about the CNC engraver, she has a laundry list of toy like objects she has given me a list of.