20W lasers genuine?

[Delaser]

Hey!

So I'm looking to upgrade my little 1.5w engraver with something a little more potent.
I'm seeing products such as the "NEJE Master 20W CNC Cutting Laser" on banggood for about $250 (Or $150 for the same thing unbranded on Aliexpress) and I was just wondering if these 20W lasers are actually a thing?

That is, ignoring the possibility of the seller ripping me off anyway and supplying something less with a 20W sticker on. Are 20W lasers for the $100 price range actually a real product at all?

Not sure if it's safe to post links on my 1 day old account, but will provide if requested.

As a followup, I hear claims of all sorts of lasers being used for engraving all number of materials. Is there any guide on what I can reasonably expect to do with a given power of laser?

And if 20W lasers aren't a thing. What's the most powerful laser I should be looking at for my engraver?
CO2 isn't an option right now due to space constraints and I can't afford the 2k for a Fiber laser setup.

Thanks for any wisdom y'all can offer!

 

[Alaskan]

The 20 watts is the power it uses, the laser only gives out 5.5 watt of optical power. Do some research and you will see.

 

[Delaser]

Hey Alaskan,

That's exactly what I'm trying to find out, I've spent all morning scouring forums and product pages, but there's really not much info about this stuff. It's all very obscured.
Which is why I'm here.

If you happen to have any pages in particular in mind, a link would help.
Thanks!

 

[GSS]

They are probably using NUM44, NUG05, or NUG06 diodes and just running them to the limit with small fan cooling.

 

[Delaser]

They are probably using NUM44, NUG05, or NUG06 diodes and just running them to the limit with small fan cooling.

So, going by the stickied list of laser Diodes in this forum,
7W is the highest 'real world' power I'll find?

 

[GSS]

So, going by the stickied list of laser Diodes in this forum,
7W is the highest 'real world' power I'll find?

Yup, i'm pretty sure 7W is the limit.
Iv'e seen them on ebay for maby $80 or $90.
Edit: never mind I saw you mention $100

 

[Alaskan]

China laser sellers have started to lie in more creative ways, now referring to the input power of lasers instead of the output power. Sorry, but there are no cheap 20 watt single diode machines, not yet. Some sellers are also touting 14 watt 450 nm machines, but when pressed they will say, oh, that's peak pulse power or something like that. OK, if peak power what is the duty cycle, the duration of the peak pulsed power? I am not even sure our 7 watt diodes can really peak at 14 watts either, too many lies floating around on these devices.

 

[Delaser]

Some sellers are also touting 14 watt 450 nm machines, but when pressed they will say, oh, that's peak pulse power or something like that.

Yeah, the 'pulsed power' thing is something I found when they were advertising 10 to 15w lasers.
Oddly those mentions dissapear when you get into the 20w listings. So I was hopeful it was just a different technology or something.
Alas, seems not.

 

[Alaskan]

I wish, I have been just as disappointed as you are now, the Chinese gods come in denominations.

 

[paul1598419]

If you are talking about NUBM44 diodes they generally pull more than 20 watts when pushed as hard as they can go. The large majority of that is waste heat.

 

[Anthony P]

This company specializes in laser engravers. I have dealt with them before and have no complaints.

Laser and Driver Combo Kits by J Tech Photonics, Inc.

J Tech Photonics, Inc. has a wide selection of laser and driver combo kits for sale. Click here to order one of our reliable kits today.

jtechphotonics.com

 

[Snecho]

Our Hackerspace has an 80W CO2 Rabbit Laser cutter and engraver. It's close to $10,000 though.

Looking back now I realize you must be talking about a visible spectrum diode laser machine. 7W is the highest power diode there is and it's blue.

My two cents is it may be a big investment, but look at real cutters/engravers from actual and reputable companies. Chinese stuff is a shot in the dark. Nobody knows what they use so that's why the best I can give is the physical limitations of what you are asking about. I mean look at this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Upgraded-40W-USB-CO2-Laser-Engraver-Engraving-Cutting-Machine-Cutter-300x200mm/362864467116?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=57921&meid=33fe26350f064329b3840d854a660fbb&pid=100005&rk=1&rkt=12&mehot=pf&sd=274128192458&itm=362864467116&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
It's a 40W CO2 on eBay for $16 LMAO.

You could always look for a laser module like this and build your own CNC laser machine.

 

[Mosc007]

I bought one of the 405nm 1600mw laser modules for the cheap engravers on Ebay. When i LPM'd it the output was 100mw. It was AUD $19

I did get a full refund and got to keet it. I knew when I bought it that it wasn't going to be 1600. But 100 was a joke. When the seller contacted his supplier the response from the supplier was "You have to understand this is a virtual product."..... What ever the hell that means.

 

[Snecho]

That's flippin hilarious. And also quite disappointing

 

[adalah]

Loving this thread! indeed

 

[aaronnoraa]

Currently, the highest real output power that you could expect to see for something suitable for CNC (diode based, at least.. gas is a very different story) would be ~12-13ish watts accomplished by combining the output of 2 NUBM44's with a wave rotator to achieve an alligned, undistorted output that would be suitable for cutting. Even still, you would need to have that setup as an explicit statement from the manufacturer so you're not getting ripped off with any of the countless '12 watt CNC head!' units for sale that may have even an A140 producling maybe a watt or an NUBM44 throwing out 5 or so. It's silly that all that a Chinese company needs to do to stand out in the crowd is simply to build reliable products and NOT LIE ABOUT IT'S CAPABILITIES.