Bostjan's experience with Freemascot

[Benm]

If you have the skills to solder some wires and do basic mechanical asssembly building your own is probably preferable to getting some relatively cheap laser, i certainly agree on that.

For the price of the C6+heatsink combo you get a great value platform. It's a bit small for my taste, but will probably thermally outperform most pre-assembed lasers you can buy since its design has actually been though through.

The only downside i see in virtually all hosts is that there is relatively little space for the driver. This is no problem if you order a driver with your laser, but if you want to design your own, it is bothersome. If your experience with electronics is limited you're not likely to want to do that though, and if you just order a fitting driver putting things together is quite easy.

Besides all that, assembling a laser yourself is fun to do and a rewarding experience. Perhaps it would be best to start with something relatively cheap to get the hang of it - its like baking pancakes, the first one is always the most difficut to get right by far

 

[bostjan]

Update:

I received my SKY Laser H405L-500B today. It uses exactly the same host, has exactly the same stickers, except for the serial number and model number, and this new laser is "night-and-day" more powerful. I did a quick test and I can cut a sheet of white paper in half in a few seconds, cut through white electric tape, and it even burns oil-impregnated paper. I don't have to have it perfectly focused, and it still burns, in fact, I can light paper on fire by staying a little out of focus. The new laser also draws about 510 mA. I think I might write a review of the two lasers when I get a chance.

The bottom line, though, is that the Free Mascot laser, advertised as a 500 mW 405 nm manufactured by Free Mascot, is almost certainly a SKY lasers 100 mW model, with a little extra power from the driver.

I ordered it through LaserBTB, then, after ordering, I saw several complaints about the company on this site, so I got a little nervous. Not to take anything away from other customer's frustrations, but my dealing with LaserBTB went great. The product seems sturdily built (it'll be difficult to objectively determine the overal quality until I've used the product for several days/couple weeks), it arrived quickly (they quoted me 20 business days to delivery, so it came a little more than a week early), and the company threw in an extra accessory that they didn't have to.

 

[bostjan]

More than a year later, and the H405L-500B is still going strong. I've used it a fair amount. I have done freehand engraving with it, used it to burn oil-impregnated paper for experiments, ionized air enough to trigger a Marx generator impulse, and plenty of "stupid stuff" like seeing what it will and will not burn or cut. Years ago, I never would have thought something this powerful could be made to fit into a pants pocket.

Freemascot still sends me weekly emails. I don't have a beef with them, but the laser that they sold me was not a 500 mW laser. If anything sounds too good to be true, it's best to believe it is not true.

I would not mind dealing with S-KY again. I'd like a 980 nm at some point, but I would like to try building my own prior to purchasing anything else from overseas.

I'm pretty much a dunce, though, when it comes to metalworking, so I don't think I'll be able to do much unless I come across a kit or a bunch of parts that happen to fit perfectly together with a host someone is selling.