OMTech Polar 50W CO2 Laser Engraver Cutter, Desktop Laser Engraving Cutting Machine with 2 Rotary Axes 300x510mm Workbed 5MP Camera Water Chiller Fume Extractor Lightburn Compatible for Wood Acrylic

My first CO2 laser and what a game changer from my 5 and 24W diode lasers. Burn mark intensity greatly reduced. Cuts and engraves all acrylics with ease, the same with plywood and MDF.Little or no staining of the wood surface, however alot of that I think is due to the upgraded nozzle and lens assembly I fitted. Makes a few noises , but that is down to the casing around the tube not having enough fixing screws fitted , so it vibrates when the carriage moves. Beam alignment was spot on straight out of the box. Had a slight issue with the axis calibration whereby I made adjustments as the Y axis was slightly out and the proof cut turned the square into a rectangle. Spoke with tech support and they advised to leave it as was and it seems to have corrected itself some how. I think there maybe an issue with lightburns interaction with the RUIDA controller at times. Would certainly recommend this machine with the proviso that you a. Replace the stock nozzle with an upgraded one, as it gives better air assist and makes lens cleaning alot easier. b. Remove the fan in the cabinet and replace with an upgrade 3D printed connector. Air extraction with the inline external fan is improved. c. Install a RUIDA panel, makes altering the Z axis and hence focusing so much easier. You can also see what a fault is when the machine goes into a shutdown mode. d. Install a red dot, for work alignment and framing. and e. Replace all the Allen key screws with crosshead screws. The machine cost and the upgrade cost combined was still a hell of alot cheaper than an Xtool , Glowforge or Montport. It also runs with lightburn. Agree that you may have some quality issues but you have to expect that when you consider the price and where it was manufactured,to be fair tech support were pretty quick to respond to issues. Want to buy another one when the wife will let me. Oh, the packaging was great, only problem was, the machine weighs 47kg and the packaging weighed a 100kg.