8 ms·

I'm dying of curiosity how cheap a cheap laser welder can be.

mdorazio 2y ago
A quick search is showing me new machines in the $7k range. You could probably pick up a used one for a few thousand less. This is cheaper than I would have thought, honestly - a decent full MIG rig is not exactly cheap.
- DannyBee 2y ago
  They are coming down in price very quickly. The materials cost is really not very high (no idea on the laser itself, but the rest is easily <1k. Probably <500.). The R&D cost was probably very high to start (but also coming down).
supermatt 2y ago
I don't have one yet so cant really advise on quality, but I was recently looking and you can pick up a 2.5kW laser welder from about $15k. They are slightly cheaper (around 12k) from alibaba, but then you will be looking at import duties, warranty complexities, etc
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y ago
  Yeah, that's the problem with some of the more expensive Alibaba/Aliexpress stuff. The list price is attractive, but once you add in all the extras like duties, transportation from the port of entry to your location, warranty difficulty etc., there's not much price difference from heading over to the local Kubota dealership. Still, some of those little tracked tractors on TikTok are interesting. If I could somehow raise enough money to start importing them, I'm sure I could sell quite a few.
  - ensignavenger 2y ago
    A lot of folks find those little chineese tractors at auctions in the US. There are folks who handle all the import and then resell them. Can be a great deal but many of them need some mods, like better cooling, to really shine.
isoprophlex 2y ago
There's a killer Neal Stephenson plotline in here somewhere. Redneck protagonist zapping enemy drones with a modified laser welder.
- paranoidrobot 2y ago
  I had to look it up, because I thought that was what "Reason" was in Snowcrash. I was mistaken: Reason was a railgun.
  - rtkwe 2y ago
    The weird part of reason is it is also (in the family of) a mini gun with it's multiple rotating barrels.
- zokier 2y ago
  Oh yes: https://youtu.be/xNmbvaUzC8Q https://youtu.be/xNmbvaUzC8Q This is why we can't have nice things
  - btbuildem 2y ago
    There's no way this stuff isn't giving the secret service nightmares. This guy set ablaze the inside of a vehicle through closed windows from a significant distance.
  - dgacmu 2y ago
    It's rare to have such a clear illustration of the difference between intelligence and wisdom.
- trelane 2y ago
  Almost a different Funranium post: https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2022/12/choose-your-own-radiation-adventure-anti-drone-radiation/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2022/12/choose-your-own-radiat...
- HeyLaughingBoy 2y ago
  Hmmm. I'm black, but my wife did anoint me to the position of "honorary redneck" some time ago. Neighbor has stopped with the drone overflights of my property, but still, you're giving me ideas...
DannyBee 2y ago
So, to clarify - what i have is a very nice IPG lightweld 1500 XR. They are normally not cheap (30k), and are very nice and well thought out safety wise. One of the fun parts when i lived in the bay area was that as companies got acquired, they didn't know what to do with the stuff they had before acquisition that isn't needed anymore, and it either sits in a warehouse, or gets auctioned off (or both!) So for example, at one point, Google (after acquiring terra bella and some other companies) had like 5 or 6 very nice 5 axis VMC's sitting around collecting dust. Each was worth well over 250k. They already had plenty of VMC's in the machine shop, etc, and didn't need these, and it was not worth the trouble to sell them. At least back then. In my case, I was able to get this welder for way less than half price. The lightweld's have come down in price over the years, and that will keep happening. They are pretty much the most expensive laser welders though, you can easily get one for 10k these days. The truth is, however, if you go cheaper than this, what often what gets overlooked is safety. So some of them in the lowest price range don't even require you touch the gun to metal before letting you fire, etc. All of them can weld the same, so if you go looking, look at other things too. THe other thing - one of the nice things about laser welding is that it's improving very fast. So similar to fiber, running multiple types of lasers or optics in the cable is not particularly more difficult than running one. They just add more fibers (it's not quite the only issue, but you get the point). Why does this matter? Because it means you can run another laser or something to monitor the weld and adjust parameters on the fly. Which lightweld and others are starting to do. So if you are moving the gun too fast/slowly, or got the power wrong or whatever, it will compensate automatically This probably won't ever happen on mig/tig. The lasers are heavily computer controlled already, this just adds a feedback loop. It also enables real time certification of a weld - see https://www.ipgphotonics.com/products/laser-weld-measurement https://www.ipgphotonics.com/products/laser-weld-measurement for an example (this is a separate product, but you get the idea) In any case, my take would be - if you want to play with them as a hobbyist, or have too much money, they are cool Otherwise i'd wait ~5 years and what you get will probably be 5-10x better for the same price.
- mhb 2y ago
  VMC == Vertical Machining Center PSWAATY == Please Say What the Acronyms Are. Thank You.
abakker 2y ago
https://www.everlastgenerators.com/catalog/laser-welders https://www.everlastgenerators.com/catalog/laser-welders this is probably the easiest one to buy from a reputable (non alibaba) company. its $17k, so not "cheap", but hardly expensive. My gut says they'll be for sale at $2-5k within 2 years at the rate things are going.

A quick search is showing me new machines in the $7k range. You could probably pick up a used one for a few thousand less. This is cheaper than I would have thought, honestly - a decent full MIG rig is not exactly cheap.

DannyBee 2y ago
They are coming down in price very quickly. The materials cost is really not very high (no idea on the laser itself, but the rest is easily <1k. Probably <500.). The R&D cost was probably very high to start (but also coming down).

supermatt 2y ago

I don't have one yet so cant really advise on quality, but I was recently looking and you can pick up a 2.5kW laser welder from about $15k. They are slightly cheaper (around 12k) from alibaba, but then you will be looking at import duties, warranty complexities, etc

HeyLaughingBoy 2y ago
Yeah, that's the problem with some of the more expensive Alibaba/Aliexpress stuff. The list price is attractive, but once you add in all the extras like duties, transportation from the port of entry to your location, warranty difficulty etc., there's not much price difference from heading over to the local Kubota dealership. Still, some of those little tracked tractors on TikTok are interesting. If I could somehow raise enough money to start importing them, I'm sure I could sell quite a few.
- ensignavenger 2y ago
  A lot of folks find those little chineese tractors at auctions in the US. There are folks who handle all the import and then resell them. Can be a great deal but many of them need some mods, like better cooling, to really shine.

isoprophlex 2y ago

There's a killer Neal Stephenson plotline in here somewhere. Redneck protagonist zapping enemy drones with a modified laser welder.

paranoidrobot 2y ago
I had to look it up, because I thought that was what "Reason" was in Snowcrash. I was mistaken: Reason was a railgun.
- rtkwe 2y ago
  The weird part of reason is it is also (in the family of) a mini gun with it's multiple rotating barrels.
zokier 2y ago
Oh yes: https://youtu.be/xNmbvaUzC8Q https://youtu.be/xNmbvaUzC8Q This is why we can't have nice things
- btbuildem 2y ago
  There's no way this stuff isn't giving the secret service nightmares. This guy set ablaze the inside of a vehicle through closed windows from a significant distance.
- dgacmu 2y ago
  It's rare to have such a clear illustration of the difference between intelligence and wisdom.
trelane 2y ago
Almost a different Funranium post: https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2022/12/choose-your-own-radiation-adventure-anti-drone-radiation/ https://www.funraniumlabs.com/2022/12/choose-your-own-radiat...
HeyLaughingBoy 2y ago
Hmmm. I'm black, but my wife did anoint me to the position of "honorary redneck" some time ago. Neighbor has stopped with the drone overflights of my property, but still, you're giving me ideas...

DannyBee 2y ago

So, to clarify - what i have is a very nice IPG lightweld 1500 XR. They are normally not cheap (30k), and are very nice and well thought out safety wise. One of the fun parts when i lived in the bay area was that as companies got acquired, they didn't know what to do with the stuff they had before acquisition that isn't needed anymore, and it either sits in a warehouse, or gets auctioned off (or both!) So for example, at one point, Google (after acquiring terra bella and some other companies) had like 5 or 6 very nice 5 axis VMC's sitting around collecting dust. Each was worth well over 250k. They already had plenty of VMC's in the machine shop, etc, and didn't need these, and it was not worth the trouble to sell them. At least back then. In my case, I was able to get this welder for way less than half price. The lightweld's have come down in price over the years, and that will keep happening. They are pretty much the most expensive laser welders though, you can easily get one for 10k these days. The truth is, however, if you go cheaper than this, what often what gets overlooked is safety. So some of them in the lowest price range don't even require you touch the gun to metal before letting you fire, etc. All of them can weld the same, so if you go looking, look at other things too. THe other thing - one of the nice things about laser welding is that it's improving very fast. So similar to fiber, running multiple types of lasers or optics in the cable is not particularly more difficult than running one. They just add more fibers (it's not quite the only issue, but you get the point). Why does this matter? Because it means you can run another laser or something to monitor the weld and adjust parameters on the fly. Which lightweld and others are starting to do. So if you are moving the gun too fast/slowly, or got the power wrong or whatever, it will compensate automatically This probably won't ever happen on mig/tig. The lasers are heavily computer controlled already, this just adds a feedback loop. It also enables real time certification of a weld - see https://www.ipgphotonics.com/products/laser-weld-measurement https://www.ipgphotonics.com/products/laser-weld-measurement for an example (this is a separate product, but you get the idea) In any case, my take would be - if you want to play with them as a hobbyist, or have too much money, they are cool Otherwise i'd wait ~5 years and what you get will probably be 5-10x better for the same price.

mhb 2y ago
VMC == Vertical Machining Center PSWAATY == Please Say What the Acronyms Are. Thank You.

abakker 2y ago

https://www.everlastgenerators.com/catalog/laser-welders https://www.everlastgenerators.com/catalog/laser-welders this is probably the easiest one to buy from a reputable (non alibaba) company. its $17k, so not "cheap", but hardly expensive. My gut says they'll be for sale at $2-5k within 2 years at the rate things are going.