We have been giving consideration to adding a laser cutter to our collection of CNC routers and 3d printers for some time. So we were very pleased to take this opportunity to review the OMTech K40+ CO2 Laser with Lightburn software.
About 6 years ago we had a much larger version but it didn’t get used a lot at the time so it moved on. I have missed having the option of it.
Recently, one of the teenagers has been becoming very keen on selling their artwork in various different forms. Think keychains, acrylic figures on stands, etc, so this seemed a perfect opportunity to be able to create new products in house.
Once extracted from the plentiful packaging it was a relief to see all was well and undamaged.
It needs a reasonable bit of setup and preparation, but half of this in my case was creating a sensible space in the workshop for it. It needs somewhere for an exhaust pipe – lasering produces smoke – and also a bucket for distilled cooling water.
The optional software (Lightburn) is downloadable from their website and then your license number is entered. Basic configuration steps are given to get connected but I would advise reading some basic how-to guides online also. It’s actually reasonably simple to get started once you have had a push in the right direction.
The first attempt guided me into creating an engraved QR code and some lettering. I did this onto some thin wooden blanks I bought to experiment with. It worked surprisingly well.
I then engraved one of said teenager’s pieces of art onto another piece. (Hatsune Miku!) It came out great.
My main reason for this CO2 laser is to cut designs from clear acrylic sheet, 2-4mm thick. So, how did it do?
The results were ok, but only ok and I wasn’t very happy with the cut edges. I think you do need to be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on setup of such a machine. At this point I took a tactical break of a few days. On returning to it, a fresh head told me to follow the instructions on correctly aligning the mirrors. To be fair, they are quite clear but I found the idea intimidating and didn’t want to cause havoc.
This did require adjustment of various bits inside to get working. The mirrors need to be aligned so the laser hits where it should. The cut was also initially angled which turned out to be another component needing adjustment. This then meant I had to align every one of the mirrors again! It honestly didn’t even take too long and I slightly cursed myself for not doing it before.
Having done this, I found I could cut the same acrylic with a lower power setting and at greater speed. I also found that my engraving was done in finer detail. At this point I learnt that if you suspend the acrylic sheet just slightly off the honeycomb bed the cuts are perfect. Now I’m happy and starting to get into the swing of things I’m finding it very easy and quick to create a new design and cut it out. I’ve figured out what works well for us. So now we can create small batches of our own items at minimal cost without relying on paying other people.
A few examples are below, the acrylic cut by the laser. I’m very impressed by the laser edges, absolutely as good as large scale commercial products. You can see badges we have created and acrylic stands. I take no credit for the artwork, that’s a very talented teenager!
We engraved a Miku onto slate just to test, it worked well, possibly needs a bit more power. But we’re learning!
We have started with vinyl stickers currently printed on an inkjet, though it has got me thinking about UV printers for directly applying our designs. That might need to be a review for another time!
In summary, once I had got the hang of the OMTech laser cutter I have been really pleased with it. I will be honest and say I was worried at first but it turned out to be user error and once I had set it up properly, it’s been fantastic for our needs and I would thoroughly recommend it.
Please take a look at our video review:
We were sent the OMTech K40+ CO2 Laser with Lightburn Software to review. As always all opinions expressed are our own.
