Anytime! Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. :)

Thank you so much! It's been a new adventure for sure, but I really like the whole DIY approach and customization you can do with these machines.

Aw thank you so much! That means a lot :)

Thank you so much! :) It is greatly appreciated!

Thank you! The Polar looks like such a fun machine and I really like the features I am seeing for it. I know a couple people in the OMTech Official FB group have been making content for it, but I honestly don't know much about the specifics on it. It looks really promising from what I have seen though.

Thank you and congratulations on your soon to be upgrade! Iv'e heard good things about the 100W models. The next machine I want to add (someday) will be a 100W or up. Really wishing I had some more cut power with all the things iv'e been doing lately, especially signs and decor where I often use thicker material. I just lack the space at the moment for any additional machines haha.

@@Kristhecreative I sooo know what you mean about space. I converted a grain silo we have on our property into a shop. Insulated it, installed a wood burning stove for winter, an ac for summer and made it 2 stories. It's only 18 foot diameter but works lol.

@@kennethfails3593 Nice! That sounds like an awesome set up though and a great shop area for your business and work. My biggest issue with not having the space is I do a lot of things- it's hard to keep things clean and organized. It would be great to have an area just for photos/ finished products/ shipping somewhat away from all the messy-ness when working. I keep all my smaller products in totes, but i'd love to be able to organize them. Hopefully someday!

@@Kristhecreative Oh we have the same issue when it come to organizing lol. My wife made her first real video on youtube. If you'd like to see here's her channel kzfaq.info/get/bejne/os2dm5dotbSwkoU.html She filmed it upstairs in the silo. Someday the organizing will come though lol.

@@kennethfails3593 I just subscribed to her! I love learning and trying out new diys. 😄 thanks for sharing.

One of the great things about the larger cabinet models is they can scale with you as you grow. Not sure if you saw the new announcement, but OMTech just released a smaller, more user friendly machine that is currently on pre-order. Not much is known about it, but there are some admins in the OMTech group who are making videos and posting the pros and cons. That might be an option for you if you are looking for a smaller, desk model machine. However the added bonus of the larger models is you have the rotary option and can do much larger materials due to the bed size. With autofocus, iv'e heard a lot of people say it isn't really needed (takes seconds to focus your machine in), however on the other side of things, iv'e heard it is a fantastic feature for those who have arthritis and wrist injuries and cannot easily turn their beds. It can also be removed at a later time if you feel it doesn't work for you as well either. I (personally) found LightBurn very easy to use, however I do come from a design background so i've worked with creative software for years. What I recommend doing is downloading the 30 day trial and playing around in it before you purchase/ before your machine arrives. I was expecting it to take me awhile to learn, but I feel like I figured out the basics within an hour or so. The real test comes from learning your settings and your machine. There are some great LightBurn tutorials online which is where I started. I just wanted to know the basics- what the line/ fill and terms all meant and how it applied to my machine. It will become second nature over time too. There is a learning curve with any machine, but the OMTech Facebook community is amazing resource and there are so many wonderful helpful people there as well. That is where I learned a bulk of what I know now and just through trial and error. I have used the pass through door for larger sheets, but not the actual feature, if that makes sense (where you line up the print marks and make one large design which I haven't done yet). I rarely work with large materials as they are hard to come by in my area. I will say you will need some heavy duty magnets. I got the smaller ones on Amazon and they do not cut it to hold down a large sheet when you open up the passthrough door. Hopefully some of this info helps! :)

Thank you so much for the feedback! I have some videos planned on my processes- I just honestly haven’t had much time to actually sit down and film them all. I'm not sure if you have looked into the K40 machines, but I know with OMTech they do make smaller CO2 lasers that might be worth looking into! You can also do some upgrades on them if you so choose. My boyfriend is actually going that direction because my large CO2 is too big for him haha- and with the smaller units, they are only about 55 pounds and can just sit on a desk (by a window for venting). Only downfall is the bed size is very limited and the same with height, but it might be an option for you if you are looking to get into lasers. For business purposes if you want to jump in with more of a production model, you honestly cannot go wrong with one of these 60W or even the 80W machines. Iv’e heard of people adding special solutions in the chillers to prevent tubes from freezing when in colder temps, I just honestly don’t know the specifics of what that is and the maintenance if the machine isn’t in use. The OMTech FB group has tons of resources though- so if you haven’t checked them out yet, it might be a good resource to look into. :)

Don't use any kind of automotive antifreeze. See my other post.

Anytime! I try to not be bias as I know there are so many other amazing companies and brands of laser out there, I just don't have personal experience with any of them outside of talking with people in the different communities. Iv'e heard great things about Thunder as well and those I have spoke with said they are really durable machines built like a tank. I usually cut 1/8 to 1/4, but recently got some wood that was roughly around .3 inch thick (a bit over the 1/4) I was able to cut with a slightly higher setting, although I personally feel like the maximum I would go on my unit comfortably would be 1/4. Upgraded air assist helps a lot with that and prevents flare ups as well. Some of the thicker woods with the denser fillers seem to burn more around the edges for some reason. I have certain suppliers who sheets are a bit over the 1/4 and even with the upgraded air assist, the edges look dark and burnt to me when they cut. I haven't really ventured any thicker because I just wasn't a fan of the quality I was getting with the edges. Just my opinion though. A lot of my clients don't really care about the darker edges (which I do clean up as best as I can), but I much prefer them to look that golden brown when possible. I know some users recommend different lenses depending on what you want to do (cannot speak to that just yet). Another option iv'e seen some people do is multiple passes, which I honestly haven't tried either.

@@Kristhecreative We have a glowforge now 40W, and it almost cuts the 1/4", I was sure the 60W would cut 3/8". I guess we need to look at the 80W, I'm just not sure we can get it in the basement. THANKS for your reply.

Back in the day when I started, I couldn't swing the extra for the 80W- so the 60 it was! I don't find I have any limited cutting capabilities- but I also don't cut thick materials for the most part with what I do. I do believe they have lens kits that allow you to cut thicker material, and with the upgraded air assist- it's much easier. With my 60W I have no issues with materials up to 1/4. I might have to make it slower than my usual 5/32 I use- but it's not bad. Same applies for the acrylics. I have heard the lower the wattage, the more detailed engrave, and do recall reading back in the day that the 60W was the sweet spot for that. I do a lot of engravings more than I do cutting thick material, so I never saw a need to cut anything over 1/4 thick. One of my friends who has a 60W has the American Photonics kit and cuts 1/2 inch MDF with hers. She did say, however for the thicker stuff (If you want to cut thicker than 1/4)- she wishes she did go with a higher wattage for that. However, if you don't see yourself doing much for detailed photo engraving and want more of that power behind the cutting- go with the 80W. They also have all kinds of lenses- I just don't know much about them. Still on my stock lens almost 3 years later. It has served me well!

Hi there! I honestly am not even sure how I could measure that. 😅 I will say, there hasn't been a noticeable change in the electric bill, if that helps with your answer? These days, I am usually running the CO2 for 4-8 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The fiber maybe 3-6 hours a week in addition, depending on workload. I usually run both machines together as well.

Aw thank you! ☺

When I originally posted the poll around and was researching before compiling this video, these were the main 4 companies/ machines people seemed to be the most interested in. I then started to scope users out who had these machines within my communities to do a small interview with because I don't have personal first hand experience with any of them. There are so many other companies and lasers out there too. I would eventually like to dive more in depth with interviewing people with other machines (Trotec, Epilog, Rabbit, Gwekie and Beamo I sometimes get asks about now).