Is anyone looking to up their laser game or add it to your skillset and start making stuff?
Endurance currently has a secret early Cyber Monday sale going on! The $50 discount code works on top of their already marked down prices! I checked!
All I can find is positive reviews and their website is full of great information to get you up and running! I’ve spoken to the owner and he seems to be a great guy even helped me out with some questions I had about his Products. Let me know if you want me to ask him anything specific or If I can help you find the information you need
The first mpcnc I made I went with demensions set up for lasercutting dollar tree foam board (rc planes)I started with a cheap $100 5w Chinese diode laser then changed it to a 10w endurance diode laser and finally co2 40w. All lasers on the same machine with a 20" x30" cutting bed. To the best of my knowledge with Endurance you’re buying a product made by a small manufacturer most likely two guys assembling their own designs with Japanese Nichia diodes with lots of enthusiasm for improving the diode laser system. You will receive printed laser controllers with soldered electronics in house by them. These are not production run machines and might come across as being a little pricey but the quality and support is there with the price tag.
The 10watt I received out performed the 5w I was using which is a grey area on actual power with Chinese lasers. I enjoy cutting more than engraving and was able to cut 3mm birch no problem. This was a good match for making frames or small parts for foam planes. If you go with a diode laser long term find good lenses ahead of time, this was my only crutch for cutting dense material. Once I got all the kinks worked out with co2 I can’t go back to using a diode for cutting.
One issue I had was making sure whatever I was cutting laid flat on the bed and my machine had good support on the tubes . On larger cuts the focal distance would change if something was sticking up or I had deflection on the machine.
Yes, I still have it. I was thinking of putting it on my lowrider and trying large engraving projects with it. I was inspired by a post on the forums about someone taking a job making a sign for a wedding.
Also if you’re state side you can check eBay Barnett unlimited sells lenses, diodes and assembled lasers in a similar package as endurance but I don’t know how the quality compares.
There was some very sketchy business practices coming from endurance a while ago. I haven’t dealt with them myself, but teaching tech had a video that definitely scared me away.
My best guess is the diode and the quality of the lens. The nichia nub44 diode (7w around $90-$100) paired with a g8 or g2 (around $20)lens gives you the 10w rating . This is already at the price point of some cheap 2w-5w lasers on eBay at $120. There is still the pricing of the aluminum heatsink/case and a laser driver/controller. I don’t have a background in the industry this is the best I can come up with using google and trying to learn how these things work the past year.
The laser Barnett unlimited sells is probably the same thing for half the price of an endurance.
I bought their 5.6 Watt laser and laser lens pack. If I could go back I would have avoided buying from them. For different reasons than what Teaching tech described.
What I liked
Good documentation. If anything they have too much documentation. They have a lot of knowledge and a lot of options. But it got to be a little overwhelming. I ended up just going with an Extrememly simple wiring setup that I love.
How it was wired. The laser positive power and Signal wires are both connected to + end of a heater mosfet on my control board. Then the laser ground goes to the - pin of the same heater mosfet. I LOVE THIS!!! It is super simple. Makes it so the heater mosfet powers the entire laser.
What I don’t like
The laser looks like something I could make in my garage. The laser diode doesn’t even aim straight out of build. It points about 2 degrees to one side.
Their customer service said it’s within “Spec” end of discussion.
Not all of the mounting screw holes where correctly located and tapped. Again it looked like it was built by a drunk.
The heat sink for the diode is oriented 90 degrees in the wrong direction. It blocks air flow instead of using it to cool the fins. Instead they want you to mount your own second fan that is supposed to blow across the path of the main fan’s flow.
In Conclusion. I should have either built my own laser using instructions Ryan has provided or just paid my big $$$ for an American made laser. Lots of other good brands out there.
EDIT: Hey I found the image I sent to their Customer service.
You can see the diode points off to the side and That black thing it is mounted to is the “Cooling” fins. So the fan on the end blows air through that square aluminum and around those fins. They recommend that you mount fans on the sides that blow across the black fins. Bad design and poor workmanship.
I’m using an l-cheapo mk5 ($200) that has given great results. Engraves super fast and I’ve been cutting 3mm baltic birch in 6 passes at 400mm/s. It cuts through in less passes from the burns on my table but I haven’t bothered changing the settings
i went with the eleksmaker on banggood per recommendations i found here. it seems like a good option due to A. having been used and tested by others here, and B. it is easy on the wallet. If I hadn’t read that someone else had already gotten decent results I would have chosen differently. I should be receiving it around mid November, and hopefully I can have my machine reassembled by then.
Just wanted to post my thoughts on Endurance here. I purchased a 10W recently, then found the Teaching Tech video literally the day after I ordered. But it does work.
Generally, I would agree with @mordiev on his comments. Although, my heatsink and fan were aligned properly. I was disappointed to see that the laser is not easily disconnected from the control box. That will require some modification.
I also did some extensive testing of the driver circuit against the BlackBuck 8M this weekend. I am 99% certain the Endurance control box is NOT a constant current driver. I have more thoughts on how to improve the setup, but I’ve run out of weekend.
