Omtech 80w CO2 Laser unboxing and Upgrades.

[@VoeltnerWoodworking]

This is extremely helpful. I’ll be doing the lighting soon, and eventually the air assist.

[@MSRWorkshop]

The air assist upgrade was a game changer. Sooo much different. I’m using the pump off this on a smaller k40 and it’s just not cutting it compared to a compressor unit.

[@ClintonCaraway-CNC]

Just a suggestion if you want to every upgrade your upgrade.... Try putting your exhaust fan as close to the end as the exhaust hose as possible. Inline fans pull air much more efficiently than pushing it. Plus if you ever someway get a tiny hole in the line the fan just pulls in a tiny amount of fresh air vs pushing a small amount of smoke out of the hole on the positive pressure side.

[@MSRWorkshop]

Thanks for your suggestion I actually thought about getting a larger in-line fan maybe the 8 inch and then just reducing it down to fit my 6 inch hose. I know reducing it decreases CFM overall but it will still be more than the 6 inch that I currently use

[@armindingler3839]

Hi MSR Workshop, what is the exactly height when unscrew the 4 screws from bottom from laser body only? With screws he should have 94cm according to your description on Omtech website. Thanks for help me!!!! Best regards, Armin

[@derekcavan6000]

@ 3:54 I just love how you switched character to Kermit the Frog 🤣🤣🤣 Great video! Subscribed and will look forward to more laser related vids. Thanks

[@MSRWorkshop]

Yeah…. 😂 He comes out every now and then lol

[@derekcavan6000]

@@MSRWorkshop And a very quick question while you are there.. Should I consider this machine to handle engraving mugs, glassware and the like of tumblr's (using the rotary device), apart from flat materials like wood etc? I am about to bite the bullet and buy one, but have seen conflicting reports about the ease of use (or lack thereof) when it comes to setup to do objects using the rotary. One guy stated that the undercarriage nearly bottoms out when the rotary is fitted..? Do all rotary devices work with this model and which in your opinion is best? Thanks again :)

[@MSRWorkshop]

@@derekcavan6000 I have not actually done any rotary engraving, but the bed depth looks plenty deep to me. You just pull out the honeycomb bed and the rotary attachment sits in the tray below and you have a ton of room. I think Omtech even says that the rotary sits in the bottom. I think all the machines are virtually the same design. I have a monport k40 and have looked at their bigger machines to compare to my Omtech 80w and I think the Omtech has a much better Ruida controller. I think all the rotary attachments are the same. Looks like they all have the same plug. I can’t voice for their quality but the Monport are slightly less expensive. I am partnering with them to on the k40 and I have a discount code that you can use to get 6% off. Use “Adam6” for get 6% off. Hope that helps :)

[@derekcavan6000]

@@MSRWorkshop Really appreciate the time you took to reply to me instantly. Much appreciated and thank you for your candid unbiased opinion dude.

[@MSRWorkshop]

Any time ! Let me know when you pull the trigger. As you can see I have a few tools lol, but my laser purchase has by far been my favorite to use so far. And this Omtech 80w with auto focus has been fantastic ! I would but it many times over ! I’m loving it.

[@CreativeCustomDesigns]

We are looking at getting a larger laser, and hoping to get it in our basement. One question we have about an 80W . Have you done much cutting with this machine? And how thick will it go? We are hoping to cut 3/8" Baltic Birch.

[@MSRWorkshop]

It will cut that easily in one pass! The thing that I feel has helped my cuts immensely is changing my air assist to a compressor. So much so that on the same power setting, if I could forget to turn my regulator back up from engraving, it won’t cut through a piece of wood on the exact same power setting. I’m running around 15-20psi on my regulator. I’m guessing off the top of my head for three eights Baltic birch my power settings are around 40% at 4 mm/s I have a ton of power range and adjustments I could make to speed the mm/s up. But this should be a good starting point.

[@CreativeCustomDesigns]

@@MSRWorkshop THANKS so much.....That helps a lot. So how thick have you cut?

[@MSRWorkshop]

@@CreativeCustomDesigns 1/2in so far in a single pass

[@jamessepulveda5202]

would you say that the laser lens like a cloudray would be an upgrade necessity also? seen a few videos where the laser red dot was not as sharp and round

[@MSRWorkshop]

I have been happy with the lens that came with it. The red dot works quite well but there are videos where it can be modified to make a sharper point.

[@bjalouqa]

Did you add a limiter/compressor to your mic? :)

[@MSRWorkshop]

No, I’m using a mix of the road clip on microphone, and then a condenser microphone for the voiceovers

[@LKaz74]

Hello, I am thinking about getting one of these. I understand the exhaust but, because of my ignorance, I have no idea what the upgraded air assist does and why the built in one is inadequate. Can you help me understand?

[@MSRWorkshop]

So the machine has a built in air assist that I believe runs all the time and provides a small volume of air to blow out the cut and aid in controlling burning which helps cut more effectively. With an upgraded air assist the controller in the machine will control an electric valve that is then controlled through light burn. So you can turn on and off the air in light burn during the cutting process. Say if you are engraving and you want to leave the air off you just toggle it off on light burn. Also with an upgraded air assist I run 30psi. I find that I almost get no burning and I can cut deeper and faster as well. Not saying out of the box the built in won’t work and get you started but an upgrade later on if a definitely a great upgrade.

[@LKaz74]

@@MSRWorkshop Got it! That makes total sense! Thank you for responding.

[@mattheweller4463]

What gauge wire did you use for the aur assist solenoid, im about to order this and do upgrades to my 80w omtech

[@MSRWorkshop]

I actually didn’t pay attention lol. I just grabbed a spool at the store that looked right. It’s not carrying much voltage to it doesn’t need to be really heavy.

[@norbertobonilla2874]

Gracias🙏Amigo👍

[@robertwinters7433]

Does the Inline duct fan electrically connect to the laser or do you have to turn the fan on separately from the laser? I would assume running a small 24V relay that would control the AC to the fan but I did not see that step.

[@MSRWorkshop]

No I turn it on separately. What I do is have everything on an Alexa switch. So I say “alexa turn the laser on” and it turns the exhaust and the chiller on.

[@robertwinters7433]

Gotcha, I think i will go with a relay and use the voltage from the original wiring to be my signal to close a relay and power up my A/C devices. thanks for the quick reply and thanks for the excellent video :) @@MSRWorkshop

[@jalayneacooper]

Did you remove the tape from the wires that were wrapped together?

[@MSRWorkshop]

Refresh my memory, on which ones you were talking about

[@qasimantria294]

Hey I am planning to buy a new Omtech Co2 and wanted your suggestion if 60W is better or 80W vs 150W my purpose is to where I can perform good quality engraving and also have capability to cut materials. I dont have any experience with co2 laser and I have heard mix things like to go bigger 150W vs 60W / 80W. I know the bed is way bigger for 150W but wanted your opinion on it thanks

[@MSRWorkshop]

Get as big as you can. I love my 80w, I couldn’t physically fit the 100w in my garage but if I could I would have because it wasn’t that much more. All of them are going to do amazing engraving, it’s the cutting that changes with higher wattage. If you can accommodate and afford the 150w then get that one. It’s huge but pretty much can cut anything. My 80w does great on most materials… not good on MDF… that stuff doesn’t cut well, the high power ones cut MDF better.

[@duttsky17]

How did you get the wire connect into the fan out? I have 80w and it’s wired into the center of the fan.

[@MSRWorkshop]

Hi, so in the video you’ll see that I removed both the wire that connect the fan and the air assist which are wired together from the back of the outlet in the machine. I did not actually take the wire out of the fan. I just snipped the wires apart from the air assist and left the wires hanging out of the fan I case I ever want to use the fan for something in the future

[@duttsky17]

Thank you. I did follow it to the side panel and disconnected it from there. I upgraded to the inline Afinity 6” fan. Basically following your videos. Next is the chiller and doing LED lights around the inside. Great helpful video

[@MSRWorkshop]

@@duttsky17 great to hear!

[@myhoneyshandmade1077]

Any regrets? I am thinking of buying this model.

[@MSRWorkshop]

Nope I love it. Bigger is always better with lasers and a 100w would have been even better but the size difference was to much. I physically just didn’t have the space. The 80w is huge enough. My only regret was waiting so long to get one. I have done sooo much with it. And it has worked perfect every time !

[@myhoneyshandmade1077]

@@MSRWorkshop thanks for the info.

[@FranklinOliver-n7t]

Angelita Springs

[@waltersowers]

OMG...RIP control board. Use some rectifier diodes on the air solenoids if you're not gonna use a relay on them. One bad feedback and that 24v will fry the control board for your Ruida.

[@MSRWorkshop]

So I’ve never heard of this being ever a problem and I’ve looked at many forums and videos.

[@waltersowers]

@@MSRWorkshop anytime a magnetic switch closes, it poses a chance to create its own feedback. those air solenoids are magnetic solenoids. while it might never cause a feedback, it could. i will always be willing to throw a 5 cent diode on to even keep the "potential" of destroying a multi c-note controller in check. This is a wikipedia explaining the issue a little better. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyback_diode

[@1-Nice-Guy]

Great video. I find it "troubling" that you spend thousands on a brand new laser, and you have to upgrade it, in order to use it to it's max. potential.

[@MSRWorkshop]

To be truthful, this machine is thousands less than one that has all of this stuff done. And by doing it yourself, you’re actually saving a ton more money. if you look at lasers like thunder lasers, they’re about double what you pay for these. It might be good for someone who wants to do zero upgrades and just have a turnkey machine, but you’re going to be spending much much more. Omtech lasers are fantastic lasers and for not much money you can do the upgrades I did and save thousands.

[@1-Nice-Guy]

@@MSRWorkshop I can see that, thank you for the info! 🙂

[@jalayneacooper]

Do you have updated links for the les strip lighting, camera and camera mount?

[@MSRWorkshop]

Just fixed it Hitlights 24V LED Strip Lights 3000K 26.2ft cuttable tape backed 3oz PCB - UL Listed, 6 Year Warranty, 1325 lumens per meter, 95+ CRI, Indoor rated with universal connectors included a.co/d/6dWjw0h

[@DaveGatton]

Thanks for the great video. Just finished setting up an Omtech AF-2435-80. I may have to add that lighting myself. Looked awesome. 👍🏻

[@MSRWorkshop]

The camera comes from Lightburn so it’s directly through them. The LED lighting from Amazon Amazon still works and should be correct.

[@onerandomvoice]

Just FYI most of the links dont work, they are all cut short is looks like :)

[@MSRWorkshop]

Strange! I’ll see what I can do to fix them. Thanks 🙏

[@MSRWorkshop]

Should be working now :)

[@JasperCash-z6v]

Reinger Square

[@BoyleWalker-g8m]

Runolfsson Estates

[@langecraft4815]

Dude, your volume control is broken, you keep going from zero volume or slightly above then blast me out full volume. Just for that, I'm giving you a thumbs down. See Ya.

[@MSRWorkshop]

Not sure what the problem is. Thanks for the heads up