Thunder vs Glowforge

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About us: We run an online Etsy shop where we sell mostly laser cut goods and files. At first, our business was mainly crochet and knitwear, but in 2020 we pivoted to strictly laser cutting. We really like the infinite possibilities laser cutting brings, and also enjoy coming up with my own unique designs. 😊 ----------
SUPPLIERS WE USE FOR LASER MATERIALS:
Smokey Hill Designs (mostly wood, some acrylics): smokeyhilldesigns.com
CMS Acrylics (Acrylic only): cmsacrylics.com

[@thatlasercuttingguy3818]

Thanks for the video. Very helpful

[@85thandPine]

Glad to help!

[@emilylane3302]

Great comparison

[@85thandPine]

Thank you!

[@Mekaproyects]

Great video, you help to understand very well each one of the products, thanks 😀😀

[@85thandPine]

Thank you!!

[@IliaDevaltovskii]

Вы не должны использовать мощность лазерной трубы больше 65%. Почему люди не знают это? Мы резали 4мм березовую фанеру на станке СО2 80w, скорость 26мм/сек, мощность при резке 35-40%

[@85thandPine]

I can tell you have been enjoying a lot of our videos. Thanks for watching :)

[@IliaDevaltovskii]

@@85thandPine Спасибо, что не ответили на мой вопрос:)

[@85thandPine]

Must have been lost in translation. Google translate can only do so much. @@IliaDevaltovskii

[@IliaDevaltovskii]

Soon we will come to the USA and open our own laser cutting workshop. You might want to meet in the future. International exchange of experience can be very useful :) My English is pretty bad, but I'm working on it.@@85thandPine

[@SarbarMultimedia]

That's a great comparison and illustrates clearly why it has become known as the Slowforge Sadly, you are not making the best of your Thunderlaser and its ability to change the Z height. You are using the focus set for cutting to do your engraving. A question was asked by Travis about how to make the colour darker. Most think that increasing power (or slowing down) is the answer. Wrong. More power = deeper cut, more smoke and more tar debris in and around the engraving. The real solution is to DEFOCUS. This looks like a typical 2" lens on the Thunder so program the Z height to drop 5 or 6mm when doing engraving and turn the air assist to VERY low. You will even be able to increase the speed. Yes, the line thickness will get a bit wider but that means you can increase the line pitch from say 0.1mm to 0,.2mm and DOUBLE your engraving speed whilst at the same time making darker marks with less tar residue. That sounds like win, win, win and would also make the competion look even slower. Can you defocus the Glowforge? or is it so fixated on its material Q code it can't be programmed to do otherwise. Test defocussing for yourself and behold the miracle. Best wishes

[@KeepCalmandCraftOn]

Wow! That's way faster than Glowforge. I love GF but know I'm going to need to add another laser soon. I was thinking about a Mira. Just curious how you came to decide on Thunder? I need it to be able to fit in my house just like you.

[@85thandPine]

The major reason we decided to go with Thunder was the fact that every Mira that comes from China has to get rewired when it comes to America to meet standards. Thunder comes ready to roll. We didnt like the idea of a new machine to have to be completely reworked before we got it. Thunder leaves port and arrives at your house how it left in China. If you are considering a Thunder, I would look into the 24. Dont get me wrong, we love out 35, but the size and weight is a con for sure. If we get another laser in the future it will probably be the 24. Especially for the projects that we do. Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@grimtruths]

OMTech is a fab choice if you are adding a new laser.

[@85thandPine]

Also the wait time for Mira is something crazy like 6 months. Thunder ships in weeks.

[@85thandPine]

@@grimtruths we have heard good things about OMTech. Just dont have personal experience with them.

[@grimtruths]

@@85thandPine I run my business solely from my OMTech now and have done since August last year. Fantastic machine, but as you say with the Thunder they have a steep learning curve.

[@l3arrett82]

id like to see your thoughts on the cheaper xtool d1 pro 20watt. its like 1200$ in comparison to these big fancy machine your growing up on.

[@85thandPine]

I don’t have any personal use, but with what I do know, it would not be powerful enough to cut through most materials. Maybe to engrave things it would be ok, but I doubt it could cut well through 1/4” materials, which we use a lot.

[@l3arrett82]

@@85thandPine it will cut 3/4 inch wood with 1 pass from what I'm seeing in videos.

[@ThingsKatieMakes]

The xtool is a diode laser which isn’t exactly a simple comparison. It is good at different things and set up completely different. It is not a fully housed solution like Glowforge or Thunder which can be a good or bad thing depending on your needs. You can run it with light burn (from what I understand) so that’s similar to Thunder in terms of learning curve. If you are a user who is looking to see if you like using a laser, I think an xtool can be a good starter machine.

[@travisbenson8657]

Your thunder engraving looks nice and dark. I can never get mine to go very dark. Do you remember what settings you used for this test?

[@85thandPine]

Sure, no problem! I used 400 speed, 65/65 power and 400 lines per inch at 6mm focus for engraving on Thunder.

[@travisbenson8657]

@@85thandPine Thank you! One last question, is your thunder the 100w or 80w?

[@85thandPine]

@@travisbenson8657 we have the 100w

[@perfectlyoriginaldesigns]

Great comparison… your videos are always so informative & inspiring. What software are you using? LightBurn?

[@85thandPine]

Yes, we use lightburn for the Thunder.

[@perfectlyoriginaldesigns]

@@85thandPine I am just starting with LightBurn… To say that I’m nervous is an understatement.

[@85thandPine]

@@perfectlyoriginaldesigns I hear ya! It’s not too bad once you get the hang of the basics but it is a learning curve for sure if you aren’t familiar with those types of programs. Thanks for the compliments and let me know if you have questions and I’ll do my best to help!!