Atomstack A70 Pro - 70 WATTS of diode laser power

What can you do with 70 watts of diode laser power? I'm going to find out with the Atomstack A70 Pro laser! I'll test how well it can cut, engrave and how the kerf compares to smaller laser models!
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Check out ‪@TheClackShack‬ and his A70 Video here: • 70 watts of power- Ato...
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[@MarklTucson]

Good review. The switchable power is definitely helpful for finer detail. I've found the kerf at 35 watts to be on the order of 0.004" (0.1 mm) compared to about 0.0055" (0.14 mm) at 70 watts. It's definitely worth dialing down the power to get finer detail when speed of cut is not needed.

[@Vintauri]

It does add some nice flexibility to bridge between power for cutting and spot size for detailed engraving. Once I get the enclosure built I'm looking forward to playing around more with both power options.

[@mrcolitti9638]

Good review no annoying animations or music just straight facts. Perfect example of right tool for right situation. It can’t be perfect at everything but what it is good at it is quite competitive for the price point. I’m more a woodworker than engraver so it makes sense to me to get one and save money compared to the competition. Get the right tool for the job if I start buying laser’s like chisels I’m going to need a bigger shop😅 I got the Pro Max because it’s portable,capable and I like building out and customize my machines…. It all depends on your needs Great Review ✌️😀

[@Vintauri]

Thanks for watching! I do try to keep it to the facts and share realistic tests. I hope you find the Pro Max to be a good machine for your shop!

[@1-Nice-Guy]

Nice job like always!

[@Vintauri]

Thanks for watching!

[@WyldeWillow]

Great review! Nice to see how well it cut the thicker plywood. I should have the max version coming soon. I think it will be great for the large signs I make alot of.

[@Vintauri]

The Max will be quite the large laser! Hopefully it works well with your signs. I look forward to seeing what you think of it!

[@kevinrich4637]

Nice review.

[@Vintauri]

Thanks!

[@reedrobb]

The A70 was my first laser and here are a couple challenges I had building and producing my first project. 1. Those drive belts are quirky. It must be cause I’m a noob but finding the right balance was more “feel” than science. I found they would skip if too loose, drag if too tight. The 45 degree method helps but find the balance between skipping teeth when pushing Y manually faster then it would operate and listen to them skip. Remove the laser head and try letting it fall at 45-60 degree angle. #2. On the same line as #1, I found mine out of square. Cutting large rectangular projects would make project out of square. Use a large carpenters square to make drive adjustments as shown in instructions to make X and Y square to each other. #3 I’m still not sure how to set the Z axis and this video gave me an idea. Set it to zero at bed height. And raise the laser gantry up the height of the honeycomb. The instructions are weak on this detail. #4 the auto focus is weird. It appears to HOME at this point. So when I start the project from this position, it moves away and hits the hard edge every time. So, I auto focus at 00 home and then frame my project. The auto Z adjustment is goofy. I find myself using the height block and loosening the 2 set screws and moving the head up and down manually. I’m doing something wrong. #5 there were a few other minor goofy things.

[@Vintauri]

I agree with your statement on the belts. It took some playing to get the right tension. I’m still playing with it to see if it’s really dialed in but I have not seen mine skip teeth. I do want to provide a little more content on the autofocus and Z axis operations. I’ve learned a few things on the various lasers with a powered Z axis that I think could be helpful. But I didn’t want to bog down the initial review with that.

[@reedrobb]

@@Vintauri That video would be great. I set the Z manually to control where it fires. But if it ever auto focuses, then the XY home coordinate is wrong. It seems to set a new HOME of this coordinate. So, if I send a job from there, it thinks this is home and jambs the edge hard and I need to stop and reset it all. For the belt tension, the instructions say touch them together, as if this means something? They touch if full loose and fill tight. So, too loose they will skip. Too tight and they have too much belt tension and it doesn't operate smooth. I found it best to start too loose, tighten a 1/4 turn until they dont skip and then go 1-2 more 1/4 turns. I found if pushing the Y axis arm fast seems to magnify the skipping. So once I could get them to NOT skip at this faster speed, I felt like that was where they wanted to be. I then found that cutting another large job was dead on square, unlike other belt tensions. But this was also after using a large carpenters square to set the frame manually. I didnt just rely on belt tension to make it square. thanks for the videos!

[@Northalabamabbqbulletsbigrigs]

Good stiff steve thanks for the info

[@Vintauri]

Thanks for watching!

[@ArtfluentCreations]

Hi, what speed setting do you think would work on 3mm mdf with this machine? Wanting to upgrade from my Sculpfun s30 pro and just wondering how much faster this machine is.

[@bopsworkshop8213]

Are you going to do more reviews / tests on the 70 watt? Or do you find it not useful?

[@Vintauri]

I do plan to get back to projects on this machine but I’m working on the custom enclosure first and have also been enlisted for some honey-do projects on the house before summer gets too hot. It’s a great machine and I’m looking forward to getting back to it!

[@nwmi493]

wonder if Roly will eventually offer a 40

[@dwightstebner2345]

Man, I want this module...

[@Vintauri]

It's really nice if you need to be cutting thicker material!

[@sashgorev]

@@Vintauri I'm interested can be buy only head module?

[@sharonthompson3465]

Hey Steve What glasses do you need for a diode laser

[@Vintauri]

This is the brand I recommend they have different styles but make sure to get ones that are for the 455nm wavelength and preferably OD 6. amzn.to/3RjbpeJ

[@tanddbi2005]

ive got a 60 watt co2 that at 60% im at 20 milliamps. so its maxed. I use it in my large garage and when temps get up above 77 i dont use it even with a chiller i dont want tube to condensate. I cut revolutionply from lowes with this at 1.25" per second at 4 passes. sometimes cuts great sometimes it doesnt, to much glue, Im looking at the atom 70w max and wondering if the cut speed would be similar to the co2? i would love a video of someone compairing similar machines and cuts but not just a square but something like a welcome sign.

[@rat8356]

how thick of plywood?

[@davekimbler2308]

QUESTION : Im building a vacuum honeycomb hold down plate and being a cant cut clear im thinking of using for the top plate , what are your thoughts ?

[@Vintauri]

I would not use clear acrylic as a honeycomb if the material will be sitting on it as it will get dirty and then the laser will start marking and melting it. Any fires would also become worse with the acrylic trapped underneath it.

[@davekimbler2308]

@@Vintauri good to know , i went with perforated stainless steel and works great

[@nathanwolf5547]

As I commented to Dave, I’ve an XTOOL F1 but need a bigger machine now so I’m looking at this so as to future proof my business. I like that you can switch power. I’m not impressed with the enclosure that came with his. I’ve seen reports that it isn’t too airtight and bleeds light? Do. You think that it would be a good buy for my business?

[@Vintauri]

This is a very capable laser the switching power levels should help balance the cutting power with engraving detail. I'll be building an enclosure for it soon as I have not found any commercial ones that I like that it will fit in. I want to use it more to get a better feel for any areas where I feel it's lacking, but for vector engraves and general material cutting it's doing great!

[@terryclair2914]

How does autofocus work, setting offset, when cutting thick material. Can or does it automatically "Z" step down?

[@Vintauri]

In lightburn you can set a single Z offset or you can set the number of passes and the step down per pass.

[@terryclair2914]

@@Vintauri Thanks for the update!

[@colewiggert5948]

Hi I bought one of these that is the A70 Max and am having trouble connecting it to my Mac this is not the first laser that I have used on this mac through lightburn either. When I click on the device button to home the laser it says; ALARM 9 Homing fail.Could not find limit switch within search distance.Defined as 1.5 * max_travel on search and 5 * pulloff on locate phases. ok Grbl 1.1h['$' for help] [MSG:'$H'|'$X'to unlock] [MSG:Caution: Unlock] ok Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[@user-ev9ri3or7x]

The question has to be asked, can it do 3/4 plywood? Even if the cut is slow, reliable 3/4 cutting would be a serious capability for making flat packs and heavy-duty parts, without needing a CNC router.

[@Vintauri]

I'll do more testing on that. It will depend on the type of plywood, lots of variables in that. I think it will but I think you'll want to run multiple passes and I'm not sure how long it will take for that.

[@davekimbler2308]

It goes to show bigger is not always better ! My 10w cuts so much finer then that 70w ! For what i make the 70w is not practical and i was thinking of going bigger but perhaps maybe a 20w or 30w would be best for me ! The thickest i use is 6mm for my clocks and state shadow boxes . It made sense to go up from 5.5 to 10 but not from 10 to 70w plus the price i could buy a CO2 to cut clear and glass . Nice presentation though !

[@Vintauri]

For cutting I would be okay with the 70w as you can make kerf adjustments for the wider beam, however if it's super fine cuts where the remaining material will be thinner than 1/16th inch it would likely cause those pieces to become too charred. That being said, you can do a lot with a 20-30w laser including some thicker material. This one will be nice for an option on 1/2" material but thinner materials will come out cleaner on a lower wattage laser as you said.

[@rat8356]

i have a neje E80 which is a 24 watt module with 4 diodes..i cut 1/8 ply 1 pass at 18 ipm at 75%..I can cut 1/4'' at about 8 ipm at 88.5 % one pass...what kind of speed and how many passes are you doing with your 10 watt module?

[@davekimbler2308]

@@rat8356 i cut 3mm acrylic 350mm/m at 80% 2 passes and 1/4" plywood ( 6mm ) 150mm/m 2 passes and mine is a true 10w output very fine focus .006 its more like a 15w . The thickest i can cut cleanly is 3/8" pine boards but i upgraded to a CO2 today and will see how much better it is !

[@EtchinAaronslaserworkshop]

Hey you wanna give away your A70 lol just thinking of the stuff I could make with that wow