Experience combining 3D printing with laser?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Bronzie@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨3dprinting@lemmy.world⁩

Anyone have any experience with this?
Strongly considering adding a xTool F2 Ultra UV to the hobby, but it’s quite costly and I’m unsure if I’d use it enough to justify it.
Any other laser experience also appreciated

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Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
Please make sure to look up the company quite a bit, including their Play Store App reviews. If I remember correctly the support and software from xTool was horrendous.

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- nibbler@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨50⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago
  xTool user here. Support was okay when a cable was DOA. Software is okay, but running it in Linux requires 2 versions for me. One allows me to design, the other can communicate with the s1.
  
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AliasVortex@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve been considering the same as I’d love to be able to engrave labels into my prints, but have held off so far because I’ve heard less than great things about xTool’s serviceability, repairability, and warranty. Not that I’m remotely qualified to do DIY work on high powered laser components, but I’m sure as hell not about to drop several grand on a machine only to have a random part break and be left with a paperweight.

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- CameronDev@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  If all you want to do is engrave plastic, look at the the cheap diode lasers. They’ll easily engrave plastic. Make sure you ventilate the area, and be very cautious about the lasers. They will blind you instantly.
  
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  - AliasVortex@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    Oh that’s perfect! I’d need to do more than a 10 minute skim (since Creality kinda sucks), but something like the Creality Falcon A1C looks like something much more my speed (and budget).
    
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CameronDev@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I have a two trees tts-55 pro laser. Much cheaper, much less safe.

What are you planning on using the laser for?

My experience so far has been:

software ecosystem is terrible. Expensive paid options, poorly maintained free options. I use LaserWeb, but its basically abandoned.

bigger is better. The more cutting space you have the better
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