100 Projects Later: Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro REVIEWED

it has been one month since getting my  arturo lasermaster 2 pro laser engraver   so it's time for a real life review thoughts  experiences and everything of the sort hey everybody my name is sam and welcome back  to samcraft that's right it's been a month since   this laser engraver plopped into my workshop  and it's time for a review samcraft style so i never like to really give reviews of tools  when i first get them because honestly no one   knows anything about them at that point i  always like to try and put my tools through   the paces use them for a while in some cases a  very long while and then once i know the ins and   outs ups and downs good and bad my experiences  and the review this is one of those cases it's   been a month since i got the laser master ii pro  laser engraver from ortur that's a heck of a name   and so i want to go through the bullet points  thoughts experiences ideas everything of the sort first up let's talk about the reliability of the  tool have i had any issues any problems any kind   of accuracy problems and machine disconnects yes  on the last point i have not had any problems   with the assembly the product itself is still  together everything is fine nothing has broken   bad okay something's broken but it's not bad and  overall it's been pretty good build quality and   done fine for my uses the biggest issues i've had  with reliability are with machine disconnects now   i don't know if that is the machine itself the usb  cable which came with the machine or the tablet   and some kind of interface with light burn  that don't always get along nice the amount of   disconnects that i've had have been very minimal  i want to say probably eight out of the probably   300 jobs and things that i've made on it so far  so from a percentage standpoint that's not too   bad it's not the end of the world but it was an  issue that has actually taught me some skills and   made me change my workflow a little bit running  into these disconnects on jobs was annoying to   say the least because most of the time it would  mean that the stock material that i was engraving   was trash however having the disconnect issues  happen a couple of times i quickly learned to   modify my workflow modify my design process in  light burn to where if the disconnect happens if   something goes south i'm able to recover and keep  my project going a lot more easy so i guess in   the end that's not a bad problem to have because  it's enabled me to hone my skills as a designer   for light works so it is what it is as far as the  disconnect types there have been some from the   flame alarm and i'll talk about that later but  the others have just been generic g-code errors   something to the effect of it's trying to move  where it already is the code is not working right   i don't really know usually the fix is to stop  the job re-home the machine and start over again   i don't ever have to tweak the g-code file or  the design file itself so i don't think the issue   lies in light works it's probably just more of  a communications issue or i don't know fluke of   the machine and communications if the frequency  of disconnects picks up or if i finally get to   the point where i'm tired of it the next thing  i'm going to try is putting a new usb cable into   the mix between the tablet and the machine and  make sure that cable has the little iron ferrule   em things little you know magnet blocks to help  everything communicate smoothly i did something   similar to that with my shipoko pro cnc although  i never had disconnects before with it i haven't   had them since so i don't know but that would be  my first step to try if the disconnects keep on   happening as far as accuracy of the laser engraver  it seems to be fine however my uses for this have   not been something to wear inaccuracies with the  machine or margins of error would play a part   i have not cut anything out to assemble i've not  been making any kind of mortise and tenon joints   or really do anything that allows me or  requires me to assemble what i carve or cut   out so that being said i guess i can't really  speak too much to the accuracy of the machine   it does fine for my uses but again  i'm primarily just engraving surfaces all right let's talk about usability of this  machine in my shop in my real life how much use   have i really gotten out of it and how useful  is it as a tool i am very surprised with laser   engraver it is a tool that was never really on my  radar i was not seeking out a laser engraver when   this company reached out over a month ago they  just were looking for somebody to do a product   review i said sure but i was not expecting to  really like the machine as much as i do this is   not a love relationship between me and the company  it's more a relationship between me and the tool   and the capabilities of such tools so this  applies to all diode lasers co2 lasers probably   and everything else out there that i don't know  anything about the speed of their tour is pretty   good it's able to go up to 10 000 millimeters  per minute which is one of their selling features   i have run a couple of jobs that fast but had  problems with disconnects like i said earlier   which made me step the speed down and once i  stepped the speed down to around 5000 millimeters   per minute i didn't have any other disconnects  or issues so while i can technically go that   fast in my experience i don't run things that  quickly i'm going to create a dedicated video   all about the things you can engrave and  make and do on the laser engraver so i'll   definitely deep dive into that later as far as  usability things you can put on this machine   it's a lot more than you would ever think  well okay it's a lot more than i ever thought   not having researched all the options you can  pretty much laser engrave or etch on all surfaces   within a reason not like crazy surfaces but things  such as ceramic tiles slate stone some metals   some plastics or acrylics you can do  wood of course and you can do glass or   mirrors and it's just you know honestly guys it's  surprising the number of materials that you can   put on this machine and get something off of it  all right no doubt one of the biggest questions   you guys are going to have as far as usability  is how thick of a material can this machine cut   i have not had any luck getting any thicker than  i want to say five millimeters i did load a sheet   of quarter inch mdf on this machine and after so  many passes it finally did start to burn through   but the quality and the time investment and the  outcome was not of anything that i would consider   real life usable so i don't even want to say  the machine can go that far if you're looking   for what thickness and material this machine will  cut i would say you're stuck with something about   this about an eighth of an inch plywood the thin  little wood that you can get off of amazon ebay   wherever the things that most people will use for  coasters or something of the sort that's about as   thick as this machine will cut now i say that  with the footnote of anything's possible with   enough time and enough passes and air assist and  everything else you might be able to add to it   but from a real life usability standpoint  of not spending a couple of hours on one cut   you're really going to be limited to the  thickness of the material with this machine i'm going to call this section shop variables it's  all the things that this machine being in my small   workshop has happened i've had to do and kind  of work around with followers on my channel will   have seen where i built a half inch plywood  backer board and hung the laser on the wall   and then quickly followed up with this table you  see behind me there were no problems with mounting   the laser on the wall for storage absolutely fine  worked great the thing that i really ran into   was the fact that i was starting to use this  machine a lot more than i ever anticipated   and decided to give its own dedicated space in  my workshop being that i use this machine as   much as i do i decided to dedicate some shop  space for it and there's a video on building   that simple little scrap wood table if you're  interested so one thing to take into account   and it's probably something you're going to  be doing anyway if you're looking at a machine   is where will the machine live it's easy enough  to mount this on the wall like i did and put it   on top of a workbench or table saw or any other  tool flat surface whenever you want to use it but   bear in mind that if you're doing this as a side  hustle or small business like i am you may find   that this tool is extremely useful and you may  want to have a more dedicated space for it to live   in addition to that one of the biggest things with  laser engravers is that they will produce smoke   fumes noxious chemicals and things you don't want  to breathe in as your engraving surfaces so you   want to make sure you keep in mind to have  it close to a window with a fan if you need   rudimentary stuff such as i have or possibly put  it on a cart wheel it outside but you want to take   into account and make steps for your ventilation  to be safe you don't want to be huffing stuff in   your shop well i mean i wouldn't want to another  shop varial that i'll talk about more in another   video yeah i got a lot of videos in my mind  here as far as small business workshop stuff   but to just stick to point on this video laser  engravers come with their own set of i won't   say default products or dedicated products but  there are certain things you will want to buy   to make things from so you want to make sure  you've got some storage space lined up or at least   think about it a little bit currently i've been  using the drawers in my cnc table for a lot of   my storage and then other things that i just  have too much of live in their boxes usually   from amazon they ship to in and they just here in  the workshop until i turn them into final products   and ship them out the door if you have  a very small space or limited storage   spaces that's something to take into consideration  just kind of think ahead if you're wanting to go   down the road of a small business making  some money you want to make sure you have   your stock blanks or your material on hand  so you can produce the numbers and anticipate   those products you're selling to be rolling  out that door quick so you can keep up with   customer demand like i said i've got other videos  in mind and i'll talk about this more later it's   much more business-minded so it's not specific  to this tool itself and we'll cover that later all right now we're gonna get to the bullet  point i think a lot of you guys out there are   waiting for and really wanting to know and  that is okay what's wrong with the machine   and where do you see room for improvement so tour  if you're watching this listen up because here's   sam's suggestions for you like he's got any kind  of street cred this machine is marketed as a pro   it has the word pro in its name so it's already  coming with preconceived notions that it would   be a step up from baseline models and have things  in place that lend itself to more production scale   usability at least that's how i interpret the word  pro in a product's name so there are a couple of   things where a tour let me down when i saw or  read that it was a pro getting it in the shop   and realizing that well it's not really pro is it  first and foremost is the x-axis cable management   they do great to give you a drag chain  for your y-axis and that is awesome   but they do nothing for your x-axis as you're  engraving things that wire is going to drag and   roll all over the place if you have very  lightweight objects you're engraving that are not   securely attached to your work surface it's going  to move them and mess things up and otherwise just   kind of get in the way of things i really would  have expected some kind of cable management to be   in place on a pro machine drag chains are super  cheap they didn't have to use a drag link they   could do something other than that but some kind  of solution to keep the wires up off the table   would have been really expected number two on my  needs improvement list is z-axis adjustment this   model has two thumb screws and that's what you  loosen to adjust your z-axis and focus your laser   that's terrible it is so tedious it is not exactly  right even though if you use that spacer you get   it right tighten the screws down you go to move  that spacer it moves a little bit i would really   like to have seen the tool free adjustment come on  this pro machine and not be something you have to   buy extra from our tour having to fiddle with  these thumb screws and everything is annoying   and would leave to people taking shortcuts and  getting lesser quality end products with their   items but then overall just be a bottleneck for  production my recommendation is to add the tool   free z-axis adjustment to the pro out of the  box don't make people pay extra for that the   last improvement that i would give a tour if  anyone out there is listening is to include an   air assist nozzle with this machine as i got  this machine and started to learn more about   diode lasers i quickly learned that having an air  assist system is considered vital by many for any   kind of woodworking and it's something that i went  down the road of well can i get it from a tour   no who can i get it from and i ended up buying  a 3d printed piece from an individual given the   importance and popularity of putting  air assist upgrades on these machines   i really think a tourist should look to adding  the nozzle and tubing at least the nozzle   just the nozzle itself so that their users and  customers can have the step forward for air assist   and really step it up and make their machine more  pro as it's advertised to being pro to begin with all right guys there are my bullet points  my samcraft version of reliability usability   shop variables and improvements to the artur  laser master 2 pro engraver this section has   to have the disclaimer that i did not purchase the  auteur laser myself i was sent it from the company   in exchange for making videos educational  content and providing information to you guys so   the whole question of would you buy it again can't  really relate to me personally but i'll try my   best to answer that question as of the making of  this video the atur laser master 2 pro is around   500 bucks sometimes less sometimes more depending  on where you get it from so considering this is a   five hundred dollar tool would i purchase this one  again or would i get something different that's a   difficult question to answer because this machine  really is good it is 100 usable i have not had any   major problems with it any of my issues i've been  able to overcome and learn workarounds from and   it's still very very usable in fact it's almost  become the new keystone of my small business   which is a big surprise that being said one of  the things i've come to realize with this machine   is while it can do 16 by 16 roughly in engraving  the majority of my projects are small engravings   they're 5 inches square or less so while i don't  need the machine itself to be able to engrave   large things per piece it is nice to have that  much usable work surface to be able to batch out   products again another video coming down the road  so many so many things i'd have to say that after   the month of being used in my shop and literally  making hundreds of items to sell to customers   yes this machine is worth the money i would  buy it again in fact i've been really surprised   at how much this has become a keystone of my  business just in the month that it's been here   now that being said if your goal is not to be a  business you just want a laser engraver to kind   of play around with the world see what it's about  maybe make some things here and there for friends   and family and otherwise you know just have a  cool tool i would probably encourage you to do   some shopping around and look for something that  possibly fits better in your budget if budget is   a concern or footprint in your shop and things of  the sort there are a lot of diode lasers out there   a lot in the world are emerging and so the world  of this type of hobby i don't want to say a hobby   but hobby sized machine and workshops is only  going to grow and grow there's going to be new   manufacturers new models new companies pop up so  definitely always do your own research especially   because you're watching this from the future and  there's no telling what is actually going to be   out there at this time well your time okay i  hear you i hear you you're like sam come on   you didn't really answer the question would  you spend 500 bucks for this machine i gotta   say that would have been a hard sell it would  have been a very hard sell to myself and my   wife and everyone who really cared to say hey  i want to drop 500 bucks on this new machine   this new technology under the pretense of i  think i can make money off of it so in that   case i probably would have stare stepped into this  i would have probably purchased a cheaper model   played with it tested out the waters or  the capabilities and then gone from there   i say probably because i say all  this in front of the shapoko pro cnc   which was my first cnc which is not an entry  level so i don't know hypocrisy abounds   all right guys there you have it same crafts one  month review after many many projects after many   items after changing where it lives in my workshop  and thoughts of the auteur laser master 2 pro   if you have any questions or comments definitely  leave them for me down below i'm sure i didn't   cover everything there are hours and hours worth  of questions comments and commentaries that could   be happening around this machine so definitely  let's drop it down in the comments section and   we can talk about things from there if you have  any questions about anything otherwise or ideas   you'd like to see me make from the shop i'm open  to it otherwise i'm just down here by myself   thinking up things on my own so hey requests  are acceptable otherwise appreciate you guys   watching as always take care i'll see  you guys next time in the workshop   you

Channel: Samcraft

Views: 110,765

Keywords: woodworking, woodturning, small workshop, samcraft, ortur, ortur laser, laser master, laser master 2, laser master 2 pro, ortur pro laser, laser engraver, laser engraving, diode laser, ortur review, is ortur good, how good is ortur, laser master 2 pro review, laser master 2 pro good, honest review, tool review, pros and cons, worth it, should you buy, sam craft

Id: nYsU-aIZUSs

Length: 19min 12sec (1152 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 11 2021