A few days ago I saw Wainlux K6 “most compact, powerful and simple-to-use” laser engraver on Kickstarter for about $159. I did not think too much of it at the time, but this morning I thought it already showed up for pre-order on GearBest for $129.99 as Alfawise C50. But I was mistaken, as both products are different, albeit sharing some of the same attributes.
Nevertheless, this brought back my curiosity about these types of devices, especially with Wainlux K6 having already managed to raise over $200,000 from close to 1,400 backers so far. So let’s look at both.
Wainlux K6 Laser Engraver
Key features and specifications:
- Laser Source – OSRAM Semiconductor blue color laser
- Laser Power – Up to 3,000 mW, 100 adjustable levels of power
- Engraving area – 8 x 8 cm
- Routing Speed – 1500 mm/min maximum
- Resolution – 508 dpi adjustable
- Lifetime Estimation – 10,000 hours
- Supported materials – Paper-board, fabric, wood, leather, felt, plastic, bamboo, rubber, acrylic, metal spray, paint, cookies, etc…
- Continuous working time – Up to 8 hours without overheating
- Host Connectivity – WiFi or USB
- Misc – D-Pad like button on top to control the machine
- Power Input – AC 110-220V, 47-63Hz
- Weight – 900 grams
- Materials: ABS + Aluminum alloy
Wainlux K6 can be controller by your smartphone over WiFi with iOS 10+ or Android 4.4+, as well as computers and laptops running Microsoft Windows or Mac OS over USB or WiFi. All you need to do is to load a photo in JPEG/ JPG/ PNG/ BMP and the engraving starts. Based on info provided by the company, it looks like there’s no app to install on the phone, but as soon as you connect to the laser engraver WiFi access point, a shortcut will be installed to let you start.
If you’d like to go ahead and pledge for one of the remaining rewards, you should expect your Wainlux K6 laser engraver to ship in September 2020. It’s their third model after K2 and K4, so hopefully, there won’t be any issues.
AlfaWise C50 Mini Laser Engraver
Alfawise C50 mini laser engraver has a similar cubic design and green protective glass, but specifications are not quite as good as the ones for Wainlux K6:
- Laser Source – OSRAM laser chip
- Laser Power – Up to 1,600 mW
- Engraving area – 10 x 9 cm
- Resolution – 508 dpi adjustable
- Lifetime Estimation – 10,000 hours
- Supported materials – “Multi-material” including wood, paper products, bamboo, leather, plastic, ceramics, “oxide or lacquer of metal”
- Host Connectivity – WiFi
- Misc – One key to repeat engraving, G-Sensor to detect fall or collision and stop operation
- Power Supply – 5V/2A or 12V/2A
- Dimensions – 24 x 24 x 17.40 cm (package)
- Weight – 900 grams
- Materials – ABS + Aluminum alloy
The device is support for work in Windows, Android, or iOS. I could only find the “Mini laser engraving machine” app on the Apple store, however. It’s unclear where/when the Android app and Windows program will be available. The device firmware can also be upgraded through the app.
Alfawise C50 does not look so bad actually with the main differences being the laser power and the lack of USB port. It’s also unclear whether it can print on all materials supported by Wainlux K6. Alfawise C50 should start shipping a bit earlier than its competitor as Gearbest plans to start shipping on August 6.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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The first one could be an interesting device for those willing to begin with laser engraving. With 3W you can engrave a lot of stuff and even cut color plexiglass and thin plywood or balsa. Even with such a small surface there are plenty of possibilities to make very fine PCBs using spray paint.
However what’s not shown in the video is how the focus is adjusted, which is *the* painful part when using a laser engraver. It claims 50um resolution (508 DPI) but that’s necessarily at a precise distance. I suspect that instead they adjusted the focus so that the dot is this thin at 1cm from the table and that anything not perfectly placed will be less precise, but I doubt they can achieve 50um at several cm from the laser output. Or maybe you have to adjust the beam’s focus yourself by turning the lens, which is by far the worst solution (you never know when it’s really well focused until you try to engrave).
Interesting device!
I browsed the Wainlux kickstarter campaign.
It seems a bit strange to me that they state a 10.000+ hr lifespan, but still allow you to add an extra laser unit.
Also the engraved baseball looks nice, but in that case your image should take care of the distortion that appears because the surface is not flat.
(try to visualise projecting a large square on the ball and think what happens. you may want to extend the square until the corners do not touch the ball any more).
But all-in-all this looks quite nice. Also the cutter functionality is quite nice (but I have no idea on the kind of materials and thickness that can be cut).
Edit: willy’s reply did come in while I was typing this. I totally forgot about focus but that is also an interesting issue. Still a nice gadget though.
“It’s their third model after K2 and K4, so hopefully, there won’t be any issues.”
That appears to be a forlorn hope , mine arrived but software – if it can be called that – is clunky and whilst it will connect to my Mac it does nothing. Not just me having issues, checkout
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2109720319/engrave-your-creativity-anytime/comments
Very disappointing from an established name…..
Alfawise C50 is a piece of junk, drops Bluetooth connection when receiving the job file, checked with multiple Android devices with the same result. No other compatible software available. Useless, waste of money.