A Beginner's Guide to the Gweikecloud CO2 Laser Cutter - Full Tutorial
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ค. 2024
- Sooo I got a laser cutter! The Gweikecloud Pro II is exactly what my husband and I needed to round out our fabrication hobbies! Not only is it cheaper than a Glowforge, it's also manufactured by a company with over 17 years of experience in industrial laser production! This video will take you though my thought process on getting a laser, choosing which laser to purchase, and a quick laser project to show you how it works.
Want to get one for yourself? Visit the Gweikecloud website using my affiliate link below and get $150 off your purchase!
www.gweikecloud.com/discount/...
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Where to buy supplies:
Columbia Forest at Home Depot (www.homedepot.com/s/columbia%...)
Craft Closet (craftcloset.com)
Smokey Hill Designs (smokeyhilldesigns.com/)
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I was looking at this brand a few months ago. Watching this video seals the deal. Not only that, but it's on sale and a coupon. Side note: you did this video on my 65th birthday. Thank you!
Happy birthday!!! I hope you enjoy the machine as much as I have. It’s unlocked a lot of creative ideas I didn’t even realize I had!
I have gotten hooked on using a laser cutter at my public library’s makerspace. It’s been great for cutting cork fabric with precision and with edges that will not ravel. Great for other fabric, thin wood, cardboard, paper, acrylic (yes for templates!). Not as convenient as having one’s own, but it’s absolutely free!
Excellent video, thanks for sharing
I’m so glad I found you! Mine is on the way, and I’m going to check out all of your videos!
YAY!!! I hope you have a lot of fun with it! I'm so addicted to laser cutting now that I've got a flippin' industrial laser on the way to go WITH the Gweikecloud!!! You'll also have the new rotary. I'm jealous! I've had issues doing wine glasses on the older rotary (4-wheel) style.
outstanding presentation. Thank you. Please put out more information on the Gweikecloud pro. I have had mine for about a month now and learned a lot of neat things from watching this
Glad it was helpful! I’ll definitely be doing more!
So cool!! Would love love love to have one to cut acrylic bag pattern templates!
Absolutely love this. I’ve been looking at a Glowforge for aaaages Something made me hold back - think I knew we were all being ripped off. I ended upgetting a embroidery machine lately and constantly on TH-cam learning. It was so nice to see somebody whose head is everywhere in the world of crafting. Looking forward to how your sewing/ embroidery loves mingles with the laser world
PS Lookingto see if I can get this machine in the UK
You can! Gweikecloud has a distribution center in the UK, so you should be able to get one there instead of having it shipped from China.
Good video and thank you, but just wish you talked about the focus part in light burn settings. Thats what i was needing to know. I have spent a few hours already trying to get this machine to cut and It is telling me my Z in to close to zero and I have tried to adjust but it's still a no go.
OH… I recall it being really weird! Like 17 minus the height of the material is the focus setting for Z. I upgraded and gave my Gweike to a friend so I can’t reference it now. Are you in their official Facebook group? It’s a really good resource!
Love the Goonies t-shirt. Best movie ever!!
Super cool! I am not so great with technology. The thought of learning two software programs completely overwhelms me. I need to find a friend with one, lol.
I’m just stubborn and watch a lot of tutorial videos to get my bearings.
Amazing that you got it in 3 days, I ordered mine 1 month ago and I'm struggling with them just to ensure it's out of the factory, note I'm not a US Based
Ahhh yeah the US-based thing is probably why. Gweike has distribution centers here.
I really enjoyed watching this. Thank you for taking the time. Can it cut Lucite??
Hmm I’m not sure! I’ll look into it!
Hello, I just bought this machine and I am guided by your video. It has helped me a lot =D
A question, do you know if the sound that the water cycle makes can be deactivated while the cutter is on, but without carrying out cutting work?
No you can't stop the water flow - this is a glass tube CO2 laser, which means the water is being pumped into and through the glass tube to act as a conductor for the laser current. You gotta leave that on! It should be filled by default with antifreeze though? Is it not blue?
so grateful I found you! this tutorial has made more sense and encouraged me to actually open the box and get my Gweike (Nox) earning its keep! still terrified, but feeling braver. thank you!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!!
@@fiercekittenz oh my gosh, if you can ever present a guide to the ‘installation of cloud software on laptop’ that would be awesome. I have got the wretched thing on the table, air filters in… but the tech side leaves me cold! That said, my kids wouldn’t even let me near the tV remote, to I always knew this was going to be a steep learning curve! I come from the land of pencils and paper. No false modesty here, just good old fashioned novice! 😱
I have the same machine like you. Have you ever had the issue of engravings not turning out really dark especially on oak? I had. And also soot and resin like material accumulating around the nozzle tip? Had you ever had any of these issues? Still trying to get used to my machine. Thank you for the review!
The darkness of the engraving depends on the material. Some woods will engrave darker than others. For example, I have boards of Hickory that engrave very dark, but then the Maple not so much. Have you kept the cover over the laser head? You really should. It helps direct the air flow from the air assist and keep dust from popping back up into the nozzle. Eventually that'll wreck your lens. I keep the cover on all of the time.
Hi i am a newbie as well and have the gweike. Correct me if i’m wrong but you still need the filter box because the air assist is there. You need the air assist to prevent burning.
The filter box is there to pull out the smoke and fumes and push them out (to a window, secondary filtration unit, garage door). The air assist is there to help blow away debris from the working area under the laser head for a cleaner result (also less fires). They work together :)
OH, also would LOVE to hear about your experience with the Gweike!!!
@@fiercekittenz They could be talking about the older units (like what I have). It had a separate box that contained an air filter and the air assist air pump inside of it. The duct connections would be: [laser housing] -> [air filter/air assist box] -> [inline dust fan] -> [window or other portal to outside]. The newer units have the air assist's air pump built inside of the laser housing.
The clack shack has good video on how to do light burn upgrade
Oh heck yeah thanks!!! I haven't updated much on the Gweike in a while now.
love this! I've been eyeing the glowforge for several months but its way too expensive for me to justify buying it. I would love to see how you make bag tags since that's my main hobby (side business)!
I’m about to make a batch for a fellow streamer! I’ll record it :)
Thank you so much for making this video. ❤ truly helped me keep my sanity😂 In your video you used a new sheet, how do you position your image if your material sheet is not new? I went back forth with gweike tech about this. Perhaps it's my english 😢
I have a long, metal ruler that is in millimeters. I measure how far the area is from the top and how far the area is from the right, reposition the artwork then do a frame from Lightburn to check the laser position.
Awesome, thank you!
I love mine for thick card patterns and prototyping with eva foam to test my designs. Avoid vinyl it fumes chlorine gas.
Oh yeah I read up on vinyl. I have my Cricut for fabrics.
I don't think I can go back without the camera feature, so I'd love to hear if you have any future success with that. But ahhh affiliate code, nooo, don't tempt me. ;) I can't wait to see all the things you make and would love to see a video specifically on setting up a couple different kinds of materials or "things you can do" videos!
Oh HECK yeah! That’s a good idea!
I'm using the gweikecloud off line software and they can't connect to the camera. can you please help on what settings i need to set?
I was never able to get it to work with the camera and just used paper or cardboard to cut out the shape of my engraved objects and place it in side for the real engraving pass. They have their own customer support system though. I am afraid I am not qualified to provide assistance.
Did you cut thicker wood? I tried to engrave on 12mm plywood but laser head is touching the plywood and I have no idea what Im doig wrong.
Yes I have! You might have to take the honeycomb tray out to avoid hitting the material though.
Thank you for sharing. What is the noise level?
It's not nearly as bad as my 10-needle embroidery machine! Basically it's the air filtration system that makes the white noise and it's just that, white noise. It doesn't really impact me enough to need headphones or anything like that.
Can you go over in detail what software to use
I can try in future videos! I've been using Lightburn and they have a ton of tutorials here on TH-cam.
Would you or anyone in here have a solution why my laser won’t fire in Light burn, not the gweike cloud software, on initial set up in Windows? I can set up the device in light burn, move and frame the laser head but it wont fire the laser and the button on top throws an error and turns red every time. I’m not sure if I had to download a driver or not in Windows. If you have a video on this set up for Windows please let me know. thank you again for the video.
Make sure that the design isn't too close to the edge. The laser head has to move like a pendulum. The faster you want it to cut or engrave, the more room it needs away from the edge. Try to center the design and see if that fixes the problem. If that does NOT then it may be a power supply issue - you'll have to reach out to support :(
You da bomb thanks for the reply and I will see if that works
I been waiting for approval for there FB and thanks again
Can it cut leather for bag patterns?
Yeeeeep! The leather has to be treated with vegan dyes though. When it burns, it's putting out chemicals in the air. That's why you want the filtration system, but even that system can't help much if you're cutting into plastics. It's not a machine meant to cut vinyl or plastic items for sure. There's LOTS of people who do engravings on leather and make patches for hats or bags though. I'm seeing bag labels in my future.
Never would have guessed that the company was pronounced gee-wee. For materials test, I’d like to see cork being made into name tags. My husband and I are debating CO2 vs Diode. I say diode because it’s just a couple bucks more than a Scan n Cut. I just want to see a clean cut on my strap connectors and not the scissor cuts. 🙄 Great video!
I may have a diode laser coming from a company that wants me to try it out. I agree the pricing is a lot better than a CO2! I can see about getting some cork. The stuff I have isn't for bagmaking, but for lining the bottoms of coasters.
Did you order you machine from the gweike website directly?
I did!
Hello, is it normal that it makes so much noise??? It is a very annoying sound
Yes. Most lasers are going to be a touch on the noisy side :( It's all the movement in the X/Y rails that causes it. I agree, it's kind of annoying LOL! I try so hard to dampen it when I edit the videos.
Have you gotten smoke alarm ?
In what context? We have smoke detectors everywhere. However, I am using this in my garage with the door wide open and the exhaust going out the side of the house.
Is your coupon code still valid?
It SHOULD be, but if they have sales (which they usually do), the sales price is better than whatever discount you'd get from my code.
ma'am stop making me want to get a laser cutter and a 3D printer. Please lol (mostly because honestly, it would make my life MUCH easier with soap)
also I have many MANY questions lol mostly - how thick is the thickest material (mostly acrylic) that you can cut with it?
1/4" with one pass for the acrylic. I can cut up to 1/2" plywood, though I haven't tried yet. I just know the machine is capable of it. CO2 lasers do NOT cut metal though. Gotta get a fiber laser for that kind of shenanigans.
@@fiercekittenz no metal cutting. 1/4" doesn't seem too bad, I'd have to stack some pieces together to make the molds I want but I'm not too fussy about it
What about service who do you contact for parts? You will be forced to communicate over What's App and due to time zones, it's a challenge. No direct organized way to get parts. Your review should include the full experience, more important for a business down time is very important.
I believe I did mention it? If I didn't, HUGE mistake, because you're right! It's absolutely a big part of taking on any of these lasers. If they don't have US-based support, it's harder for beginners to adopt these machines.