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Why did I agree to review the AtomStack Kraft?
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It’s simple really. They met my 3 criteria to consider a laser for review.
- It’s new to market – the market hasn’t been saturated by video reviews yet
- It’s Class 1 safe including a purpose built enclosure with all interlocks and safety features designed directly into it instead of an afterthought and it even includes built in fire suppression as part of the air assist module
- It’s innovative. The Dual mode Diode and IR module can be selected to combine both lasers into a single beam output. This is a first-to-market design that was worth of a good look.
The laser is currently on my bench running test patterns and test images. For wood, so far there was no noticeable difference when adding the IR to the Diode (combined beam) but for things like black acrylic and stainless steel the results are huge! I’m going to run through a variety of materials before I really get into any serious project just to try to get a handle on how the combined beam works.
It does also function as IR only, but be aware that at 1.2W you have to go really slow. However the results are REALLY good if you are patient.
Testing Results
Materials
| Testted Material | Engraving Notes |
|---|---|
| Wood | Diode only. IR does not generally work on wood and there is no noticeable difference when running Dual mode. The Diode is doing all of the work |
| Stainless Steel | The Kraft is fantastic for Stainless Steel. All 3 modes produce results and playing around with the power, speed and line interval for each mode can produce a wide variety of marking options |
| Brass | The Diode does not have any noticeable marking on brass sheet. IR or Dual mode produce the same results as it is the IR doing all of the work. 7000mm/m at 80% produced good results |
| Aluminum (uncoated) | Similar results to Brass. The Diode has no effect while the IR does all the work. You can however go at a much faster speed with the IR here. 30,000mm/m produced respectable results at 80% power. |
| Aluminum (coated – business card) | Diode only leaves the shiny aluminum exposed under the coating. IR only removes the coating fine but if you are overpowered or too slow it shows signs of burning. Diode+IR is fantastic here. I was able to crank up the speed to 18,000 running both at 80% and got a nice frosted look where it took the coating off and frosted the aluminum. All 3 modes can produce good results and it’s all about finding the right settings. |
| Leather | All 3 modes produce results that vary from deep material removal (diode) to surface marking (IR). When combined you get a nice clean all around engraving. |
| Silicone Watch Band | Diode only – No noticeable marking with IR. The results are moderate with the diode and can probably do better with some tuning of the settings but I didn’t have enough of these on hand to sacrifice for testing. |
| Circuit Board Wafer | Diode does not do anything to this material. The 1.2W IR is not strong enough to ablate away the conductive surface. Possibly with a half dozen more passes however the speed on this was so low already that I did not see the need to continue testing. Creates a neat look though. |
Pros
- Designed with safety in mind from the ground up. This is not an existing form factor with a lid and base quickly slapped onto it like some others. This was built with Class 1 rating in mind including integrated interlock pins and a built in water based fire suppression to the air assist module.
- The dual Diode+IR in a single module is not new, however the ability to combine both laser wavelengths into a single beam is. The addition of the Diode+IR single beam does have an impact on engraving and expands your capabilities.
- LARGE work surface. The 19.6×12.6″ (500x320mm) work area easily accommodates most pre-cut laser suppliers materials making it one of the class leaders for usable work area on a Class 1 diode laser.
- This thing is sturdy and the build quality is terrific. Weighing in at just over 50lb (23.6Kg) it stays steady on your work surface and produces nice crisp detail.
- Auto Focus. Move the laser head over your workpiece and click the Auto Focus button. That’s it! Just remember to home the machine again before starting your job to reset the position if you moved the laser head by hand, or use start from Current Position.
Cons
- No removable crumb tray. The honeycomb is a bit finicky to get in and out past the laser module and I’ve found I have to remove the module to remove the bed. Since there is no crumb tray underneath, you must remove the honeycomb to clean it out so the whole process could use some refinement
- The camera so far has been unusable. The fish eye is so pronounced in LightBurn that even when staying well within the guides they provided that unless you are dead center, circles read as ovals and placement drift is quickly noticeable. When using AtomStack Studio, it’s still quite a bit off. Thankfully the crosshair laser is spot on once you set your offset properly which brings me to the next con.
- (LightBurn Only) The target laser offset is not configured for LightBurn in the .lbdev file. I found that I had to add X 0.50mm / Y 35.5mm to get so that the center of the X target laser is where the burn will happen. You can use this combined with a start from Current Position setting and get very good results instead of using the camera.
- The target laser is not usable in AtomStack Studio at all. There is no offset configuration that I can find so watching the cross hairs for framing is not going to show where the engraving will happen.
- The 1.2W IR is definitely under powered, but it’s a 1st generation design so I expect this might improve in future models. While it produces fantastic results, you have to be very patient with slow speeds and high power.
- The 20W Diode is on the lower end of the cutting performance when compared to other 20W modules. It does get the job done and I’m assuming there is some sacrifice for the inclusion of the IR in then same package.
- LightBurn is not able to independently control the Diode and IR. You will need to use AtomStack Studio to individually set those parameters for fine control. I’m reaching out to AtomStack to determine how the IR is handled in LightBurn when in dual mode.
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