Engrave Everything – Ortur Laser Engraver for under $150

No gadget for everyday life, and nothing that you just do on the side. But if you have use for it, you can make some nice things with a laser engraver. Supposedly also with the Ortur laser engraver, which GearBest sells for under $150.

Ortur Laser Engraver for $148,37 at GearBest

Safety first

We would like to start with the safety warning: Be careful when working with a laser. This thing is potentially dangerous to both skin and eyes. Hopefully, you will find safety goggles here – they are also absolutely necessary if you operate the machine. Also, of course, nobody else should be in the room. Do not look directly into the laser, even with goggles.

But the laser-engraver has some built-in protection mechanisms. A motion sensor detects movement or tilt of the device, and stops the laser automatically. Even if the connection to the computer is lost (because the cable is pulled), the laser will shut down. And even if the device is not in motion for a longer period of time, it will be switched off.

It’s Lasertime

What exactly a laser engraver does is probably not going to need much explanation. A laser is used to engrave text, images or patterns on a flat surface. Not all, but many different materials are suitable for this. In addition to wood and bamboo, there is also plastic, leather and metal, the latter, however, not in any form.

The area that can be engraved in one session is 160 x 150 mm. The accuracy of the engraving is 12.5 μm. The Engraver does not need much space either, with 38,7 x 27,2 cm it fits comfortably on the workbench. The object to be engraved is simply placed in front of it.

The Laser Engraver does not come fully assembled, but still needs to be set up. So you should bring a little bit of fun with tinkering and screwing. According to the description the assembly is done in a few minutes. Despite similar promises we have experienced this differently, but we are cautiously optimistic that this is true.

Evaluation

All this is only a very superficial view of the subject. How reliable and fast does the device work? How well do the protective mechanisms work?At first sight the Ortus Laser Master is only a relatively cheap laser-engraver. This alone might be enough for the one or other handyman to have a look at it.

Our last Laser-Engraver is already a while ago. You can design some nice things with it, but we are not sure yet if we want to take a closer look at it. We’re more fans of 3D printers these days. 🙂 What’s your opinion on this topic?