Anyone have a GCC LaserPro?

[PenSigns]

After shopping around for months, just about to make the deal on a GCC LaserPro X252 80 watt. Anyone have one of these, or experience with GCC? Trotec price was kinda hard to swallow, and even Epilog doesn't seem to give as much bang for the buck. Tired of farming out, and need the ability to cut acrylic in house.

 

[V-ENGRAVE]

Just to clarify.....GCC LaserPro X252 is a glass tube water cooled unit.......Huge drop off from Trotec, Epilog, ULS laser systems.
GCC machines with Synrad tubes are priced in line with other western made machines.

 

[PenSigns]

but we can still accomplish the same results; cutting acrylic, engraving wood and plastic? Is it that the glass tube won't last as long? Is there a big difference with the beam?

 

[Gene@mpls]

Glass tube indicates Chicom manufacture, tread lightly- there are terrible and there are good mfgrs. Gcc appears to be Taiwanese, if you are not familiar with the technology you might want to try a N. American company which imports chinese lasers and actually support them. Gene

 

[V-ENGRAVE]

Yes that is true, glass tubes do not last long but are inexpensive to replace.
For cutting they are fine but engraving will be of lesser quality that western machines and nowhere as fast as Trotecs or Gravograph or even Epilog and ULS.

As Gene said best to go about buying Chinese machines is get it from N. American importers that support and have a back up parts for replacement.

 

[CanuckSigns]

but we can still accomplish the same results; cutting acrylic, engraving wood and plastic? Is it that the glass tube won't last as long? Is there a big difference with the beam?

I've owned 6 trotecs over the last 15 years, they are complete workhorses. I'm not super familiar with the chinese units, but if you check out the sawmill creek forum they have a section dedicated to engraving and laser engraving. From what i've heard the glass tubes are pretty bad, yes they will do the job, the same way a cheap harbor freight drill will do the job, but it's not ideal for a production environment.

The glass tubes will wear out very quickly, they are fairly cheap to replace (a few hundred $ I believe) If you run them above 80% power they wear out in a matter of days, so keep that in mind when deciding how many watts you want, an 80 watt machine has a useable output of around 60 watts, which will degrade further as the tube wears out. There are also many complaints on the sawmill creek forum of people recieving replacement tubes that are DOA from China which puts them out of production until a new one arrives.

As someone else posted, if you don't want to invest in a American or European made machine, at least consider a Chinese machine with offices in the USA, I believe one such company is called rabbit lasers.

 

[PenSigns]

Thanks Watson! I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone on here!
Ya I first heard of GCC poking around on Sawmill, and I didn't see any bad reviews other than customer service. The GCC is carried by Stahls out of Concord Ont. The rep tells me the tube is covered for one year, considered a consumable, 10,000 hours burn time / $850.00. If we buy it, they are going to ship it out with their tech guy to install it and train us - included in the price of 13k (with a honeycomb table and a rotary attachment). We farm out a lot of acrylic cutting, and really want to be able to do it in house.
But everyone's feedback so far seems to be say stay away from GCC. :-/ I know Trotec is the workhorse, Epilog has a good rep (although I've read some reviews who say they no longer recommend Epilog?), I worked on a Universal YEARS ago back when lasers were new. I don't want to waste our money.... but it is less than half the price of the Big Boys and will give us the ability to cut acrylic... replace the tube every year?
Or am I just asking for trouble?

 

[CanuckSigns]

Thanks Watson! I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone on here!
Ya I first heard of GCC poking around on Sawmill, and I didn't see any bad reviews other than customer service. The GCC is carried by Stahls out of Concord Ont. The rep tells me the tube is covered for one year, considered a consumable, 10,000 hours burn time / $850.00. If we buy it, they are going to ship it out with their tech guy to install it and train us - included in the price of 13k (with a honeycomb table and a rotary attachment). We farm out a lot of acrylic cutting, and really want to be able to do it in house.
But everyone's feedback so far seems to be say stay away from GCC. :-/ I know Trotec is the workhorse, Epilog has a good rep (although I've read some reviews who say they no longer recommend Epilog?), I worked on a Universal YEARS ago back when lasers were new. I don't want to waste our money.... but it is less than half the price of the Big Boys and will give us the ability to cut acrylic... replace the tube every year?
Or am I just asking for trouble?

As long as you go into it knowing the quality level of machine you are buying and are ok with the machine potentially requiring a bit of TLC I Thi k you will be fine.

 

[V-ENGRAVE]

One thing you could do is go to RB Digital in Vancouver and get them to run you some samples of cutting and engraving with GCC X252.
Yes RB digital is another distributor of GCC along with Stahls and TG Graphics.

 

[rossmosh]

GCC is about the same as Epilog as far as quality is concerned. GCC is just a funny company. They were distributed through some sign company website (forget which) not long ago and maybe still are. The issue is, getting them fixed. I have a friend with one and when something goes bad, he needs to fly in a tech to fix it. If your handy, this is less of an issue, but if you're not handy, it's problematic.

What you need to decide is what you're buying the machine for. If you're buying just to vector cut, it's almost stupid to buy anything but a big Chinese machine. They're cheap, powerful, big, and do a pretty decent job. I wouldn't expect crazy tolerances but if you're talking about cutting letters, numbers, and sign blanks out of acrylic, they are more than acceptable. If you're looking to do mostly engraving and some cutting, you should really spend the extra money and get a "western" machine like a Trotec, ULS, Epilog, etc.

 

[fixtureman]

I have a Gweike laser that I cut Acrylic all the time. I have used it for 3 years amd it still cuts fine. It will cut just as fast as a Trotec

 

[Gene@mpls]

By the by- the 10,000 hours is not burn time, we have determined that is is time from manufacture- even if not used. That said, for the price of a US tube (or recharge) you can buy a lot of glass tubes. Gene

 

[PenSigns]

One thing you could do is go to RB Digital in Vancouver and get them to run you some samples of cutting and engraving with GCC X252.
Yes RB digital is another distributor of GCC along with Stahls and TG Graphics.

Great thanks! I didn't know about RB... would save a bit on shipping.

 

[PenSigns]

Wow, from manufacture! *sigh* sometimes being a consumer is exhausting... Do they put manufacture date on the tubes? so you can check before you buy?

Thanks so much for the great info Gene... and everyone else too! This place it great

 

[fixtureman]

Yes the date is on the tube and the warranty starts at that date so you may only have a couple of months on a 1 year warranty/

 

[PenSigns]

Huge thanks to everyone's input on this, you all helped saved us from what probably would have ultimately been a huge headache!
Just signed a deal on an Epilog Helix 60 watt, coming mid January. Can't wait!

 

[bigben]

Congratulations on the new toy! Do you mind sharing how much you paid? I'm always curious how much lasers go for in Canada. I'd love to add one to our shop once we get more space.

Idem here.

 

[PenSigns]

Congratulations on the new toy! Do you mind sharing how much you paid? I'm always curious how much lasers go for in Canada. I'd love to add one to our shop once we get more space.

Just over 25K, on lease over 60.