Yes; Sometimes it can, however, this requires professional lifting services and in some cases we would need to disassemble and rebuild the machine in situe. In such circumstances extra charges will apply therefore careful pre-purchase planning is essential
LEV (Local Extraction and Ventilation) are a set of COSHH regulations enforced by law for any device that is used to remove potentially harmful contaminants from the workplace. Under the law any device falling within the scope of LEV must be tested and certified at minimum every 14 calendar months and records for such tests held of a minimum period of 5 years. Failure to adhere to the requirements is punishable by law with significant penalties including imprisonment. A professional accreditation called P601 exists whereby certified engineers have undertaken and passed rigorous training and testing to the LEV standards. We therefore recommend that only P601 certified contractors are used to test/certify devices under LEV regulations.
We do not offer auto focus as a feature primarily because it does not work well. Machines that use sensors will only scan a small section of the material and find the highest point and such devices will not work well with transparent materials, like clear acrylic. Machines that use probes add excessive weight to the focus carriage that deteriorates performance and output quality as well as not allowing processing of some parts as the probe can collide with the part. Machines that use focusing by software are prone to expensive accidents when a head collision with the table occurs. We feel our design is simpler, safer and more practical to use and by not having auto focus Blu is less cost to purchase too.
Blu is designed primarily as a cutting laser that can engrave, which is why for laser cutting applications it can often outperform other plotter format lasers that are x3 or x4 its cost. This is because those alternative machines are primarily designed as engraving lasers that can cut. Despite what others may claim there is a difference. Good engraving lasers in a plotter format will have a lightweight focus carriage and either no air assist or a very narrow air assist hose. Our focus carriage is heavier because it carries a large diameter hose and a heavy duty nosecone, which is better for cutting. Blu also incorporates a DC laser source, which is good for cutting. RF laser alternatives are better for engraving because the RF technology can deliver a faster pulse (pulse rise/fall). Higher power DC lasers are more affordable but RF lasers are not. Generally, cutting sheet materials like acrylic does not require a laser with a fast rise/fall; more benefit can be had from having a higher power in Watts. Therefore the design of Blu is primarily for cutting applications, hence why we call it a laser cutter.
A rotary device is primarily used for engraving applications. Blu is not designed as a laser engraver; its core design is for cutting sheet materials <25mm thickness. At Lotus we specialise in the technology of laser materials processing, so we have other designs of machines that do have rotary devices and greater material clearance.
Some DC lasers can be purchased for less than £100 but typically these will be of a very poor design and manufacture quality. Some manufacturers of such products warrant them for only 1 month so they are often out of warranty before they are even fitted to the machine. It is therefore left to the reseller to offer the warranty and to lower their risk some will offer purchasers short warranty periods. At Lotus we take great care to buy well made lasers from reliable sources but even so, we then grade in-house all of the lasers that we purchase. Unfortunately, this does result in us rejecting some of the lasers we buy, which adds to our costs. As a result of our strict QC process we have installed machines where the DC CO2 laser has lasted in excess of 2 years so we are confident to offer a 2 year warranty for all of our DC CO2 lasers.
