Do you need a laser or a CAM machine? Safety first! How easy are Trotec lasers to use? How much power do I need? What work area is ideal? What is air assist? Growing your system! Drivers for PC and Mac? Software compatibility! Can I incorporate different cutting parameters in one project? Can I re-access jobs sent to the machine without re-sending? How fast are lasers! How reliable are Trotec Lasers? What maintenance do lasers need? How long can I expect my system to be supported? How long is the Trotec laser Warranty? Training Do you need a laser or a CAM machine? Back to Top
The honest answer is that both pieces of equipment are valuable to the DT curriculum when teaching CAD/CAM. Knowing that budgets for this type of equipment are usually a one off you need to consider your options. How often will you use the equipment, is it part of your planned delivery and what learning experiences are your students gaining? The Laser is the latest piece of "must have" equipment for DT, it is very easy to use. It will produce high quality graphics and 2D cutting of organic materials (not metals). Lasers will cut profiles and will engrave on a wide range of materials without the need to compensate for cutter width in the main. The laser leaves a high quality finished edge on plastics that do not require polishing. The down side is that they will not cut to set depths (blind holes) and running costs can be high when you come to replace the laser tube in the future. We also feel that a laser is mainly a KS2/3 curriculum tool as there is little educational value beyond this key stage. Remember the learning and creative experience is important. We do recommend that another priority purchase be a 3D router. A 3D router gives you the capability to engrave/cut profiles in 2D, as well as 3D modelling in a wide range of materials. Safety first! Back to Top
All Trotec Laser Systems have a safety interlocked cover which shuts down the laser beam if opened making them completely safe for use by pupils of staff alike. ULS machines are designated Class II/Class III (a). Class II lasers are safe to use in the classroom as access to the laser beam is interlocked and the laser cannot be activated with the doors open. Attempting access during use will shut off the laser beam. The Class III (a) classification is due to the visible red laser light pointer and is the same classification used for laser pointers. Class III (a) laser devices are considered relatively harmless. Class IV machines (this doesn't apply to Trotec Laser Systems) allow lasers to operate with the access doors open are and are considered hazardous. It should also be noted using lasers without full enclosure allows fumes and dust into the workplace.
We recommend lasers should always be attended during use. How easy are Trotec Lasers to use? Back to Top
The rule of thumb is if you can create a graphics file and use an office printer you will have no problem with the laser, the graphics package is far more complex than the lasers printer. In practice the project is drawn in your graphics package and different colors used to designate different processes, i.e. black for text and graphics, blue for inside contours and red for outside very similar to cut by color options. Each of the line colors can be designated laser characteristics such as power, speed and ppi, these are specified within the lasers printer driver.
To make life even easier the Trotec printer driver also includes pre-set settings for popular materials in the classroom. How much power do I need? Back to Top
Any of the Trotec lasers will cover a huge spectrum of applications, and anything over a 25 watt laser is ample for the classroom. The rule of thumb is the more powerful the laser cartridge the faster it can engrave and cut the project and the thicker material it could be made from. Budgetary limitations may well make the choice for you and outside of this we suggest you look at the size of projects you wish to manufacture and how much power will do the job efficiently. 15 Watts - Lower power level for light engraving and thin material cutting.
25-30 Watts - Entry power level for standard engraving and cutting operations at moderate speed and high-speed low power engraving.
40-60 Watts - Moderate power level for deeper, high speed engraving and thick cutting operations at moderate speed.
70-80 Watts - Moderate high power level ideal for higher throughput, deep engraving and cutting.
90-120 Watts - High power ideal for heavy cutting and deep, higher throughput engraving.
150+ Watts - Extreme power for deep engraving at high speeds; faster cutting for very thick materials. May not be suitable for light engraving and marking. Trotec lasers can take advantage of changing the available power by changing the tube; grow your system with your needs. What work area is ideal? Back to Top
The work area you need will be decided by how large your projects are and how much depth do you need to load them? Work areas are detailed on the product pages. Trotec machines access the full cutting area we specify! If at all possible buying a machine with a little more coverage is always best, youŽll always grow into it. What is air assist? Back to Top
Air assist affords some protection for the optics and helps suppress flaming, its recommended for cutting/marking in the classroom. Air assist works by sending a pressurized stream of air in line with the laser beam. The air-flow can be tuned to high or low settings or turned off if not required by the JobControl software. Growing your system! Back to Top
Trotec lasers can take advantage of changing the available power by changing the tube; grow your system with your needs. As an alternative we will always part exchange your machine against a newer bigger, more powerful laser. Drivers for PC and Mac? Back to Top
Drivers are only available for PC's Software compatibility! Back to Top
The laser uses the color from your graphic to link with the settings in the printer driver so you must specify the exact colors that the laser responds to (you will appreciate many shades are possible). If your software allows adjustment of the colors then you should be able to tune them together; we have plenty of experience in this area you can call upon. CorelDRAW is used by laser professionals the world over and represents good value for money when you consider the programs ability to handle vector and image files, you can even create 3D effects using shading. Can I incorporate different cutting parameters in one project? Back to Top
Trotec laser systems can make use of up to a dozen individual thickness, power, speed and PPI (resolution) settings plus raster or vector settings within a project. Can I re-access jobs sent to the machine without re-sending? Back to Top
Professional platform machines can hold hundreds of files in memory, these are all accessible from the JobControl software. To repeat any of these jobs you can specify it through the display and run the project repeatedly leaving your computer free to design on. How fast are lasers! Back to Top
If speed is important to you any Trotec laser is the fastest in their class. Regardless of the cutting speeds lasered jobs are discernable by their ease of use rather than speed of cut. Trotec machines reach speeds of 350 cm per second. Other factors can affect speed too; Trotec/Suregrave use software features to improve image quality at lower resolution settings; on any laser the higher the resolution the longer the job takes. How reliable are Trotec Lasers? Back to Top
A regularly and properly maintained Trotec laser will deliver many years of reliable service, some machines are over a decade old and still going strong. The running gear is lightweight and designed to handle the high speeds and class leading acceleration rates only a Trotec will run at, careful attention has been given to making the machines easy to access to carry out periodical cleaning and engineers access. What maintenance do lasers need? Back to Top
The laser should be regularly cleaned for it to operate to its designed parameters and Trotec have designed their lasers to be easy to clean and maintain. The running gear should be cleaned with a clean lint free towel together with an alcohol or light soap solution and the lens with an optics or camera lens cleaning kit (include with the system). How often you carry this out will be dependent upon the amount of use and/or type of materials you process. Suregrave offer a multi-point on-site service for Ł350 and when our engineer has finished the service they'll spend the rest of the day with a CPD/INSET session. How long can I expect my system to be supported? Back to Top
Like Suregrave Trotec promise to provide parts and engineering support for their products for a minimum of a decade. In all likelihood this is a minimum period and again like Suregrave they can still provide parts for every variant manufactured. How long is the Trotec Lasers Warranty? Back to Top
Trotec lasers can be warranted for up to 5 years. You'll need to check the specifics of each model though as they differ. Training Back to Top
Suregrave include installation and training, ask for options. | 
