Beamo vs Glowforge, which laser cutting machine is better?
Laser cutting machines can make your life so much easier if you’re into crafting. Since it’s a pricey investment, you want to pick the right one.
In this blog post, I’ll cover the engraving and software capabilities, the price and community, and the hardware of both laser printers.
Glowforge – what to know about it
The Glowforge is a new type of laser machine that uses light instead of heat to make projects.
It’s designed for people who want to print, engrave and score things onto common materials, and it has a built-in camera to help you read the design templates, see a live preview of the engraving process and make your creations right away.
There are 3 different styles.
These are:
As you can imagine the basic is your starter machine, the pro is the upgraded version and the Plus is the deluxe version.
But, each one is capable of printing on, engraving, and cutting a wide range of materials like glass, wood, thick acrylic, leather, paper, thin plastic, and even metal.
This makes Glowforge ideal for your first laser cutter.
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Beamo Laser Engraver – what to know about it
Flux Beamo is a 30W CO₂ desktop laser cutter that measures 615 x 445 x 177 mm. This makes it one of the smaller machines on the market.
It’s also the little brother version of the Flux Beambox Pro.
Three things that you’ll love about the Beamo are that it comes with the following:
- Built-in HD camera
- vent exhaust hose
- Wifi dongle USB
It can cut and engrave wood, acrylic, glass, and other blank craft supplies.
This is great if you like working with different materials.
1. Engraving Ability and Software
The Glowforge can do 3D engraving with a resolution of up to 1355 dpi (dots per inch), while the Beamo only offers 1000 dpi.
This means the Glowforge will produce more detailed images than the Beamo.
Beamo has an ultra thin laser that engraves down to a 0.05 mm layer. It’s good for craft projects or small businesses that are just getting started.
Just like Glowforge, the Beam studio software works with Windows, MacOS and Linux.
You’ll upload your design files to the software in order to start your project.
You can make vector graphics (SVG) as well as JPG, PNG, DXF files yourself in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or an open-source software program like Inkscape.
Receive commands from multiple computers or mobile devices within your office through Beam Studio or Beam Go and a reliable internet connection.
2. Price
Let’s look at the price range of both types of machines. At first glance, if your goal is to get the most affordable laser cutter, Glowforge seems pricier. The starting cost for the Basic model is $3995, compared to $2200 for the Beamo.
Here’s the important thing.
Beamo looks like the best of the cheaper options, but, when you take a closer look, you’ll see that you need to buy additional accessories like the Beamo rotary attachment in order to engrave tumblers, cups, mugs, and glasses.
Glowforge laser cutters don’t currently have this attachment as an option. But here’s how you can do rotary engraving on them.
So while the Beamo has a lower cost and doesn’t cost much money upfront, you’ll end up paying out of pocket for other options. Especially if you want it for business use. The initial price is not always the best choice for deciding how to pick the best laser cutter.
3. Design Community
The Glowforge machine has a lot going for it.
For starters, you can share your svg file designs and finished projects with other Glowforge fans!
It’s also a way for Glowforge owners to get feedback on their projects.
Glowforge also comes with lots of simple designs for you to use right away.
Next, it’s known for its ease of use. The set up time is minimal.
Even though it has powerful tools like the interior camera which allow you to drag and drop files, it’s still easier than your average cnc laser cutter.
Finally, you can schedule a virtual one-on-one product demo with one of the Glowforge experts to see the machine in action.
Beamo has ambassadors that share information on their projects. There is not much of a community aspect maintained by Flux Beamo itself but they do post customer projects on their social media sites like Instagram.
4. Hardware & Maintenance
Glowforge is a leader in the laser cutter market. It’s also one of the more popular options available.
It gives you the ability to make a wide variety of 2D and 3D projects
Just like anything else, there are some cons to it too.
First, Glowforge has a waiting period between projects. What does this mean?
It means that there is a cooldown cycle that happens after each project. It typically takes about 1-2 minutes.
While this is not a deal breaker, just take it into consideration if you want to print lots of projects at the same time.
Tip: Glowforge comes with Draft Board to let you test out a project.
Hardware
The Glowforge case is made of high modulus injection molded plastic.
The main difference between it and the Beamo Flux is the size.
Dimensions: 38W x 20.75D x 8.25H
The Beamo case is made up of a metal body and an acrylic lid making it very easy to clean. Here is a checklist of the maintenance and a cleaning schedule for this laser cutter.
Dimensions: 615 x 445 x 177 mm
Working Area: 300 x 210 x 45 mm ( 11.81″ x 8,27″ x 1.77″ inch )
5. Warranty
The Glowforge has a solid warranty, with a 6 to 12 month comprehensive warranty against defects depending on which of the three machines that you choose.
Beamo doesn’t give any information on their warranty.
A beamo laser cutting machine costs about $2200.
Yes, Beamo can cut acrylic as well as other materials like wood, cardboard and leather and fabric.
Laser engraving machines like xTool D1 or xTool P2 are a great alternative to Glowforge.
Beamo doesn’t have air assist but it does have a ventilation fan. Beamo also offers an optional Beam Air Filter that’s compatible with Beamo.
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More creative craft ideas!
If you loved this list of ideas, I hope you will try these easy beginner Glowforge projects.
