K40 Laser Unboxing …and we have a problem…

Those of you who follow me on Instagram or Facebook undoubtedly saw some “interesting” photos on my timeline and feed over the course of the last couple of weeks. I’ll admit I was teasing a few people with them, and trying to build a little bit of suspense – especially in my family. A few people zeroed in on what I was posting pictures of and knew what they were right away. Most did not. I had to scramble to get people to change or delete posts so as not to let the cat out of the proverbial bag, but other than that, most folks kept what they knew under their hats.

Well, I’m finally ready to reveal what I was up to – I ordered a K40 laser engraver. A what? A K40 laser engraver.

These laser engravers were originally designed to engrave rubber stamp materials, but folks have been adapting them to do other jobs for a couple of years. They’ve become so popular that the price has really come way down as more and more manufacturers started making them in larger and larger numbers. In some cases, the price is much less than $400.00 US.

So why do I want to get into laser cutting and engraving? Well, several reasons. For one, I have a lot of ideas to use the laser to augment CNC carvings, and I have other ideas that involve engraving materials my CNC isn’t currently capable of handling. Another reason is, well… they’re just cool! I mean come on – were talking lasers!

So with the trigger firmly pulled, I waited for delivery of what I hoped would be a new adventure in my woodworking/making. It turned out to be an adventure, alright. The video below will explain what I mean by that. It was meant to be just a standard unboxing video, but it quickly turned into something else – documenting a problem with a delivery, and hopefully the full resolution of that problem. Check out the video and you’ll see what I mean.

As I type this, the seller has been contacted, and has responded to my email. They requested pictures of the damage (a reasonable request,) and I sent some to them. I’m awaiting further replies. All I’m asking for is a new laser tube, which I think is reasonable.

Normally I would link the laser I bought in the video description, and put it on my Links page here. I’m not ready to do that yet. I want to see how they handle this situation first. I don’t want to recommend a product sold by a retailer that gives anything but good customer service.

I know that things happen. The unit was made in Asia, then shipped to a warehouse in the US, then shipped to me. Rough handling happens, and could very well have happened at any point between the time the box was sealed and the time I opened it. I’m no forensics expert, but I’d wager it was dropped, hit, or otherwise experienced treatment less than keeping within the standards a package marked FRAGILE would normally have to deal with. Again, things happen. I get it.

So far the seller is handling it well. They’ve been pleasant, respectful, and I couldn’t really ask them to do anything more than what they’re doing at the moment. They have to cover their bases and make sure that I’m not just some mope out to score a free laser tube to use as back-up. I get it.

I’ll be posting videos here and there, and posting updates to this blog as the situation changes. If they step up and do what it takes to make this situation right, you can bet I’ll let you know. You can also bet I’ll let you know if they don’t. So far, however, everything is going as smooth as it possibly could.

So that’s it for this installment of As The Laser Burns. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, take care and have fun!

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