When choosing a small laser engraving machine for home use, don't be overwhelmed by the sea of parameters. Remember these 5 key indicators and you can avoid 90% of the pitfalls

Laser power: It's not the case that the higher the better

• 100W blue light: Sufficient for daily DIY of wood, leather, acrylic, fabric, etc

• 20-40 W: Also suitable for cutting 3-8 mm basswood boards; Metal shallow engraving requires an auxiliary agent

• Over 50W: Only required for deep metal marking or batch processing. It is easy to use at home. Excess performance. Spot size & motion accuracy: Determine the details

A spot size of no more than 0.06mm is required to engrave details at the hairline level of 0.02mm

The mechanical repeat positioning accuracy is ≤ 0.02mm, which can make the edge of the pattern sharper. The processing area vs. floor space

The common size of home desktop computers is 200 × 200mm to 400 × 400mm

First, measure the depth of your workbench and the height of the machine (usually over 45 cm for closed machines with covers). Structure and speed: XY platform or galvanometer

• XY platform: Large format, low cost, actual engraving speed of 80-150 mm/s

• Galvanometer: Fast speed (> 500mm /s), but small size and high price, more suitable for marking small metal parts. Safety and ease of use: Novices should not skip these aspects

• Class 1 fully enclosed housing, filter window, emergency stop, child lock

• No installation required for the entire machine > Self-assemble kits: Ready to use upon arrival, reducing debugging failures

• Software: LightBurn or the manufacturer's own APP are both acceptable. Make sure it is officially authorized