Snapmaker Ray pros cons

Snapmaker Ray
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Now, I’m searching Snapmaker Ray.
I have Snapmaker2 A350T, so compatibility of some modules are nice, but Ray lacks some features which competitor has like CO2 laser.
I wanna know pros and cons from real Ray users.

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Admittedly, I haven’t had much experience with CO2 lasers, but I do own the 40w version of the Ray, and have quite a bit of use with different wavelength IR lasers. For the price, it has been one of the best IR engravers I’ve found.

Pros:

  • Setup was extremely simple. Setting up the engraver took around 20 minutes. Assembling the enclosure took about an hour.
  • The system was plug and play. Once it was assembled, I had to plug it into a laptop/pc once to do a quick software update and enable WiFi, and then was immediately able to connect wirelessly and have used it without issue since.
  • the free Luban software is easy to use (albeit less powerful/functional than some other options like Lightburn)
  • I’ve run tests both engraving and cutting multiple types and thicknesses of wood, brass, aluminum, titanium, mild steel, hardened tool steel, and ceramic. So far, I haven’t found anything it won’t successfully and cleanly cut or mark.
  • I’ve also been testing out using it for rust removal without penetrating the base material, and it has worked flawlessly. The same has been true for removing paint and anodized layers.

Cons:

  • The first con that I noticed is that the enclosure has no floor, and there is no way to link the work table to the laser’s guide rails. Aligning the work table and laser is pretty simple, you just turn on the laser’s crosshair and line things up, but the fact that they are both totally independent of each other means that if you nudge either while loading or unloading material, you have to stop, remove the material, and re-align the work table to the laser in order to ensure that your engraving lines up properly on whatever you are engraving.
  • The second, and in my opinion bigger con, is that there is absolutely zero Z axis/height movement when engraving. The laser is powerful enough that if it offered the ability to control the Z axis, you could do 3D engravings or engravings on curved surfaces (but for workpieces that would not be appropriate to use with the rotary table). Since there isn’t a Z axis and there is no easy way to modify the system for one, it really limits that functionality.

All of that said, the lasers I have looked at in a similar pricepoint either lack power in comparison, or require you to mount them onto a 3D printer frame and do a much more complex setup to get operational. So, for the money, this is an excellent, reliable, and powerful option. While there are a couple of cons, there will be with any system. The lack of an easy and rigid alignment system is frustrating, but an easy one to fix. I’ll be designing an making a base for the enclosure this weekend to solve that issue. The lack of Z is a bigger issue, but if it really becomes important, I’ll figure out a mod to allow for it. All in all, if you don’t mind spending a bit more money to resolve those two issues, I’d say that it could be worth it. For the price, though, the Ray is an amazing option.

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