JTech 3.8w Laser - X-Carve

This is meant to be a quick review of the JTech Laser Upgrade for the Inventables X-Carve, It will be updated as more progress is made.

Building the Addon

We bought the JTech 3.8w Laser upgrade in early August. We received it in a timely manner and everything was in good condition. We bought. The 3.8w Laser with 2.5amp Driver, the Laser Fan, 3 sheets of 24"x12" shielding, the X-Carve Mounting Kit, and an extra pair of Goggles. All of the mounts, the Fan Mount, The Laser Mount, and the Driver Mount, were 3D printed, the driver mount was slightly bent, but that is probably due to the 3D printing and it did not interfere with the installation. We would have preferred if the mount was metal instead of plastic. Using a screwdriver and one person pushing, we were able to push the driver power cable through the X Drive Chain. To control the laser, we used the shielded wire we bought for the limit switches. The Z limit switch broke and we never used them anyways, so we don't have to worry about wiring more stuff and pushing more wires through the Drag Chains aside from the power cables.

Calibrating

The only real part that we felt was lacking was a solid calibrating guide and photographs of examples for us to replicate and use as guides for what it is supposed to look like. It has been 2 months since we bought the laser and, while I have been unable to work on it for about a total of about a month on and off due to my health issues, we have not been able to get it fully calibrated. JTech support is very good and replies quickly. The Inventables Forums is also a good resource, especially for X-Carve Specific Support. We initially started using the Inventables GRBL and dithered images, but we eventually just decided to switch the firmwares between the JTech and the Inventables firmware when needed. We are slowly getting the laser calibrated, but it is a long process of trial & error and it is still not complete.

Update:9/9/17

We ended up selling the laser to a person who already had a laser and wanted a second one. We ended up buying a 60W BossLaser LS1416 CO2 Laser that we are very satisfied with. I will do a write up soon on that.

Disclaimers: I DID receive this at a discount in exchange for writing this review. This review is based on the equipment available for purchase on 08/03/16.