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Having always been a fan of 3D printing and autoCAD, I was eager to review the Sculpfun S9 Laser Engraver for this review, as this was my first experience with a laser engraving machine, and I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. I was able to learn quite a bit by getting different materials setup to either cut or engrave on them so I was able to get the best results. It must be said that the Sculpfun Laser Engraver offers a lot of features that seem to be better than some of the existing lasers that are available on the market today. There is no doubt that I was not disappointed, and for a beginner, this might be a great option if you have been considering a laser engraver.
This is a list of the specifications of the Sculpfun S9 laser engraving machine
There are a variety of features packed into the S9 that make it an interesting option for those who are new to laser engraving and would like to expand their skills. Considering the large engraveable area, as well as the large variety of materials that can be cut with this laser engraver, this laser engraver certainly stands out in the crowd of diode lasers on the market today.
Engraving size
Although the full engraving size is 410mm by 420mm, the supplied surface protector is much smaller, Eventually I will upgrade this to take full advantage of the workable area. For the purposes of this review, everything will be able to fit on the supplied tabletop protector.
Engraving materials
Sculpfun claims that the S9 can engrave several materials ranging from wood, paper, cardboard, plastic, white, PCB board, aluminum oxide, 304 Stainless steel, ceramic, dark stone. From my experience, I was able to engrave almost any material I put underneath.
Cutting material
The S9 specifications claim that it can cut wood, acrylic, cardboard, fabric, bamboo, plastic board, and the KT board. Although I did not test all of these materials, I did find that when cutting thicker materials; you had to be very patient and go very slow.
Laser effect power
Sculpfun rates the S9 with a similar cutting power to that of a 90W CO2 laser. They do this with some interesting laser shaping technology which keeps the laser focused for several millimeters so that it can cut through up to 15mm materials. This also allows for the laser to engrave on some metals with the proper preparation.
Machine Electricity Power
The Sculpfun S9 consumes 30W, which actually does not have much to do with the engraving or cutting performance.
Diode laser power
The laser itself is a 5.5-6W, which is how to rate the laser’s ability to cut and engrave. This number is what should be looked at when deciding on a laser.
Laser wave length
455±5nm
Engraving accuracy
The Sculpfun S9 has an amazing 0.01mm accuracy on the engravings. This translates into highly detailed images being able to be burned onto just about any surface!
Focusing method
The Sculpfun S9 is a fixed focus laser mounted on a sliding clamp. The procedure is quite simple with the supplied calibration cylinder.
Laser protective cover
The light filter cover on the laser protects the user’s eyes and prevents animals grabbing the laser spot. I do highly recommend using either the provided protective glasses, or getting a better, higher rated pair. I ended up picking up this pair on Amazon. You only get one pair of eyes, protect them.
Operating software
LaserGRBL, LightBurn, Benbox, GrblController, LiteFire, support Windows system, support MAC system. Supported file formats NC, BMP, JPG, PNG, DXF and other image formats. I am using Lightburn, which has a free 30 day trial for the full version. Lightburn is super easy to use, and has a lot of very powerful features, so I will likely purchase the full license once the trial expires.
Data transmission method
Unfortunately, the Sculpfun S9 laser engraver uses the USB connection only. This means that you will either need a dedicated PC or way of transmitting the GRBL code to the laser. Because my laser is located in the Garage, and it being very hot in Texas this year, I needed to install the software on 2 PCs, my normal desktop to do the processing and get everything the way I wanted, and then on my laptop which I could just used to transmit the information to the Laser.
Power supply
International universal standard power input: 100-240V AC, 50/60HZ output: 12V 5A
Certification
CE FCC RoHS FDA IEC
Here is a list of what comes in the Sculpfun S9 box
| 1× X axis assembly | 1× control box module set | 1×12V 5A power adapter | Step 1~5 Screw installation package |
| 2× X shaft | 3× support feet | 1× power adapter | 2× belt |
| 1× brush | 1× Laser goggles | 1× 10x10cm wood chip 3mm thickness | 1× 10x10cm wood chip 10mm thickness |
| 1× L-shaped M4 screwdriver | 1× L-shaped M3 screwdriver | 10×Tie | 1× 8-10mm nut wrench |
| 2× Y shaft | 1× laser module set | 1× USB cable | 1× T-shaped M5 screwdriver |
| 1× A4 size steel desktop protection pad |
Assembly of the Sculpfun S9 Laser Machine
Assembly of the Sculpfun S9 laser machine was very simple. The supplied instructions were straightforward, and had detailed pictures for each step of the process. All in all, total time from open box to fully assembled and ready to connect was less than 30 min, including taking pictures of the process
Sculpfun S9 Setup
Sculpfun S9 Firmware
Firmware to run the laser comes preloaded on the Sculpfun S9. The driver for your computer, however, will need to be downloaded to your PC. This can be done (and I found was easiest to do) via LaserGRBL software. To download the driver, connect your laser to the PC, and in the LaserGRBL software, connect the laser via the comm port on your PC. From here there is actually a button under the Tools menu at the top to download the correct driver needed for your laser engraver.
Performance of the Sculpfun S9 Laser Engraver
The Sculpfun S9 laser engraver performed very well and exceeded my expectations as my first laser engraver. This laser was fairly intuitive to set up and to use with the Lightburn software, and produced some impressive results on the test cards and cuts. I did have some issues with getting the settings correct in Lightburn when i switched to a new computer. However, this was resolved when I updated the firmware of the laser engraver and restarted the program.
Poplar Wood
Poplar is extremely satisfying to engrave and cut, and gives beautiful results on the final product. I was able to cut the 5mm poplar with ease. After I attempted to cut a thicker material and found it more challenging. I had to try the 12-13mm popular 3 separate times with 40 passes on each cut. The first two attempts partially went through. I found that by raising the medium off the surface of the table, 40 passes were finally able to cut through the material. There were a few spots that did not cut too well, but the shape still was able to be extracted. I would recommend getting a honeycomb panel from geekbuying for anyone who is going to be trying to do thicker material in large shapes. For the test images, I used some of my brother, Timothy’s artwork, as well as the test pattern from Hobby Laser Cutter Website
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- This is the test card and cutout from Hobby Laser Cutters
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- The detail on wood is amazing!
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- These are the 3 tests I did with 12-13mm Poplar wood.
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- My first attempt had some details which were too small to be cut out and not catch fire through 12mm
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- In an attempt to get a better cut out, I raised the material off the protective surface
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- Here is the back of each trial on Cutting through thick material.
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- The edges finally came out ok after 40 passes of the laser
Craft Paper
Paper was one medium i did not expect to be able to cut or engrave with good success. The Sculpfun S9 does a surprisingly good job of getting even intricate details cut and engraved with incredible precision. The speeds have to be pretty quick with the laser to cut or engrave paper, but is pretty fun to see some of my brother’s artwork come to life on the paper. With the right settings, one could do some very neat artwork with multiple layers of material.
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- This test on the card stock paper I accidentally left the setting for burning the 1800mm/min on offset fill.
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- Redid the test on craft paper to find a good setting to run on cardstock paper
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- Here is the backside of the engrave/cut test on craft paper.
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- This was actually the first test I did on the cardstock with the Sculpfun S9.
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- Paper was easily able to be engraved and cut
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- The settings used according to the Sculpfun recommendations were actually a little too harsh and burned through
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- The semi-cut through engraving actually leaves a pretty neat affect on the image
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- This is another of my brothers drawings, set to 85% power and 5000 mm/min speed. it came out really well!
Acrylic
Acrylic was a little tricky to set up and make sure that the cuts were not melting/burning. slow and steady was the key to this. Engraving on the surface was fairly straightforward and made for quick work by removing the top layer of the material. The end result was ok.
Clear acrylic was very difficult to set up correctly. You cannot just engrave the material, as the laser will pass right through and burn the reverse side. Instead, you need to cover the surface in either paint or tape and engrave the non clear surface. Tape makes a bit of a mess, but clear acrylic is even worse to clean up the paint from. I ended up finding a method where you can engrave the clearing by putting a painted surface below it. This ends up engraving the far side of the plastic. I didn’t like the results of the test strip or the final engraving with this method. I have a lot of testing to do on clear acrylic to find the correct settings.
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- Clear Acrylic with painted steel backer
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- Clear acrylic painted black
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- Clear acrylic with steel backer came out terrible
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- Black acrylic power scale. The Black was much easier to engrave and get the settings correct on.
Aluminum
Sculpfun states that the S9 can engrave anodized aluminum, however, I did not have anodized to test on, so I tested the same as with the steel using a layer of spray paint. Unfortunately, the results were not great. The paint was easily engraved off, however, no markings were left in the raw aluminum. I would like to eventually try on actual anodized aluminum and see what the results look like.
Steel
The Sculpfun S9 actually engraved steel fairly easily. First a painted layer was put down, the power/speed scale came out quite ok, with little surprise that steel will need a longer time to burn than the other materials. The grid is definitely engraved on the surface, but not as deep as on other materials.
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- This is a sample of how I am setting up the test power and speed settings. Each row is a different speed setting, and each column is a different power setting
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- Here is the painted steel after engraving
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- Here is the result on the steel after cleaning off the painted surface
CeramicTile
Engraving Tile with the Sculpfun S9 is extremely satisfying. There are two methods used, the Norton White Tile method and the Painted tile method. In the Norton White Tile method, the laser is actually reacting with the titanium oxide in the paint to engrave into the surface. This results in a permanent etching on the surface of the tile, which is quite resistant. The second method with painted tile removes a layer of paint from the tile, and proceeds to uncover the layer below, creating a nice image. This method will allow for a color (or more) to show through to the top layers of the image. I found it difficult to dial in this setting, but after some trial and error, was able to achieve a good result
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- First engraving on painted tile!
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- This is the Norton White Tile method power gradient test. once engraved at this stage, the surface should be wiped of the paint using acetone
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- NWT method after acetone bath
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- Unfortunately when I switched laptops, the speed settings were not correct in translating from the lightburn to the laser. Turns out I needed to reinstall the driver to convey the correct settings.
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- This was one of the best results for the NWT method that I was able to engrave. The detail is amazing and the surface is fairly durable as well
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- Power scale for the painted tile.
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- I tried the painted tile method as well, but had my power settings far too high. Ended up wasting a few tiles due to this, but it was a good learning experience
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- Finally got the painted tile method sorted out
Where to buy the Sculpfun S9 Laser Engraving
As with everything, you can order the Sculpfun S9 from several sources online. Geekbuying.com has a good deal on this laser priced at $300. They also carry several accessories for the S9, including a rotary engraver. I may end up picking one up so I can try some additional mediums (such as pint glasses!).
Final Thoughts on the Sculpfun S9 Laser Engraving Machine
I was pleasantly surprised with my introduction to the laser cutting and engraving world, and frankly, spoiled by the ease of using the Sculpfun S9. This laser engraver made the entire process from start to finish extremely easy. Setting up different materials for either testing or for an actual run on some material was quite easy and all the results were astonishing. I would absolutely recommend this laser to anyone who is new to laser engraving.
