Tom Piccirillo

Every 110v internal power supply we tried burned out after a few hours of use. I then switched to the high wattage external voltage converter and all those problems went away. Tom

The machine uses an external 110v to 220v power converter (a black box that sits on your workbench) so you can simply power up from your wall outlet. Prior to June 9, 2015, we offered the converter for sale separately. As of June 9, 2015, we include it at no extra charge. The converter plugs into the wall; the machine then plugs into the converter. All the plugs and sockets work together. If you desire to eliminate the converter, you may plug the 220v machine cord directly into a mating 220v outlet (an adapter for the standard European two-pin plug we provided may be required). All the pumps and fans are powered though the machine, so you're all set.

Mark, Thanks for your input. We're aware of what you mentioned and have already these issues up with the factory. Hopefully, the batch that's on the water will be improved, but sometimes the language barrier is a bit strong to overcome right away. We take shots at them, but we need to remember that their English is usually a lot better than our Chinese. The lens holder will cant if you lay thin stock directly on the honeycomb platen. The thumb screw runs off the top of the tube. You can indeed raise the tube a bit without affecting the cutting/engraving much, or put a sheetwood spacer under the workpiece to raise it up a bit if you're concerned with focus. The manuals are in a constant state of update. You'll see enhanced mirror alignment instructions already present on our web site. Tom

". . . why Mr. Frisoli responded in the manner that he did?" You mean like a mama bear protecting its cub? Tom

Hi Fellas! and Gals! My name is Tom Piccirillo, and I am the President of Micro-Mark. With a great deal of trepidation, and donning my hard hat , I'd like to take this opportunity to offer some information and help about our LaserKnife with the hopes it will clear up some concerns that you rightfully have about our new laser cutter . . . much of which was developed by me (I'm a mechanical engineer with some 41 years experience) as an enhancement to a China-built machine that needed some improvements and fine-tuning. The maker I selected was the best of the bunch that are building these things these days, but he still fell a bit short of the workmanship, quality control and durability requirements that would be expected by our customers (I have been with Micro-Mark for 23 years after replacing John Frisoli and, by now, have a pretty good idea of what is expected). First, let me apologize for our late response to Mr. Taylor. We had responded to his first inquiry in about 1.5 hours, but we failed to respond to his next inquiry within an acceptable time frame. It's not that we hadn't been working on obtaining the information. I had received the question early the next morning and told our technician I needed to check with the engineer in China, who took several days to respond, as he was away on a business trip. Our mistake was to neglect to reply to Mr. Taylor that we were indeed trying to get an answer, and to please bear with us until we do. He is right to point that out to us. That void in the correspondence created a great deal of strife, and my folks have been instructed by me to provide our customers with updates no longer than 2 business days apart. So, that should take care of that problem. As for the lens . . . We never made an issue of lens orientation, because our testing showed that, for the things we were making, it really didn't matter whether the curved side faced up or down. Yes, we know the preferred orientation is curved side up, and, when in this position, you do get maximum power, but also limited depth of field. Flip over the lens, and you get less power, but improved depth of field and less dependency on critical focus. We test each and every machine before it is shipped to our customer . . . and that includes the Taylor and Jones machines. We keep records of the performance of the machines and any fine-tuning required to tweak performance before shipment. I developed a test pattern that our folks use to confirm the machine cuts acceptably from corner-to-corner. Based on the valuable comments I've heard on this forum, we will include this test piece with the machine in the future as a quality control stamp. I designed the packing arrangement for this machine. You can see that I used all the preferred methods recommended by FedEx and UPS, including 2 inches of space between the machine and the carton, removal of heavy equipment from the machine cabinet, finger holes in the large carton, and air space in the corners. Of the 24 machines shipped from our first lot, 21 machines arrived safely to our customers, who are enjoying use of the machine with the 1-2-3 set up that I devised for everyone. Unfortunately, 3 machines arrived banged up, and this caused quite understandable grief to those anxious customers. We have strived long and hard to rectify the problems caused by this rough handling and will replace those returned to us with machines again thoroughly tested as before. We're adding labels to all cartons that indicate a delicate instrument is enclosed, and asking drivers to please handle carefully. We're also adding instructions to the front of the manual that ask customers to perform a preliminary mirror check before setting up the entire machine. That document is in final proofing and will be published shortly. As for the rough opening inside Mr. Taylor's lens housing, I cannot explain it, as the machine performed well when we tested it here. With that kind of performance, we don't look further, but, I assure you, now that we know about it, we will in the future watch for it. I've already notified the maker to watch for such things, and to make sure the lens is installed curved-side up. You're right when you say we are still on the learning curve. This technology is indeed new to us, and your experience with the machine will be valuable additions to our experience (I've been using one for hobby use at home for about 2 years now, and as a result of this experience, could guide our maker in as many things that are possible). When we set out to offer a laser cutter, we tried (in vain) to use the MoshiDraw software provided with the machine. I even hired a computer engineer to help, but he ultimately threw up his hands in frustration; so, we looked for another way, and found CorelLaser. This is an easy-to-use add-on that, even for a non-computer-genius like me, worked really well with our machine. Yes, it plugs in to what can be an expensive program to purchase in its current issue, but we found old issues available on the Internet at very affrordable prices and determined this was the way to go. I'm also a member of the "don't spend any money if you don't have to" society, and I knew our customers could be resourceful-enough to beg, borrow, or steal a copy of CorelDraw. And, it is true . . . if you follow the instructions I provided with the machine, you should be cutting parts within an hour after opening the box. But, as with using any delicate instrument, and as Mr. Taylor pointed out, a bit of technical savvy goes a long way toward achieving early success. Now . . . I'll kid you not. To develop use of the machine to its full potential, you're going to have to spend some time with it, and learn the various techniques and tips and tricks that, hopefully, you'll share with us. I included several pages of such things, that I learned, in our instruction manual, which, by the way, is not intended to be a service manual. If you're having a particular difficulty or have a suggestion for improvement, kindly take the time to send it to our tech service department. I've already incorporated some of your ideas mentioned here, and hope to receive more. All the folks at Micro-Mark are committed to do our best for you, so that you can get on with building superb models. Tom Piccirillo President Micro-Mark