CREALITY FALCON 10W Laser Engraving and Cutter Machine,...

Most Helpful Review

"This is the third laser engraver I've tried and it's definitely an improvement from the one I got a couple of years ago. It was almost completely assembled aside from the laser and the air assist. The instructions need to be better because there were some important steps left out -- such as needing to attach the air assist hose to the laser module -- and I had to find videos online to be sure I had it assembled correctly. I shouldn't have to search for that info, especially considering the price of this engraver. It was packed very well in the box so it arrived in perfect condition. It's nice that I didn't have to connect all the different wires to the X and Y axes.It was pretty easy to connect to my PC once I figured out the correct USB port it was using. I'm using Lightburn to operate it and it works very well with that software. If I use vector files, it engraves pretty quickly. They did include a Lightburn file with all the correct settings so that was very helpful. However, I cannot find the page on their website with the correct firmware updates for this machine. They seem to have multiple websites and it's hard to figure out which one you should use. They do include a memory card that you can download the firmware to and plug directly into the machine, but I can't find the file to even try that so I'm just using the firmware it came with and will deal with that issue in the future.Pros:1. The laser module is very easy to attach and can move up and down to adjust the focal lengths. That is super useful because now I don't have to raise and lower the entire machine for different materials. It does come with extra leg attachments to raise it up about an inch, which helps if you are using a rotary attachment. I have one but haven't tried it yet with this machine.2. It has a built-in air assist that works well. The motor isn't that loud and you can easily adjust it on the side of the machine. Using it, the cuts and engravings are nice and clean with no burn marks so far.3. The cords are secured nicely so they don't stick up and get in the way, especially if you are using an enclosure. Very nice cord management!4. The moving parts are enclosed more than my previous engraver so it's easier to clean this one. Just a sleeker look overall.5. It can definitely cut through a 3mm piece of wood in one pass. I haven't tried anything thicker, but at 100% power and 350 speed, it cut perfectly.5. The laser has a built-in protective cover on the front so you don't have to use glasses while it's on.6. It comes with a little case to hold all the tools and tiny bits. It also has a piece to adjust the focal length for different thicknesses, but that doesn't fit in the case.7. The cuts are very clean and the edges feel smooth.8. The machine will automatically shut off if the engraver is moved too much -- nice safety feature.9. There is an emergency shut off to quickly shut everything off -- again, a nice safety feature.Cons:1. The instructions need to be better. They should have full videos on their website, along with comprehensive materials settings so we don't have to figure those out. Relying on YouTubers to do that for you isn't fair to the consumer.2. The engravings are not coming out perfectly. I engraved some outline text and a lot of the lines were wobbly and didn't connect perfectly, such as the O. I tried a slower speed and that didn't help. I'll have to keep testing it to find the optimum setting to get the lines to come out correctly.3. It would be easier to manage the cords if the air assist and power connections were on the same side. The air assist is on the left and the power and computer connections are on the right, so I have cords coming out both sides. At least the power cord is nice and long.4. My biggest issue is that it took way too long to figure out that the machine wouldn't initially power on because the emergency button was pushed in. There's nothing in the instructions about that and nothing on the machine to indicate that this is the issue. I thought it might be broken and had to watch several videos online before someone mentioned it. I honestly thought I might have a bad power cord or something was broken. They do include a key to lock some functions right next to the emergency shut-off, but I have no idea how that works.I still need to test how it works on acrylic and other materials but for now, I am just trying to get it to work better on wood. I will update this if I figure out how to improve the perfections with the engraving. But overall I think this is a great machine and I will have fun working with it. I have the Creality enclosure tent over it and they fit perfectly. It's an improvement over my old one and has a more powerful laser -- even though this is just the 12W version -- so I will have fun playing with this."