Comgrow Z1 Laser Engraver 10W Output Power, 24V Desktop Laser Cutter and Engraving Machine with Eye Protection Compressed Laser Spot 0.08mm, 10000mm/min Diode Laser Cutting for Metal Wood

These are my thoughts about the Comgrow Z1 laser engraving machine from the time it arrived, to me writing about it. I do not know why, but I was expecting a larger box, but I am glad it was not too big because there is less trash to throw away.AssemblyThe assembly was simply especially with the bags of screw that were clearly labeled, BUT ignore the STEP NUMBER, because it does not reflect the same steps in the manual. I am not a big fan of reading the manual, so I went directly to YouTube and followed a video instead. After assembling it, I made some minor adjustment to the eccentric nut on the laser module gantry (X axis), because there was a little bit of play on it. If you look behind the lower POM wheel you will see a hex nut, slowly turn it with the wrench that was included with the kit to either direction and the POM wheel will either get tighter or loose. These are offset nut, so you do know which direction you turn until you try it. So, turn slowly and you can see the X axis will get tighter or looser.SoftwareI am using a Windows 10/11 Machine, so I installed all the drives as it was included on the Micro SD card. Then I installed the software Laser GRBL v4.4.1 (also included on the SD card). This software is limited to what you can do, but still works as intended and it is FREE. I did all the cutting and engraving as shown in the pictures in my review with this software. I am planning to use the free trial version of LightBurn soon. Initially I has trouble connecting because I previously used this same software with a different laser engraver but it and user error on my part. I was connecting with the wrong baud rate, make sure you select 230400 when connecting to it. Like with all software, once you figure out how to use it, Laser GRBL is simple to operate.Cutting/EngravingNear the end of the user manual v1.6 there is a page called “Engraving Parameter,” I find it a good starting point when setting up your machine. Based on the material you are working on, you will need to pick the correct speed and power. Make sure you adjust the height of your laser will the included clear/frosted plastic tool (flat plate that is 2mm thick). The laser needs to be a specific distance from the top of the material you or working on to have the optimal focus. From the very bottom of the laser (clear red plastic guard) you need a 2mm gap from the material. Once that is set, you should be able to start cutting or engraving. Make sure you use the include safety google to protect your eyes! That is it, so far the machine is working great for me.Pros:Large working area with dual Y motors.Included Riser and a large adjustability on the laser module. Why this is important? Because if you work with different size material, you do NOT need to physically prop your machine higher to accommodate it. Especially, if you plan to use a rotary roller.Compatible to other Laser modules, Rotary roller, Air assist air pump, and Honeycomb working Table. They are using parts that are universal to many other brands, so it is easy to share accessories, so you and not limited to only their brands.The laser is Compressed Spot, so it has a fine and more focused compared to other 5w lasers. Just for fun I mounted a 10w laser from a different company and it worked flawlessly. It was just plug and play.It even has Wi-Fi, so you can control it with your phone. But currently, I do not plan to use this feature. I did download the app and connected to it, but that was pretty much the extent of me using this feature.This machine is a big step up from the previous engraver that I had, so it is difficult to find any negatives. Everything so far has been positive, but if anything changes, I will post an update to my review.ConsIf I had to say something bad, I will say they should update the labels on the packaging for the screws, so the “Steps #” are the same as shown on the manual. And it would be nice if the allen wrench included in the kit was a little longer. It would have made the assembly a bit quicker and easier.

This was my purchase to break into the world of laser engraving. I was not the biggest fan of the software lasergrbl that comes with it just due to tye fact that it ONLY controls the laser, any sort of manipulation has to be done in a different program, BUT it is cool how it specifically shows you what part it's on when looking at the computer screen. I have had great results with this machine. It is a large learning curve but easy for beginners.

New to doing my own laser engraving, searched Amazon for one hoping to be easy to use, an learn on. This product arrived on time, in pieces inside the box, assembly required. The instructions are very well detailed and explained how to fit each piece perfectly. Currently using it with laser grbl software and with windows 11. Light burn software is only free for 30 days, Also no issues with set up. Being new to even using this machine, the hardest part for me was figuring out how to align the laser head to the material I wanted to engrave on, but with YouTube university, several hundred videos later to find my specific answer to my question (you know how YouTube video creators are) get to the point! ...found a video that was close enough to help me with that. The machine works as designed. I purchased a roller also for cylinder engraving, but will use after with more basic practice 1st. Comgrow is a very nice machine, you will not be disappointed with the purchase. This one is only the 5w laser module, but works just fine, I may upgrade to a 10w next. Very fun to use with very little frustration.

Updated 2023-07-24 - Being a glutton for punishment, and seriously wanting this thing to work, I gave it a third shot. Exact same as the first two - worked with ios app, failed to communicate with the PC. This time the memory card that came with it was broken so I dug out one of my own and followed their update instructions. Unit died during firmware update just like the previous two. I'm done.UPDATED 2023-07-07 - I really really really wanted this thing to work. I gave it a chance, tried to work with support, gave it a second chance and ended up with a worse experience after getting the second unit.Both units failed to communicate with the PC (more on that later).Both did function with the "mini laser engraver app" on both my iphone and ipad.The second laser burned marks on the board while running a preview (just drawing a virtual box around the area to burn so you can line up the thing you're engraving) and while running a test, it burned through the board even thought the power was set well below the max. It locked up during transfer of the image the second time, forcing full resets of the laser and the app. I gave up using the iPhone and switched to the iPad where I finally got it working and it did burn a second test without penetrating the board, but it still burned lines around the preview area. See the attached image for examples of the lines it burned during preview and the obvious full power of the laser even though it wasn't set that high to start.Again, I really wanted this thing to work and purchased a second unit after returning the first, but the second did exactly as the first with communications with the PC (yes, I continued with it even given the above issues just to see how far I could push my patience). Communications via USB were completely broken and neither would connect to the computer no matter what I tried. There's absolutely no helpful support available on the web site to troubleshoot or resolve issues with the device. ZERO.Support provided via email a link to a Google file with firmware refresh instructions which, when following their steps, added the only insight of it actually trying to communicate with LightBurn... in the console log I saw the reason it died (see attached image) while running the update... on step 1 it erased the existing firmware, then said the firmware it was going to write was wrong and then tried to return to executing the firmware it just erased.Who make step 1 "blindly erase everything" then step 2 "check to see if everything is correct" then step 3 "if step 2 fails, just pretend everything is fine and go back to your work running the thing we just deleted"? This is terrible, unreliable, obviously untested and completely unrecoverable.In the meantime between the two units, I was contacted by support for other people's issues and reviews. I was confused by they were asking me two weeks later about a laser power failures. They don't seem to be able to keep up with their problems and properly respond to the people reporting them.I lost time time assembling TWO of these things, then more time trying to contact the manufacturer (email the next day at the earliest), packing them up and contacting Amazon for return labels for BOTH units. At this point I'm just walking away from Comgrow. It was not a good experience in any way.