The Sculpfun S9 Laser Engraver
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What is the Sculpfun S9?
The Sculpfun S9 is a higher-end machine, superior to its predecessors Sculpfun S6 and Sculpfun S6 Pro and aslo its competitors like the Atomstack A5 Pro.
Like the Sculpfun S6 Pro, the S9 laser engraver also comes with good assembly instruction manual which Is easy to follow. The mechanical part is almost identical to the S6 range. All the necessary tools are included. Screws and parts come in separate bags, labelled accordingly to the necessary step in the assembly manual. The machine can be assembled in less than 30 minutes.
Here you can see it next to the Sculpfun S6 Pro which we have also tested.
Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
Engraving Size | 410*420mm |
Engraving Materials | wood, paper, cardboard, plastic, white, PCB board, aluminum oxide, black-painted metal/ceramic |
Laser Output Optical Power | 5.5W |
Laser Wavelength | 445±5nm |
Focusing Method | Fixed focus laser |
Operating Software | LaserGRBL, LightBurn, Benbox, GrblController, LiteFire, Support Windows system, Support OSMAC system. Supported file formats NC, BMP, JPG, PNG, DXF and other image formats. |
Input voltage | AC100-240V, 50/60Hz |
Weight | 3.0kg |
Warranty | One Year |
Laser Diode
The Sculpfun S9 laser engraver comes with a laser diode which outputs approximately 5.5W of optical power – just like the S6 Pro. But the laser head itself is much bigger and features some clever optics inside that allow the beam to be focused for longer distance and has a higher light density, allowing you to cut through thicker materials with more effective power. The advertised max cutting depth is 15mm. We are going to test that. The Sculpfun S9 is advertised to be 90W CO2 laser equivalent power. Laser diode is a fixed focus diode which is great.
From now on, you can also purchase an upgrade air assist set/kit with EU and US compatible air pump. More performance tests were made in this article.
Here is comparison between Sculpfun S9 laser head and Sculpfun S6 Pro and S6 30W. The S9 head is much bigger and also appears to have an improved circuit board.
Fixed focus means there are no moving parts in a beam’s way, which means that the focus can be narrower and focusing procedure is much quicker than with the adjustable focus.
The head has a protection shield around it, as an extra layer of protection, but wearing included safety googles is still a MUST. I would also recommend getting more quality protection googles with OD6+ protection. You only have one pair of eyes. Protect them! These lasers work in visible light spectrum and even reflections can be very harmful for your eyes!
Focusing procedure
The focusing procedure is the same as with the sculpfun S6 Pro and The S6 30W we tested previously. For optimal cutting, the head needs to be 20mm above the engraving surface. This is archieved with a focusing aluminium block. Then the head is focused, the light guard sits around 3mm above the surface. But the good thing is that you can easily remove the light guard if needed. This comes in handy when engraving weird objects like spoons, axes and other unevenly shaped objects. The laser head is tightened by thumb screws which makes the focusing procedure fast and easy.
For cutting thicker materials, it is recommended to remove the acrylic guard and focus the laser head a few milimeters lower than standard. This way, the cutting performance will be much better.
Cutting and Engraving Different Materials
Engrave: wood, leather, cotton (clothing), rubber, paper, fruit, foam, acrylic, black anodized aluminium, blackened metal, stainless steel…
The Sculpfun S9 is a very a capable cutter.
Cut: wood, paper, tape, cloth, acrylic, cardboard, fabric, bamboo, plastic board, KT board…
With the machine you can cut paper, tape and thinner cardboard in one pass and wood in multiple passes. The machine can cut acrylic and wood, especially Poplar plywood which is soft and it is the preferred wood for all laser cutters.
We have tested the machine with engraving and cutting different materials. You will find the results of our tests few chapters lower.
Software and Supported Formats
You can use the Sculpfun S9 laser engraver with free LaserGRBL software which works OK, but it is a little bit clumsy to use. It is great for some tests, but I chose Lightburn instead which is much more capable software, and it is very intuitive to use. It is not free though, but the license costs 60$. But, the software offers 1 month fully functional free trial which will help you decide if it is worth it to you. For me it was definitely worth it because it saves so much time (which is not free).
With LaserGRBL you can import vector files (NC, BMP, JPG, PNG, DXF…) and bitmap image files (bmp, jpg, png and gif),
Lightburn supports more formats: AI, SVG, DXF, PDF, HPGL, PLT, and RD for vector formats and PNG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF, TGA, and GIF for image formats.
Vector format is preferred format for these machines because it contains the paths around the shape edges on which the laser head tracks. Engraving vector files is faster because the laser directly cuts on the path versus scanning like a printer and making dots when engraving bitmap images (photos).
You can get millions of free vector designs on the internet, or you can use free vector drawing programs like Inkscape or QCAD (for more technical drawings)
You can also import tons of vector designs and images from free vector sites or you can buy great laser designs on websites like Etsy. This really expands your capabilities.
Our Test Results
We have performed the more or less standardized test which we perform on all the laser engravers and cutters. This way, it is easy to compare results between machines. Below you will find detailed images of the test results together with explanation.
For the results of the Sculpfun S6, check our other post here!
For results of the Atomstack A5 Pro, click here!
And if you want to see some cool projects we made with the S9 machine, check our blog post in the project section of our website.
Wood Engraving
Our standard engrave pattern is designed to showcase the engraving capabilities at different settings, so you can see the effectiveness of the laser beam.
What is immediately obvious is that the engravings of the Sculpfun S9 are much more defined and have more contrast compared to other machines we have tested previously. Also, there is basically no smoke stains on the surface of the wood. This is very impressive!
Lets see the result in more detail in the below chapters.
If you want to test your own laser, you can get the below test files HERE.
Power Scale
The power scale test pattern shows how the machine engraves with different power levels at different speeds.
Power is varied from 10% to 100% in 10% increments and the speeds are 600, 1200, 1800 and 2400mm/min. We have omitted the slow speed/high power shapes that we did with the Atomstack A5 20W, because the beam burns too much at slow speeds. This leaves a big charred blob that gives no practical information.
On the first sight, the Sculpfun S9 shows significantly more output power than the Sculpfun S6 Pro. We will see if this is true later in the tests.
Interval Scale
The interval scale test is here to show if the laser focus spot shape is square or rectangular. The scanning interval is progressively increased from 0.1mm to 0.5mm.
In this test, the Sculpfun S9 show that the shape of the beam is pretty close to rectangular shape as the engravings in vertical and horizontal direction are quite balanced.
We will be able to estimate the exact spot shape later when we test the engraving on anodized aluminium.
Photo Engraving
Here is a test of engraving a small photo, 20mm in size while changing the maximum laser power.
Photos are quite slow to engrave because the laser head must scan line by line like an inkjet printer. If you want to engrave a very large photo, prepare to wait a couple of hours :)
As we can see below, the Sculpfun S9 is the best engraver so far for engraving photos. The photos look very crisp and have high detail and contrast.
Vector Image Engraving
Vector images are much faster to engrave as the laser head directly follows the lines. You can not make a grayscale image though.
Our test includes this cute photo of a Tit bird in the top right corner of the test piece. The bird engraving took only a few minutes to engrave. In the software you can set to fill the closed shapes with pattern, on this one, the shape is filled by scanning with 0.1mm step. For big engravings you could increase the step to 1mm or more, to make engraving faster. This way it would make a raster or a grid on the black areas. But more on this at some other time.
Anodized Aluminium Engraving
Next, we have tested the Sculpfun S9 on a scrap piece of black anodized aluminium.
Below is the engraved test pattern which is setup to evaluate the focus dot size in both directions as well to see the effects of speed. Next we will further examine the separate parts of the test pattern.
The most important part is again the interval scale. By scanning vertically and horizontally with different interval steps we can approximate the laser dot size. From the results we can see that the laser dot of the Sculpfun S9 is very close to square shape as the engravings in horizontal and vertical direction look quite balanced.
The text engraving is done at 600 mm/s which is quite fast for such small movements, and therefore some shaking of the laser head is visible in the corners. This can be easily avoided by reducing the acceleration and speed in the settings.
Let’s do some further testing with the digital microscope. Here are the pictures taken with an Andonstar AD407 digital microscope.
First thing that we see is that the Sculpfun S9 has a dot shape, sized approximately 0.1 times 0.2 millimetres.
Next was testing with different text sizes. This machine performed the best so far. It engraved the 1mm tall text PERFECTLY! And we need to take in the effect that the speed is also quite high for this test (600mm/min). With lower speed the accuracy increases significantly.
Below is the engraving of two sets of squares on the right side, one inside the other. The inner square is engraved with 1000mm/min and the inner square is at 100mm/min.
We can see that at higher speed there is more wobbling present (mechanical) but the speed shows to have no effect on brightness of the engraved pattern.
There is also clear effect of slightly rectangular dot shape in the two squares as horizontal lines are thinner than vertical ones.
Laser Focus Distance Test
In this test we will see how the laser dot size increases further down into the material. The further down in the material the dot stays focused, the thicker material you will be able to cut.
We achieve this by progressively lowering the board by 3mm for each square, without refocusing the laser head.
0mm means that the focus is perfectly set (with aluminium block). The 3mm square is engraved by lowering the test piece 3mm lower than the optimal focus. The result shows how big the dot is 3mm down into the material that is being cut. The same principle goes for larger distances.
We can see that Sculpfun S9 performed the best so far. As advertised, it keeps the beam focused through greater distance.
You can also use the beam thickening effect to your advantage in cases when you want to engrave bigger stuff with low detail. You set up the laser in this out of focus position. The beam will be larger and the engraving will be done faster this way as the distance between engraved lines can be bigger.
Acrylic Engraving And Cutting
Did a short test on 3mm black acrylic (plexi glass) at 600mm/min. The engraving and cutting came out great with a clean cut edge. The Sculpfun S9 cut through in 8 passes.
We have also tried to cut 7mm thick black acrylic and it went fine as well.
Plywood Cutting Test
Test was made at three different speeds with 3mm and 6mm thick Poplar plywood being cut.
The test was performed in both scanning directions – horizontal X axis (left-right) and vertical Y axis (back to front) as the cutting performance is different in each direction because the dot is a bit rectangular. Despite this, the Sculpfun S9 shows very balanced cutting performance in both directions.
Here is a comparison table between the Sculpfun S9 and Sculpfun S6 Pro.
We can quickly see that the Sculpfun S9 has a definitive advantage when cutting thicker material.
The Sculpfun S9 is a very capable cutter.
As the machine is advertized to cut very thick materials, We have done some tests on the light Paulownia wood 12mm and 15mm thick. The beam stays very narrow for a great depth! It takes a lot of passes though. An air assist system would give a very big benefit and we will definitely try that in the future.
We also tested the Sculpfun S9 at cutting 10mm poplar plywood. It took 12 passes in vertical and 8 passes in horizontal direction to cut through which is very impressive!
Hardwood Cutting Test
This test shows how well the Sculpfun S9 cuts harder woods at 600mm/min.
First we tried to cut 4mm pine wood which is still quite soft.
The S9 had no problems cutting it in 8 passes.
Then we tried harder and denser 3mm thick Beech wood and the Sculpfun S9 had no problems cutting it and did it in 5 passes.
Here are some images of the test results of all the engraver we have tested so far for easier comparison.
Engraving Stainless Steel
This machine is the first here which is powerful enough to engrave stainless steel! Yes, you heard that right. First, the steel needs to be blackened with a cheap black spray paint. Engrave with slow speed. Then wipe the paint off with the acetone. The engraving is very durable and doesn’t scratch off easily.
Upgrades and Accessories
If you want to engrave cylindrical objects, the Sculpfun Rotary Attachment is a great buy! We have reviewed and tested it HERE. If you are a very demanding rotary user, Sculpfun S9 is also compatible with the xTool RA2 Pro rotary attachment!
You can also expand the work surface of this machine with the Sculfpun Expansion kit, which expands the working area more than two times. We have tested the expansion kit HERE.
And if you want to upgrade your existing S9 laser engraver, you can purchase the Sculpfun S10 laser module separately. We have reviewed the Sculpfun S10 laser machine HERE.
And we also highly recommend to use a laser engraver enclosure, to vent the harmful air out through a window. Read more about laser engraver enclosures here!
Very capable cutter. The best we have tested so far!
Conclusion
This article should have helped you to decide if the Sculpfun S9 is the machine for you. It has the best cutting performance so far and its wood engravings appear to be on a next level compared to the rest of the engravers.
You can also get in at Sculpfun official store, Geekbuying, Aliexpress or Amazon and Banggood!
Be sure to also check out my reviews of newer laser engravers HERE!
This post was written by JT Makes It.
JT Makes It is an engineer, hobbyist, and DIY-er armed with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and over a decade of professional experience in the industry. From an early age, JT Makes It was pushed by an insatiable curiosity, spending countless hours disassembling, understanding, improving, and creating various gadgets and products. This lifelong passion led to a broad spectrum of technical expertise ranging from electronics, woodworking, metalworking, and CNC machinery, with a particular focus on laser engravers.
For the past 9 years, he has shared his expertise through engaging videos on his YouTube channel. With the last three years dedicated to scrutinizing and testing laser engravers, he also created this website and emerged as a recognized authority in the field. His expertise extends across the spectrum of laser technologies, ranging from diode lasers, CO2 lasers, and fiber lasers, paying attention to details and providing practical insights.
With JT Makes It, expect a blend of technical expertise, backed with hands-on experience, and a genuine passion for innovation and creation, making him a trusted source in the realm of DIY and laser engraving enthusiasts alike.
Hi,
I bought the SO based on your review And I am quite happy so far.
I did laser your 3mm plywood template with lightburn and I was wondering why the lines for the horizontal interval scan are so wavy at 60% power?
Hey, found your channel and LOVE your in-depth comparisons. Any plans to put the S9 against the Atomstack X7 Pro?
Hi, Thanks for watching!
The X7 pro will be tested soon 🙂 Subscribe to get notified!
Are they wavy just at 60% power? This is strange.
If they are always wavy, you should check the tension of the belts on both axis and the tension of the rollers (eccentric nut). Check the manual for the appropriate setup.
Hi, I also bought the S9 after reading your review and very happy with it so far. However, I’m also very much interested in upgrading the S9 with an air assist system. Do you already have an approximate date for testing an air assist system for the S9?
Thanks for visiting the site! You can expect the video most probably in December.
Thanks! I’m very excited about it!
Great review, just what I was looking for. Helped me decide on the S9
Thank you!
Dear The Best,
I have read your reviews and watch your wonderful video reviews.
Now I have ordered a SCULPFUN S9.
Can you also add a review/video with rotary setup?
Wonderful reviews, keep it up:-)
Cool! I will make a video with roller setup as soon the Sculpfun releases it.
Hello!
Do I need some exhaust/ventilator/air cleaning system for this laser cutter?
(for polywood, acryl cutting)
thanx
Ventilation is highly recommended. At least have some desk fan blowing air out of the window. Especially when cutting acrylic a lot of smell is produced.
Can you make some article about glasses/goggles with testing?
Where do i buy the oarts to make it bigger?
https://www.banggood.com/custlink/m3KRNhuYw7
Maybe I will make it. I need to figure out how to measure the performance difference between them. I use better OD6+ goggles which protect eyes way more than the included ones. I posted a link to that goggles in each review.
Is the controller on the S9 32 bit?
No, it is the standard controller, very similar to the Atomstack. But it works just fine.
Hi I too ordered an S9 after seeing your review
Cant wait for it to arrive , says here by 18th December
I have lightburn installed but in the new device wizard what do I enter as
sculpfun isnt listed
Do I just say its a GRBL ?
Don
This tutorial will help you to setup the machine in Lightburn (or LaserGRBL – here is tutorial for both programs):
https://gzhls.at/blob/ldb/f/b/e/c/5c238a8e46a7541a755e8ab8326381fef7dd.pdf
The tutorial is for Atomstack, but it is the same setup for Sculpfun.
Got an link for the test pattern? The one tied to the email sign up just tells me to check my email.
I am having some problems with the email system. I sent you the files via email.
Hello, I bought this machine based on your review and while it is a perfect engraver it does not cut nearly as well as your table shows. I took 16 pass at 900/min max power to cut 3mm plywood, this is quite slow…
The cutting performance depends on the wood type. The best wood for laser cutting is Poplar wood which is soft and cuts well. 95% of things you see laser cut is made from this wood.
Hi
Thank you for your reviews and videos, very informative and practical.
I’m interested in purchasing the S9 but is there a way of running it not connected to a computer via usb? I will have to run it by a window and don’t have a spare laptop to leave connected to it all the time. Is there a way to have a wifi bridge or to use an se card?
No, sadly it needs USB. Anything via wireless would be unreliable. You can try with active USB extension cable (5m, 10m length), but not having a computer nearby will make the machine very difficult to use. You need a screen and keyboard next to the machine so you can see what you are doing.
I’ve been looking at the NEJE 2S max with the dual beam (A40640). Neje seems to offer some sort of Bluetooth connection with a phone app.
Will you be doing a review of this laser in the near future?
sculpfun s9 can be cut 8mm acrylic plastic in every color including transparent???
No. None of these machines can cut transparent or blue acrylic. They can cut black, yellow, red, green.. but lighter the color, more passes it needs to cut through.
I’ve been looking at the NEJE 2S max with the dual beam (A40640). Neje seems to offer some sort of Bluetooth connection with a phone app.
Will you be doing a review of this laser in the near future?
I read it will not cut through clear acrylic, how about other color? Will it cut through other translucent or transparent color acrylic? How color opaque acrylic? i assume it has to do with the light it is using to cut? I also assume it is a characteristic of diode lasers since my co2 laser can cut these materials.
Hello,
I have currently 3 ortur. The most I do is cut wood. I see the s9 is better at this?
On the film you don’t use air assist?
Does this machine has limit switches?
Thx
The S9 does not have limit switches currently. But it might soon get updated and get them.
I don’t use air assist, but I am planning to make it.
Diode lasers work differently than CO2 lasers. Diode laser emits visible light. So anything that looks transparent to you or very white in color will not be ready to cut because light reflects of white surfaces and passes through transparent materials. CO2 lasers work in IR spectrum which is basically heat. This is why it is absorbed by almost any material.
Blue acrylic does not work because it is the same color as laser light – it reflects blue light.
You can cut yellow, red and green and similar colors. But the lighter the color, more passes are needed. Yellow takes twice as many passes as black.
Never tried opaque.
Remenber this:
The release of smoke from the combustion of PVC or vinyl is no more toxic than that of any other carbon-based material, including natural materials such as wood. The Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) contained in the smoke is highly irritating and provides an immediate signal of the development of the fire. So evry conbustion of carbon based matirial produce HCl.
This is complete nonsense. Only chloride-containing materials can release hydroden chloride. Come on, this is chemistry, not magic.
Cutting or engraving chloride-containing plastics (PVC, vinyl) is dangerous for the machine and for the operator.
Hi, Thank you for your videos. I saw your Sculpfun S9 Review and wanted to find out if this laser engraver would cut thicker leather (like that you’d find in a nice belt, and if you could engrave something like a challenge coin. I am a coach and wanted to create patches and coins for my athletes.
Thanks again
Cutting leather should not be a problem. Although, the edge would most probably be black.
First of all, thanks for the excellent review.
When you talked about the Air Assistant, I had already thought about it and I asked a question on another site and they replied that it wasn’t necessary but we await a test from you on this.
Note: I have the Sculpfun S6 Pro
Cheers
Thanks! Air assist will be tested soon!
I have ordered a new Sculpfun and have just found your site. I really enjoyed your reviews and test. Thanks for the time you spend on research and helping new comers to cnc make informed choices on what we are looking at and thinking of spending our money on. Looking forward to seeing something on rotary accessory for cups and round objects.
Thank you,
Charles
Thank you!
We plan to test rotary accessories soon!
can a Sculpfun S6 be upgraded to a S9
Sure! Just buy the separate S9 laser head.
Love your reviews. I’ve been waiting for an affordable cutter and I think the S9 has hit the parameters I’ve been looking for. Just one question that I haven’t seen yet: how do the laser cutters function with MDF? Plywood and solid woods are okay but MDF is becoming more popular as a craft material.
I really haven’t tried MDF yet, but it should cut it without problems. I have seen many people cut MDF with weaker lasers.
will the ATOMSTACK R3 Roller work on the S9?
It should work, but I can’t be 100% because I haven’t tried it.
I’m thinking on getting the sculpfun s9 and also getting LightBurn. I’m assuming i need the g-code.
Lightburn is completely user friendly program. You don’t need to know gcode.
You compared the S9 to the S6, what about the S9 to the Orturo laser master pro? I have narrowed my choices to these 2 but can’t find any good comparison videos.
On this website you can also find an article of the Ortur Laser Master 2 Pro. You can directly compare the results:
https://hobbylasercutters.com/ortur-laser-master-2-pro/
Hello. I want to know how can I but the S9 Sculpfun maquine?
Thank you
If you want to buy, you have the purchase link at the end of this post.
what happened to the sculpfun s9 video? I can’t seem to find it.
For this laser I didn’t make the full video featuring all the tests, but I made a video featuring some cool projects I made with the S9. It is also on this website under the tab Projects and Ideas.
Do you have any experience with the xtool D1? It looks pretty capable and has more features than the sculpfun or atomstacks do. It comes in under $500 as well so I was considering it. However having no experience with laser cutters I seek a pro like you and trust your advice. Thanks.
Hi,
I am planning to test the xtool soon, so we will see how good it is 🙂
I bought the Sculpfun S9 and is so nice!! I was wondering what power you used to cut plywood in the Plywood Cutting Test??
Cool!
I use full power for all cutting jobs.
Hello everyone,
Thanks for the review to HOBBY LASER CUTTERS.
The SCULPFUN S9 laser module looks to be an excellent option for all needs on engraving and cutting. I recently bought a NEJE MASTER 2S MAX (30W), so I was wondering:
Can I use the S9 laser module with a NEJE MARTER 2S MAX board?
Thanks.
Does your laser module have 3 pin connector?
Hi, I bought a Sculpfun s9, but I can’t understand why when I have to cut a material that is cardboard or wood, both with one pass and with several passes it does not pass me on the same point. And in addition, when I cut 4mm mdf power 90% 200mm / s 4 passes there are points where it does not cut me and the piece does not come off. How can I solve these problems? What are they caused by?
You should try to contact Sculpfun support. It could be that the tension of the belts or the rollers is too high but it can also be an electrical issue.
Hello, I got a so model and It’s having issues moving along the y axis freely, it’s like there’s some stiffness in the belt…
Please help out
Try to remove the belt. If movement is still stiff, adjust the eccentric nut under one of the rollers and release some tension.
*sculpfun s9 laser model*
What is the speed and power you used to engrave on stainless steel and anodized aluminium?
Anodized aluminium at 600mm/min, stainless at 100mm/min. Both at full power.
I had the same preoblem as Phil, and after some testing found that thewavy line was regular. After doing some simple maths I found that the distance between repeats was the same as the circumference of the wheels on the laser carriage. Changing the wheels sorted the problem.
I think it had been caused by the machine sitting stationery for about a year, because the laser wasn’t up to the job.
When the S9 came out I replaced the laser head and found that it cut extremely well so started using it again.
Great tip!
Do these ship from China or USA I have had problems with orders from China
Banggood ships from China, although they have some products in US stock aswell.
But I never had problems with them. The import taxes are handled by Banggood.
You can also buy from Amazon if you want to get it from US:
https://amzn.to/3HmVFAv
i need print to cilyndro were buy?
You need to wait a couple of days so that the roller system becomes available. I will post link when it does.
Great artiϲlе, totally what I neeԁed.
Stuck between the s9 and comgrow 10w looking for engraving more than cutting mostly on wood. Hard to find reviews on comgrow what unit would you recommend? New to lasers just trying to get what is best for my needs
Thanks for your help
Can’t say about the Comgrow as we haven’t tested it, but I know that the S9 is the currently best machine we have tested in the price range up to 450$.
Totally hooked, great review but one question. This machine engraves stainless,what is your thoughts on engraving aluminum or will the softer material not produce as good of results?
Aluminium does not engrave directly but anodized aluminium works great.
Hi, I have the S9 and it is just as you said in the review. Thanks. I have recently seen some comments about diode lasers life span, have you or your readers any ideas? Some say as little as 30 hours!!! If this is true then it’s a very expensive hobby, ok so far
I found the answer!
https://www.sculpfun3d.com/newsinfo/515054.html
Question 8
Thank you so much for the thorough review! I’m currently on the fence between the Sculpfun S9 and the Atomstack A5 Pro+. They are similarly priced on banggood.com and both have great reviews. Do you have any idea how the A5 Pro+ compares to the A5 Pro? Thanks again!
I haven’t tested the A5 Pro+, but I suppose it is a bit better than the A5.
If I would be choosing I would choose the Sculpfun S9, because it is truly a very good machine. And I like their light shielding around the module much better. With Atomstack it is very difficult to see where it will start engraving and it is impossible to lower the module a few milimeters lower than optimal(due to the design of the heatsink, which sits very low above the working surface) when you want to cut thicker stuff. I find this very useful to do with the S9.
We also have a fresh discount coupon for the S9 at the end of the article (price with coupon is 299$). We would appreciate if you buy by clicking through the link in the article, this way you help us to run the website, get more machines for testing and pay our web hosting at no extra cost to you.
tried to run the test file in lightburn and get the errors “layer xx has a ‘line’ speed that is the same or faster than the ‘fill’ speed
do I have my lightburn settings wrong?
This is strange. On what layer does this happen? You can correct the values by hand to the correct one by even looking at the test file text next to the pattern.
Hello,
And thank You for a review.
Does a red protection cover around the S9 laser head protect Your eyes from a laser radiation for a brief moment? I mean, i.e. looking for a short time (like 0.1-0.5 sec) on 45 degrees angle, NOT focused look, during Plywood engraving 100% power without glasses included.
Yes, S9 is safe to look for a short moment without glasses. It has a good light shield.
Thank you so so much for the review. I am looking forward to seeing other products that you reviewed. Many thanks!
Thanks!
What is the maximum speed of the Sculpfun (in mm/min)- I can’t find that anywhere.
Thanks
The absolute limit is 5000mm/min, but the practical limit is around 3000mm/min
I am interested to buy Sculpfun S9 and I have seen some vides about modul MIT air assist V1, do you know the price and where can I buy it? Thanks
Sculpfun does not have an official air assist yet. All of the available are after-market/third party kits. We will test one in the following months.
Hi there, I have just brought a brand new Sculpfun S9 and have assembled it however when I’m using it have found that the laser head assembly seams to loose of the rail and wobbles as it is tracking along resulting in wiggly lines. It is like the bottom guide wheel is set too low and isn’t making contact with the rail. It needs to be raised up but there isn’t any adjustment to do this. Has anyone else had this issue?
There is adjustment. It is also stated in the instructions. The bottom wheel has a hex nut on one side, that nut is eccentrically mounted and spinning it, changes the tension by moving the wheel slightly up or down. Use the included spanner/wrench to rotate it until the loose play is gone.
Thanks for the review, I brought the S9 and it was going great for about 2 weeks and then one afternoon it refused to move, I mean it fired up but when I tried to frame a name for pen engraving I got nothing, I no this probably a software issue but have you or anyone you know had this issue.
The laser does fire (great) can move left and right but not forward a backwards.
Getting an alarm 3 MSG about rehoming is highly recommended, but cant find any where on line on how to solve this issue.
Cheers Merlin…
Did you check that the connector on the motor that moves that axis did not disconnect by accident?
Have you ever tried cutting nylon plates up to 2 mm thickness?
Haven’t tried nylon yet, but I think it can cut it if it is dark color.
Hi! (Sorry probably dumb question I just really need help) I’m brand new to this but I just bought an s9 and I’m having a difficult time cutting 3mm white acrylic (with no luck finding info online). I saw that you tested it on 6mm acrylic and it worked great!
What parameters do you recommend I start at or is it just the white/type of acrylic that’s the problem? I’ve gone all the way up to 100% power and super slow speed and it barely even scratches it. Even after like 10 passes.
Thanks in advance!
You can’t cut white or transparent materials.You can only engrave it if you paint the surface black before engraving. White reflects the light and this is why it does not work. You should try with black/green/red/yellow and it should work.
I recently bought the S9 and was able to engrave successfully however facing trouble cutting 10mm MDF sheet..I had used full power with 700mm speed with over 150 passes to cut through it… I don’t think it should take that many passes… I’m using the laser GBRL software. Can you advise optimum settings.
I don’t have much experience with MDF, but it takes more power to cut it compared to plywood. I think 10mm MDF is a bit too thick for the S9. Maybe try even faster speed with more passes or try making an an air assist which will blow some dust away. I think some people made designs for S9 air assist.
Hola, alguien sabe si se puede usar el programa RDWorks con la Sculpt S9, por que lo estoy intentando y no consigo que funcione.
Gracias
I don’t think RDWorks works with GRBL machines.
First, thanks for the great information and article – just what I needed! I bought an S9 and am learning Lightburn, so haven’t really used the S9 yet. I know I have lots to learn, but your article is awesome for the novice like me! My question is – how do you determine how many passes are needed for a cut? I saw in the product advertisement that the S9 can cut “up to 15mm thick wood, 10mm acrylic, 10mm plywood”, but I assumed this was in one pass. From your article, I see that you are using multiple passes for cutting – which made me wonder, how does one determine how many passes are needed? Before reading your article, I would have just assumed I needed more power or slower speed (I know you use 100% power, so that just means slower speed), but it seems you decided on multiple passes at a higher speed, and I’m not sure how I would know this.
Hi,
Number of passes needed depend on a set speed. More passes at higher speed usually leave a cleaner cut compared to going very slow and cutting through in only one pass.
You find out the needed number of passes by testing the material. You take a sample of the material and try to cut out a circle. You tweak the setting (speed/number of passes) until it cuts through reliably. Each material is different and needs some testing before cutting the project out of it.
Thanks for this reply – I have a lot to learn, but finally got started playing with wood today. I just used the S9 to mark stainless steel – it worked well, and I’m very happy with the result. That was probably an easy place to start since power was 100%, and I slowed it down to a crawl so that it would mark.
LA MIA SCULPFURN S9 PRESA 20 GG. FA’, DI COLPO SI E’ BLOCCATA.
CIOE’ L’AASE -Y- NON SI MUOVE PIU’. SEMBRA SIA ANDATA OLTRECORSA
IL VALORE ASSE Y APPENA ACCENNA A MUOVERSI DALLO ZERO MACCHINA DA Y-27478444
E VA IN ALLARME BLOCCANDOSI.
ALLARME:153
CHI PUO AIUTARMI A RISOLVERE IL PROBLEMA??
Could you please help me get access with the variety of S9 test files please?
https://hobbylasercutters.com/download-test-files/
Unfortunately, each time that I go to that it tells me “Email Address already exists!”. I actually unsubscribed yesterday just to see if this would fix it, no luck. I do get your emails on a fairly regular basis as well.
Sorry for being the problem child.
Love your reviews. They are informative and thorough.
I did sign up for your news letter and wanted the light burn file for testing the unit. I never got the download link. Can you please send the link.
Send me an email
i have just bought a sculpfun s9 2 weeks ago and all my engravings have lines in them , can you give me some advice/help on this matter.
What kind of lines? Maybe the fill interval is too big
Hi.. I was wondering if this engraver can cut through pine wood that is about 20mm thick? Guessing probably not
You are correct. You would need a stronger lasers like S30 Ultra or S30 Pro Max for that. We have reviewed it too.