Five years with the FLUX beamo laser cutter: an honest review

I bought my FLUX beamo 30W in June 2021. Five years and hundreds of projects later, I still use it constantly. Here's my experience owning a laser cutter.

How I got here

Before the laser cutter, I made earrings from polymer clay and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. I liked it, but I wanted more control over the shapes and a cleaner finish. I was spending hours sanding.

The beamo was my first laser cutter, and it felt like a big purchase at the time. It cost under $2,000. I picked it because it was small enough to fit in my small apartment, the price was right, and it seemed to do everything the popular one on Instagram did (ahem, Glowforge). Compared to Glowforge, the Beamo was a bit smaller and a bit cheaper, with the same basic functionality.

Setup

Getting it running was pretty easy. My first cut was a little acrylic cat I'd drawn in Illustrator. It worked like magic, and I was hooked.

Cutting acrylic

I mostly cut 3mm acrylic, the standard sheet from most dealers. The cuts are really clean, with no melting or warping. Small, detailed shapes come out well.

A trick I've learned to speed up my process when cutting a lot of small pieces - I peel the paper or film off before cutting. It saves me from peeling every tiny piece afterward. The paper can also singe and leave burn marks on the acrylic. Iridescent and mirror acrylic are the exceptions. I sometimes get flashback and weird edges when cutting those without protective film.

Software

The Beamo runs on Beam Studio, and I design my files in Illustrator. I export SVGs with a color for each cut type, always the same colors. When I import, I bring in layers by color, so I always know what gets engraved and what gets cut. It's simple and it's worked well for me.

Beam Studio can definitely get a little buggy, but for the most part it works well.  Sometimes the machine lags between an engrave layer and a cut layer, and I have to start the second one manually. Sometimes it won't connect. Overall, the bugs are minor and the interface is easy to use and straightforward.

I had an issue for awhile with starting up the laser cutter itself, where on startup I would see a screen full of error text. The fix was reflashing the machine's SD card. FLUX recommends this when the screen shows garbled text or gets stuck on "Connecting to Machine," and they have a guide. That worked on my machine. Newer beamo boards have no SD card, so yours may need a different process. 

The less glamorous parts

• It's loud a little smelly, depending on the material you cut. Sometimes I wear headphones. It has to vent outside, so mine sits on my desk next to a window with a vent tube out of it. I've thought about upgrading the ventilation and, five years in, still haven't. I did replace the tube once because it got old and grimy.
• Regular maintenance is needed. It isn't hard, but it takes effort, especially replacing the water which is a bit of a chore. I watch the same YouTube video that outlines the steps every time. I regularly clean the machine and honeycomb plate with rubbing alcohol. I make sure to remove all the bits of acrylic and dust that build up, as having debris can be a fire risk.
• I once re-assembled some tubing wrong after cleaning the laser head. The tube ended up in the path of the laser, which burned a hole through it. I patched it with a masking tape and haven't had a problem since. Not recommended, but it worked. Lesson learned, be careful when doing your maintenance.

What I love

The ability it gives me to dream up and make all kinds of things. Earrings are the business use, but that's only part of it. I've made signs and price labels for markets, custom coasters for friends with illustrations or words specific to them, and pencils engraved with wording. I made a sign for my mom's door about where to leave packages, and a mobile for my baby's room.

It feels like a magic tool. Anything I can draw, I can usually make.

One rule

I always stay in the room while it's cutting. Never leave it running alone, remember you have a literal laser in your home, and keep an eye out for smoke. This thing is totally capable of starting a fire.

The verdict

I'd buy it again. If I had the room, I might buy a bigger one. For the price, I've gotten so much use out of it.

It's a great fit if you have a lot of creative ideas and the time to play around with them, plus a safe place to keep it and a way to vent it outside.