Buying Laser welder

Jewelry Discussion
1

I was interested in buying a laser welder. I have been doing alot of
leg-work and research and am going to the JA show to look at the
Crafford. I have also been looking and pricing the other laser
welders on the market. does anyone have a laser welder? how do you like
it?

anything anyone feels i should know??? As far as a background on the
type of work I do (so you know where I am coming from and my goals
for the laser.) I am a all-around bench jeweler, setter, designer,
and anything else that comes into my realm. I work alone in a family
business and i do a large amount of custom work/repairs and spend the
rest of the time designing. I do no casting and all of my work is
hand-fabricated. My favourite torch right now is my H2O torch (it’s
so small of a flame, can do great fine work…) do you think that a
laser welder would benefit me??? (I burn through about 100-150
repairs in a week , not including custom work ) any input would be
extrememly helpful… thankyou… -julia varady earth’s corner
jewelers phoenixville, PA

2

Julia, I’ve had a laser welder, from Crafford for @ 20 months now. I
have about 1750 hrs on mine. Would be happy to answer questions about
it. Not enough space here. Call me @ 770-382-8268

Bob Staley
B.Staley, Goldsmiths

3

Julia, I bought a laser welder last December from B&D. It is a very
similar unit to the Crawford you are looking at. I bought the big one
for 35K and have not regretted it. My situation is a bit different
however, I have a 7 person shop doing considerably more work. Lots of
custom, and lots of platinum. That is what these are the most helpful
with, platinum. Everybody in the shop uses it and loves it. We have
had little or no trouble maintenance wise, it is a remarkably well
engineered machine. I chose the B&D over Crawford because people I
knew and/or respected had B&D’s (Tiffany’s has 10 of them). But the
design is very similar. The way I justified its expense is that I
figured with it’s help we would increase productivity enough to avoid
hiring another bench person, that saves me 30K per year right there.
Anyway, I love it. Mark