In this post, we are going to be taking a look at the Sculpfun iCube ProMax 10w laser This is one of the many portable machines that seem to be hitting the market lately.
These types of machines are generally less complicated than most laser machines and they can be also easily moved around and stored making them ideal for someone who wants a machine that is easy to use and takes up little space.
They are also more stylish looking than regular frame style diode machines. You can see the difference between our Sculpfun S30 and the iCube in the image below. I think you can tell which one is more appealing to look at.
However, these smaller machines do have their limitations so we would never want to give up our frame style lasers, but it’s easy to see why the iCube would appeal to say the beginner or home hobbyist or even a seasoned professional who just wants something that can be transported to craft shows.
We did review the Sculpfun S30 Pro laser and engraving machine some time back and we really enjoyed using it. So we were excited to take a look at the iCube and put it through its paces.
So let’s get on and see what we got and what it can do.
What’s in the Box
After carefully unpacking the foam we found the machine (of course), an orange U shaped protective cover and a number of other accessories including:
- Laser Head – This has a rustproof metal nozzle and a fixed focus bracket.
- Power adapter
- Power cable
- Type C data cable to attach your machine to the computer
- An activated charcoal replacement filter and cotton filter.
- Metal Plate
- A repair kit
- Safety glasses
- Manual
- 1 pce of MDF board
- 1 pce of basewood
A repair kit containing:
- chrome wrench
- tweezers
- a spare lens
- 2 Allen keys
- a second wrench
- cleaning cloth
There is a removable metal plate that sits in the bottom of the machine. This just sits in place and is not attached to the base in any way.
Here is the machine and the base plate
The machine without the base plate in place.
And the machine with the base plate in place. It simply sits in the bottom of the machine and as it isn’t attached with screws, it is easy to remove. This does move around a bit. I personally would have liked some sort of groove or ridge to hold it in place.
Setup
The laser head is packed separately to the machine inside the foam insert, and attaching it is quick and easy.
You can lay the machine on its back to this. There is also a cable that needs to be plugged into the back of the laser head. Watch the video to see this in action.
A Look at the External Features
The iCube comes with a removable safety shield. This protects your eyes and also keeps children and animals safe. You don’t have to use it and for most of the time we didn’t. They do include safety glasses in the box so it’s important to wear those if you are not going to use the shield.
It was a bit tricky at the start getting the shield to line up properly, but we got the hang of it by the time we had finished all of our testing. I think we were overthinking it a bit a trying for perfection.
On the side of the machine is an audio outlet which is where the buzzer sound comes from if the machine senses too much heat. There is also an ON/OFF switch, a type-C interface and a power plug socket.
On the back of the Sculpfun iCube is fan outlet as the machine does come with an inbuilt filter.
On their sales page they do have an image of an air purifier that I assume would attach to the back but at this stage, I can’t find it for sale on their website.
Compatible Software
The iCube is compatible with Lightburn and the Sculpfun mobile Phone App. There is a lot of information in the manual that guides you through setting up the machine with the mobile app.
Projects
1. MDF COASTER
For the first project we engraved an MDF coaster with a file from Creative Fabrica. We tend to get most of our laser engraving and cutting files from Creative Fabrica. They have a huge variety of files available for all sorts of projects.
Creative Fabrica –
Settings
- Speed – 3000 mm/m
- Power – 15%
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – approx 21 mins
The Sculpfun iCube did a lovely job on the MDF and there wasn’t any soot residue. So a nice clean result.
2. WOOD COASTER
Next we engraved a dragon on a wooden coaster.
Creative Fabrica –
Once again the iCube gave a clean, clear result although I wish we would have made the image larger.
Settings
- Speed – 3000 mm/m
- Power – 30%
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – approx 7min 30 secs
3. WOOD TAG
We use a lot of small wooden tags in our scrapbooking, junk journals and even just for attaching to gifts. They can be engraved and tied with a nice piece of twine or ribbon
Creative Fabrica –
Settings
- Speed – 3000 mm/m
- Power – 30%
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – approx 2min 30 secs
4. WOODEN BOOKMARKS
Bookmarks make great gifts for your friends who love to read and we wanted to test out the cutting ability of this machine. We thought these designs were rather lovely, so we cut them out on some basswood.
The design is first engraved. We prefer to engrave first so there is little chance of the material moving around as it might if we cut out the design first. Once the engraving has finished the laser cut around the outside of the design.
We also tested some 5mm paulownia wood so check the video above for that.
Creative Fabrica –
Settings
Engraving
- Speed – 3000 mm/m
- Power – 30%
- Pass – 1
Cutting
- Speed – 400 mm/m
- Power – 100%
- Pass – 1
- Time taken overall – approx 20 min
5. SLATE COASTER
You can never have enough coasters, in my view, and I like the slate coasters because they stand up to lots of wear and tear.
For our first attempt we went with a speed of 1000 and a power of 80% but it was way too intense and it took about 32minutes to complete. So after a bit of testing we ended up with the following:
Creative Fabrica –
- Speed – 3000 mm/m
- Power – 100%
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – approx 13min
6. METAL DOG TAG
We always like to test on anodized aluminium and this time we went with some dog tags. You can see how nicely these turned out.
- Speed – 6000
- Power – 100
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – 2min 30secs
CARDSTOCK
If you make cards, create journals or do a bit of scrapbooking then you will love a machine like this. It’s small and compact so you can easily cut lots of little embellishments to suit your project.
- Speed – 1000
- Power – 50
- Pass – 1
- Time taken – 2min
As you can see here, the machine cuts card stock beautifully and super fast. This heart took only 2 minutes to cut.
We also cut some tags and they cut perfectly but in hindsight we should have made them a lot larger. But they will slip nicely into some tuck spots.
So let’s take a look at some of the Pro’s and Con’s of the iCube
PROS
- Easy to set up
- Easy for a beginner to use
- The machine is small and compact, so you can easily move it around and store it.
- It has an inbuilt filtering system which means you can use it indoors in your craft room
- It’s super easy to set up and connects easily to Lightburn
- Even though it has a small engraving area you can engrave on larger objects.
Cons
- This machine is quite noisy. I think this is because of the inbuilt air filter. I would have liked the option to turn this on or off.
- The base plate moves around, so it would have been nice to have a groove that it slipped into to hold it in place, or a couple of screws.
- At the start we found the safety shield a little fiddly to slip into place. Although we did get the hang of it after a while.
But overall we really like this machine and enjoyed using it. It’s great for small projects and it’s definitely one we will bring out regularly to use.
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