What happens at a demonstration?

We bring a working pulsed laser to your yard or workshop, set up a safe area, and clean your own parts: the rust, paint or scale you actually deal with. You see the speed and finish on your work, not on a sample plate.

Is there a charge for a demonstration?

We agree that when you book, depending on how far we travel and how long you want. Tell us what you want to see and where you are, and you will know before we come.

Do the machines come with a warranty and spares?

We only offer machines with a UK warranty, spares held in the UK and operator training. A laser that is off for weeks waiting for a part costs more than any saving on the price.

Should I buy a pulsed or a continuous wave laser?

For most cleaning, pulsed. Continuous wave machines cost less for the power and strip heavy rust fast, but they put much more heat into the metal and can discolour or distort thin sections. Pulsed lasers give far more control, which is why we demonstrate pulsed.

What power do I need?

It depends on what is on the metal and how much of it you clean. Light rust and small parts suit 200 to 300 watts; regular paint removal and contract work usually suit 500. A demonstration on your own parts is the most reliable way to decide.

Do I need training to use one?

Yes. These are Class 4 lasers. Anyone using one needs proper training, a safe working area, the correct eye protection and fume extraction, and the business needs a risk assessment. Training comes with every machine we supply.

Is it cheaper to buy a machine or to have you do the work?

If you would use a laser most weeks, owning one often makes sense. If it is a few jobs a year, having us do the work is usually cheaper once training, safety kit and your own time are counted. We will tell you which it is for you.

Can I hire a laser cleaning machine instead?

We do not hire machines out. A Class 4 laser in untrained hands is a real risk, and hire is rarely good value for regular work. If you are unsure, a demonstration, or having us do the first job, answers the question without the risk.

What should I have ready for the demonstration?

A few typical parts with the contamination you deal with, space round them for the screens and extractor, and power if you have it. Tell us about any old paint, so we can check it for lead first.

Will you help set the machine up if I buy one?

Delivery, set-up and operator training come with the machine. Because we are local, we can also show you the settings we used on the work you showed us, so you start from what worked on your own parts.

How long does a demonstration take?

Allow about two hours on your site: half an hour to set up and go through the safety arrangements, an hour or so cleaning your parts at different settings, and time to look at the results and talk them through.

Laser Cleaning Machine Demos | Cornwall & Devon

Why a demonstration on your own parts

Laser cleaning sells itself on video. A slow pass over a rusty plate, and a strip of bright steel appears behind the beam. What the videos rarely show is how long the same machine takes on three coats of old tractor paint, on pitted cast iron, on a galvanised fitting or on a part with rubber and plastic close by. Speed varies enormously with the contamination, the metal and the power, and that is the one thing a buyer most needs to know before spending money.

So we demonstrate on your work. You choose the parts, we set up the controlled area and the extractor, and you watch the machine clean them. You can time it, look closely at the finish, and see how much setting up the equipment needs. If it is slower than you hoped, you find out before you buy, not after.

How a demonstration runs

Before we come. You tell us what you clean, what it is on and how often, and send a couple of photos. We check for anything that needs planning, such as old paint that might contain lead, and agree the date and the parts you will have ready.
Setting up. We mark out a controlled area with laser-safe screens and signs, set up the fume extractor and run through the safety arrangements with everyone there. Setting up is part of what you are judging, because you will be doing it yourself if you buy.
Your parts, your contamination. We clean the parts you chose, at the settings that suit each one, and change them as we go so you can see the trade-off between speed and finish.
Your turn to look. You inspect the finish up close, check the metal for heat marking, and time the work if you want to. On a pulsed machine, the difference between rust, paint and scale becomes very clear.
A straight conversation. We talk through what you saw: whether the speed works for your volume, which power would suit you, what the safety setup would mean on your site, and whether buying makes more sense than booking us for the work.

What to watch for

A demonstration is worth more if you know what to look at. These are the things buyers most often wish they had checked:

Speed on your worst part, not your best. Pick the thickest paint or heaviest rust you deal with regularly and see how long a measured area takes.
The finish. Is the metal clean in the bottom of the pits, or only on the high spots? Is there any discolouration on thin or bright metal?
Heat. Feel thin sections after cleaning. A pulsed machine at sensible settings leaves them only warm.
Handling. Hold the cleaning head for a few minutes. Weight, balance and cable length decide how tiring a full day is.
The setup. How long the screens, extractor and checks take to put up and take down, because that time comes out of every job.

Pulsed or continuous wave

There are two kinds of fibre laser sold for cleaning. Continuous wave machines produce a constant beam and are cheap for their power. They strip heavy rust from thick steel quickly, but they put a lot of heat into the metal, which can discolour it, change the surface and distort thin sections. Pulsed machines release their energy in very short bursts, so the coating is removed with far less heat reaching the metal underneath. They cost more for the power, but they can be used on thin sheet, engine parts, aluminium, stainless and anything where the surface matters.

For most of the work we see across Cornwall and Devon, from farm kit and boat fittings to restoration parts and weld cleaning, pulsed is the right choice, and it is what we demonstrate. If your work is only ever heavy rust on thick steel, it is worth asking whether a continuous wave machine would do, and we will give you a straight view.

Which power you need

200–300W pulsed: Rust, light paint and grime on parts, restoration work, weld cleaning and detailed areas. The demonstration machine is a 300W, which shows most buyers what they need to see.
500W pulsed: Regular commercial work: noticeably quicker on paint and heavier rust, and a common choice for contract cleaning.
1000W and above, pulsed: Production cleaning, larger structures and heavy industrial or marine work. A demonstration of this size can be arranged separately.

More power is quicker, but it is also heavier, needs more electrical supply and costs more. The right machine is the smallest one that does your typical job in a time you can live with, and the demonstration is how you find that out. You get a written quote for the specification you settle on before anything is ordered.

What owning a laser involves

A handheld cleaning laser is a Class 4 laser, and owning one brings responsibilities that the videos do not mention. In Great Britain, the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations 2010 require an employer to assess the risk from a laser like this and put controls in place. In practice that means:

a written risk assessment for how and where the laser is used;
a controlled area when it is running, with screens or curtains and warning signs;
eye protection rated for the laser’s wavelength, for everyone inside that area;
fume extraction, because what comes off the metal should not be breathed;
proper training for every operator before they use it;
a plan for old paint that might contain lead, and for coatings that give off harmful fume.

Many businesses take advice from a laser protection adviser when they set this up. None of it is a reason not to buy, but all of it is part of the cost, and it is the part most buyers do not see coming. At a demonstration we show you the setup as we use it, so you can see what it involves on your own site.

Buy one, or have us do the work

Owning a machine makes sense when you would use it most weeks: a fabrication shop cleaning welds every day, a restorer with a steady flow of parts, a contractor who wants to offer laser cleaning to their own customers. For a farm with a winter of maintenance, a boatyard with a few jobs at lay-up, or a one-off restoration, having us do the work is usually cheaper once the training, the safety equipment and your own time are counted.

We would rather tell you that than sell you a machine that sits in the corner. If the honest answer is to book us for the work, that is what we will say. If it is to buy, we will help you choose the size, quote for it in writing, and show you the settings that worked on your parts.

Space, power and where the machine lives

A 200 to 500 watt pulsed machine runs from an ordinary single-phase supply and is small enough to wheel round a workshop or lift into a van with two people. Higher powers need more supply and more handling. Wherever it is used, it needs a dry place to sit, a few metres of clear space round the work for the controlled area, and the extractor beside it. Many owners set up one corner of the workshop as the laser bay, with fixed curtains, the extractor ducted and signs on the door, so a job can start in minutes rather than half an hour.

If you plan to use it out on site, as we do, add a generator large enough to run the laser and extractor together, portable screens, and a way to keep the machine dry in the back of a van. A demonstration on your own site shows you exactly what that looks like in practice.

Running costs to plan for

The price of the machine is only the start. A laser is cheap to run compared with blasting, because there is no media to buy and dispose of, but it still has costs that are worth knowing before you commit:

protective lenses in the cleaning head, which are a consumable and need changing as they mark;
filters for the fume extractor, which fill faster on paint and coatings than on light rust;
eye protection and screens, which need replacing when they are scratched or damaged;
servicing, and a plan for how long you can manage without the machine if it needs a repair;
training for each new operator, and the time it takes to set up a safe area on every job;
telling your insurer you are running a Class 4 laser, which some policies need to know about.

None of these is large on its own, but together they decide whether a machine pays for itself at the amount of work you have. At the demonstration we go through them for your own setup, so the numbers you work from are yours, not a brochure’s.

Who should buy, and who should not

The buyers who do well with a laser have a steady flow of the work it is best at: welds to clean, parts to restore, machines to maintain, or customers of their own who would pay for it. The ones who regret it bought on the strength of a video for a single big job, or expected it to replace blasting on large painted areas, where it is the slower tool. If you are not sure which you are, the demonstration is designed to tell you.

Questions to ask before you buy any machine

Whoever you buy from, these questions sort a machine you can rely on from one that will leave you stuck when something fails:

Which laser source is inside it, by brand, and is it new? Ask for the serial number.
Who carries out warranty repairs, where, and how long does a repair usually take?
Are spare protective lenses, nozzles and a spare cable held in the UK?
Is set-up and operator training included, on your site or theirs?
Does it carry UKCA or CE marking, with a declaration of conformity and a manual in English?
What fume extraction and eye protection does it need, and are they included?

Cheap machines bought direct from overseas can be good value, but warranty work, spares and training are where they most often fall down. A laser that is off for weeks waiting for a part costs more than the saving.

After the demonstration

There is no pressure to decide on the day, and most buyers should not. Take the parts we cleaned, look at them again in a week, and see how the metal has held up once primed. If you decide to buy, tell us and we will quote in writing for the specification you settle on, and arrange delivery, set-up and operator training. If you decide not to, that is a perfectly good outcome too: you can book us for the work you have, when you have it, and keep your money in the business.

Booking a demonstration

Demonstrations are done across Cornwall and in Plymouth, West and South Devon. See laser cleaning in Cornwall and laser cleaning in Devon for where we cover, or how laser cleaning works and when it is the right tool for more on the method itself. When you are ready, tell us what you want to see and where.

See a laser cleaning machine work on your own parts