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TOOCAA L2 is a fully enclosed laser engraver and cutter with a 10W or 20W laser module using orange acrylic covers and various sensors for additional safety. The laser module complies with Class 1 Laser Safety certification and the engraving and cutting machine works with a range of materials suitable for creators who want to cut or/and carve workpieces or manufacture high-resolution parts.
The company sent us a sample of the TOOCAA L2 with a 20W laser model, an air assist pump, a honeycomb plate, and a few consumables for review. We’ll first go through an unboxing of all items and assembly, before testing the laser engraver and cutter under various scenarios.
The review kit we received includes three packages from TOOCAA. Each package contains various components. with foam drilled into shape to support each part and right-angled cardboard along all four corners of the package to prevent damage during transportation. Let’s open those to find out what we’ve got…
The large box comes with the TOOCAA L2 laser engraver.
The laser module features diodes that emit light using electricity with a wavelength of 455 nanometers +- 5 nanometers. It uses 24V direct current power, 20 Watts of power, and comes with a system to protect against laser beams and a blue light filter. There’s also a retractable aluminum foil exhaust duct to get rid of fumes through your window or other opening.
The enclosure is comprised of six orange clear acrylic sheets, each 5 millimeters thick, and which we will need to attach to the machine.
A toolbox includes a 4GB microSD card, a USB Drive Lock, a USB Type-C cable, a screwdriver, some hex keys, a fixed-focus bar, and other accessories.
While the TOOCAA L2 is a fully enclosure laser engraver, the company still included safety goggles with the kit for eye protection.
The machine is powered by a 24V/3A adapter that takes 100-240V AC input and outputs through a 5.5mm DC jack.
The TOOCAA “consumable parts pack” comes with 1/8″ Basswood plywood, an aluminum sheet, two color aluminum engraving army tags, and one stainless steel army tag.
Let’s now open another package with the honeycomb working panel.
The latest package comes with the air assist kit for the TOOCAA L2 machine.
The TOOCAA air assist kit creates a continuous flow of compressed air to blow away the debris and fumes that may occur during the laser engraving or cutting process. It protects the lens and extends the life of the laser module. It also improves the quality of the engraving or cutting job.
Before buying a laser engraving machine you need to know what material you will be working with. For example, carbon dioxide laser machines are ideal for clear acrylic, and diode laser engravers are suitable for woodworking. But engraving metal requires faster speed. Is it necessary to use a galvanic or fiber laser? For beginners, a desktop diode laser engraver seems more suitable because the machine is lightweight, easy to use, and requires little maintenance. Carbon dioxide laser and fiber laser machines require more maintenance.
The TOOCAA L2 is an all-in-one package, assembly is straightforward, and you can use the machine a few minutes after you receive it. There’s very little risk the machine will not work due to user errors after assembly because all the main parts are preassembled. The XY axis movement is provided by slide rails and belts. The laser engraver features two stepping motors using ball-bearing wheels and high-quality aluminum profile rails.
The TOOCAA L2 also focuses on user safety with a fully enclosed design protecting the user from the laser and fumes thanks to an exhaust pipe and fan. Furthermore, the laser module passed Class 1 Laser Safety certification.
The TOOCAA L2 laser engraver and cutter can cut or engrave various materials requiring different laser power and speed settings. The above table lists recommended parameters for different materials, but note these values are for reference only due to variation for a given material. Higher power or slower speeds generally produce deeper results, while lower power or faster speeds produce shallower results.
Just like other laser engravers we’ve reviewed the laser focus must be adjusted. A few laser engraving machines support auto-focus, but the TOOCAA L2 required manual focus like many of its peers. Four main steps are required:
Please turn on the machine in the following order:
The TOOCAA L2 laser cutter is compatible with the two most popular laser software used by connecting the TOOCAA L2 control board to a computer with a USB Type-C cable:
TOOCAA provides a file for a “Do Not Disturb” sign in the 4GB microSD and various documents as follows:
Here are the main steps to get started:
Remarks: You will want to wear the provided green safety goggles to look at the machine while the machine is operating to protect your eyes from the blue light coming from laser diodes.
Material – 3mm plywood Dimensions: 17.5 x 6.5 cm Estimated Time: 18 minutes
You can watch the process (accelerated five times) in the video embedded below.
The first “greyscale test” will make the machine engrave plywood with a sample image with different levels of grey from 5% to 100%. We will be using LaserGRBL for all remaining tests in this review.
You can watch the engraving for the greyscale test in the video below accelerated by three times.
The next sample is a similar test with varying engraving speeds from 1,000 to 4,000 mm/minute.
We’ve also shot a video accelerated by 5 times to show the engraving process in action.
The sample below tests cutting at different speeds and with one to four passes.
This test shows the TOOCAA L2 can cut 3mm plywood at 80% laser power under the following conditions.
The demo video below is accelerated by two times. The air assist pump helps deliver good quality cuts without burned-out areas.
The small 20x20mm test pattern below is used to check the accuracy of the machine, the thickness of the laser spot, and the laser focus.
The video for the accuracy test is shown in real-time.
We’ll test the reliability/repeatability of the machine by engraving a small reference cross. Once the cross is engraved, the machine is set to move the laser module in erratic movements along one axis for a couple of minutes and then returns to the original position to engrave the cross again. If the test is successful, the first and second crosses will overlap perfectly. We ran the test twice: once for the X-axis, and another time for the Y-axis, and the results are all good as you can see in the photo and videos below.
Parameters for the X-axis shake test
Parameters for the Y-axis shake test
The X-axis shake test can be seen in the video below in real-time.
Same thing for the Y-axis.
If your engraving machine fails this test, check or do the following:
We have tested the machine with 4 tests:
The TOOCAA L2 20W laser cutting and engraving machine has passed all 4 tests to acceptable levels.
Some materials should not be cut with a laser machine such as all kinds of materials that contain PVC because
One more danger is the risk of fire when using flammable materials or if the user is not actively monitoring the cutting of a workpiece. If a fire has been ignited follow the steps below:
ELECFREAKS is a company founded in 2011 primarily engaged in Arduino peripherals and maker hardware, but they introduced the TOOCA brand (now TOOCAA) for laser engraver and cutting machines in 2022, and we reviewed the TOOCA L1 5W laser engraver at that time.
The TOOCAA L2 is available with a 10 Watts or 20 Watts laser module, and our sample was equipped with the latter. The machine is designed with a strong structure made of an aluminum frame with X and Y axes and ships mostly pre-assembled and ready to use after installing the orange clear acrylic covers. The TOOCAA L2 heavily focuses on safety, as besides being a fully enclosed laser engraving and cutting machine, it also features various safety measures such as an exhaust fan, a USB drive lock to prevent children from starting the machine without adult supervision, and tilt and flame detection mechanisms to stop the machine in case of unexpected events such as falls or fires.
The laser engraver and cutter allows users to create high-definition cutting and engraving workpieces such as carved designs on containers, name tags, rubber stamps, frames for Buddha amulets, and more.
We’d like to thank TOOCAA for sending the TOOCAA L2 20W laser engraver & cutter for review along with various accessories. The model reviewed can be purchased on the TOOCAA website for $1,099, while the 10 Watts model starts at $849. Note that the price does not include the air assist kit and the honeycomb working table which are available separately for $129.99 and $69.99 respectively.
CNXSoft: This review is a translation of the original article on CNX Software by NinePhon Kongangkab, edited by Suthinee Kerdkaew.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Looks nice indeed, but I suspect that all these cover sides make it difficult to manipulate the pieces, because in practice there’s constantly a lot of manipulations with a laser engraver. But maybe it’s just an impression.
We’ve added a photo near the end that shows the machine cover can easily be opened.
I saw that, but I need to move all around mine, and I think the sides would seriously hinder my ability to rotate, manipulate, measure etc between operations.
If you want to engrave metal, you need a 20W or higher 1064nm fiber laser, and copper, brass or unanodized aluminum will need more power because of their high thermal conductivity. This type of blue laser can do a decent job with anodized aluminum because you are just stripping off the anodization, which requires less power than ablating metal. Still, when you can get a fiber laser for around $2000, this one does seem overpriced.
The machine cover can be opened and closed.
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