MakerGear Forum

swbluto wrote:Oooooh, cutters, sounds like you've been having fun with CNC machines/routers. I have a CNC router but it's designed largely for PCB production, though it could be good for wood. I've never used it, lol. (3D printing is taking up too much of my time! lol, I'm not complaining.)

ROFL! No, the kind of cutters I've designed for cut paper, cardboard, thin balsa and vinyl into pretty little doilies so doting grannies can put together scrapbooks of their pride and joy. (Using teeny teeny weeny little knives.)

But the files (created in illustrator and available in svg format) will be cuttable by laser without any conversion. (No more doilies!)

Time to move up to some serious cutting!

(By the way, never underestimate the purchasing power of a doting grandmother. It might look like derpy craft stuff, but there is one hell of a market out there!)

If you're looking for a business opportunity to use with the laser cutter - anything at all baby oriented is going to sell out faster than you can create it.

Cow-a-bung-gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Trigger pulled. Jin you are 100$ up.
(I am going to be so piqued if this turns out to be some major sort of scam.)

I was doing some research on what you can do with a laser cutter. Some non-obvious things:

1. You can etch crease patterns into paper to make super intricate origami easier. http://www.langorigami.com/art/creasepa ... allery.php
2. You can run a "slicer" of sorts to replicate a very poor 3D printer: http://www.123dapp.com/make
3. You can use a defocused laser and gravity to bend acrylic: http://stefaniemueller.org/laserorigami ... d-objects/ (but only 13-38mm z height available)

I wonder if you can etch or cut 3D printer plastic.

That pre-scored origami is a great idea! (Not something I would have thought to do with it.)

Awesome Jules !!!! Can't wait to see the creative things you do with it !!!! I wish I could grab one myself but I am just starting to build a house so for right now my money is tied up !!! Lol

PcS wrote:Awesome Jules !!!! Can't wait to see the creative things you do with it !!!! I wish I could grab one myself but I am just starting to build a house so for right now my money is tied up !!! Lol

Yeah, that would def be a priority! Congrats on the house!

Feeling pretty good about holding off on that Epilog purchase now.

willnewton wrote:Feeling pretty good about holding off on that Epilog purchase now.

Gonna get one? (Glowforge, that is)

Jules wrote:

PcS wrote:Awesome Jules !!!! Can't wait to see the creative things you do with it !!!! I wish I could grab one myself but I am just starting to build a house so for right now my money is tied up !!! Lol

Yeah, that would def be a priority! Congrats on the house!

Thanks Jules !!!

I wonder, what's the primary difference between this and any other 40w laser cutter? I mean, /other/ than marketing techniques. Things like functional differences, reliability, etc.

Laser cutters like this huge 50w laser cutter for $1600 that you can get /right/ now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/50W-CO2-USB-Las ... 4ae151cd6b

I need to know this. There was a plastic PCB mill called the "Other mill" on kickstarter once, looked all sorts of "portable" and everything, but plastic seemed like a really bad idea for a mill, and there were proven PCB mills already on the market for a lot cheaper, more durable and a fair bit larger (Like the one I own.). The primary difference between the "other mill" and the zen mill was that one was on kickstarter and had a fancy promotional video, and the other wasn't. Other than that, Zen kicked the other mill in the balls in almost every other way. (Price, functionality, durability, track record, etc.)

And, don't kid yourself, I guarantee this laser cutter is manufactured in the same place as every other laser cutter - China.