Uh oh, bad news -- lasercutter sub $1k

[cteno4]

Well I have been dreading this moment when the laser cutters to do light work drop below $1000 mark and it's happened. I have been watching the darkly labs since last year when I saw their kickstarter (someone here may have found it) as it looked to be just right. Well it's out at $650 for the small one ($58 shipping to the U.S.)

 

http://darklylabs.com

 

It's only a 3w laser, but maybe good enough for most of small structure modeling. Looking at some of the forum post it may be a bit underpowered though and looks a bit more oriented at engraving rather than cutting. But it's a start!

 

The nice thing is that you can just pick up the unit and set it down on the material to cut! Interesting in doing something larger. There are two models, small one with working area of 12"x8.27" ($650) and larger of 16.5"X11.3" ($800). Too bad it's not in aud with the usd so strong right now...

 

It's a kit so a few hours of assembly, but from the looks of it it looks like a lot finer machined kit than things like many of the early 3d printer kits! But this does mean some personal fiddling to get things aligned and working it's not good to go out of the box! (Remembering building the Sinclair led watch kit as a kid in the 70s, extremely cool, but man a pain to get working right!)

 

Looks like it has a photo sensor as well to register a pattern to cut around like the silhouette does. Also Mac, Linux and windoz software and good importing with the usual graphics programs out there. Micro mark just came out with a 40w kit at $2000 but it only works with win2000 and Corel draw right now!

 

Not sure if this is the right one for me yet, but it's a start at some more affordable solutions for some simple 2d cutting! I can see some fun with the photo engraving as well!

 

Jeff

[HantuBlauLOL]

Do you also need a gas for the laser?

[cteno4]

No it's a solid state

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

The nice thing is that you can just pick up the unit and set it down on the material to cut! Interesting in doing something larger. There are two models, small one with working area of 12"x8.27" ($650) and larger of 16.5"X11.3" ($800). Too bad it's not in aud with the usd so strong right now...

 

I was going to suggest having it shipped to an Aussie member for forwarding, but it looks like they're linking the current Australian dollar price to the U.S. dollar.

 

836.00 AUD = 645.679 USD

[tossedman]

That's cool. Limited I think, but cool. Micro mark has a 40 watt laser cutter for just under $2000. They're getting more and more mainstream.

 

Here's the specs:

Laser tube power: 40 watts

Overall size: 32 inches wide x 26 inches deep x 10.5 inches high, plus flip up lid

Weight: 55 pounds

Cutting/engraving area: 250 mm x 250 mm (9.8 inches x 9.8 inches)

Approximate Cutting Capacity

(actual results depend on type of material, thickness, cutting power, speed and number of passes)

Balsa: up to 1/4 inch in a single pass; 1/2 inch in multiple passes

Basswood: up to 1/8 inch in a single pass; 1/4 inch in multiple passes

Cherry/Walnut/Mahogany: up to 1/32 inch in a single pass; 3/16 inch in multiple passes

Gatorfoam: up to 3/16 inch in a single pass; 1/2 inch in multiple passes

Acrylic: up to 3/32 inch in a single pass; 1/4 inch in multiple passes

Styrene: up to 1/8 inch (for most plastics, we recommend multiple passes at high speed and low power)

Corrugated cardboard: up to 1/8 inch in a single pass; 1/4 inch in multiple passes

Chipboard: up to 1/16 inch in a single pass; 3/16 inch in multiple passes

Plywood: up to 1/32 inch in a single pass; 3/16 inch in multiple passes

PVC: Not recommended (gives off hazardous smoke)

 

It's on my list for when I need to divest myself of my upcoming lottery winnings. I've done my part and bought a ticket, now someone just has to pick my numbers.

 

Todd

[Guest keio6000]

Sorry, I know I can google this, but can somebody explain more clearly what these are and what their strengths and limitations are?

 

will it allow me to cut the decals out of my non-perforated microace sticker sheets properly? :)

 

thanks!

[kvp]

 

will it allow me to cut the decals out of my non-perforated microace sticker sheets properly?

 

No, you will need a plotter like blade cutter for that. Lasers are good for cutting and engraving all kinds of materials, like wood, metal and if you can tolerate plastic smoke, then even several types of plastic sheets. Personally i would prefer a slower, but less smokey cnc system, which can still be used as a slow laser cutter if you mount a laser head in place of the mechanical tool.

[cteno4]

Keio,

 

You night check this out

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/9846-silhouette-cutterplotter/

 

I just picked one up but have not gotten into it yet. It will hopefully be perfect for cutting out stickers like this. It's got a feature where you make a scan of a piece and then it auto traces them for you or you can just draw your cut boxes around the stickers and then it can register the printed piece or you can align the sheet to it for cutting!

 

Jeff