Laser Cutter - Who do i talk to? Possible business opportunity for the makerspace.

[Drake Quick-Laughlin]

Hello everyone. I would like to know who i can talk to about the specs of the new laser cutter i saw on the website. I would like to do a couple laser cutting projects myself and would like to know what the requirements and terms are for personal and business use.

The projects i am thinking of doing include a bunch of 10mm acrylic, some plywood or OSB and maybe even some aluminum.

In regards to the business use, I work for COEX llc (we make 3D printer filament) and we will need to precisely cut a bit of OSB(1/2 in) and aluminum (~4mm if possible) for a couple different projects. I want to know if the laser cutter can handle those materials and what would be a good exchange for use of the cutter. We could possibly trade a spool of 3mm filament (space 3D printer) to cover costs.

Thanks

Drake Quick-Laughlin

[Jamie Schrauth]

Drake, 

Last I heard, the laser cutter or 3D printer were not working. 

Jamie

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[Shane Grey]

I'll add that even if it was working, it might be able to do the 10mm Acrylic, but the 1/2in OSB might not work out.  And it won't even touch the aluminum.  

It's an 80 watt CO2 laser. Most metals absorb and spread the heat from it too quickly, so it never gets hot enough to burn through.  

That 3d printer will probably never work again.  It was not working for a long time, then in the course of trying to repair, it went through some modifications that didn't work out.  At this point, money would be better spent to buy a new printer with ease of use features that weren't available on that model.

The laser is currently down for pretty much the same reason. There was a problem with the liquid coolant line.  In the course of fixing that, a bunch of other improvements were started. To the best of my knowledge, those improvements haven't been completed. 

[Daren Schwenke]

On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 12:48:40 PM UTC-4, Shane Grey wrote:

I'll add that even if it was working, it might be able to do the 10mm Acrylic, but the 1/2in OSB might not work out.  And it won't even touch the aluminum.  

It's an 80 watt CO2 laser. Most metals absorb and spread the heat from it too quickly, so it never gets hot enough to burn through.  

That 3d printer will probably never work again.  It was not working for a long time, then in the course of trying to repair, it went through some modifications that didn't work out.  At this point, money would be better spent to buy a new printer with ease of use features that weren't available on that model.

Dirt cheap, with large build volume.  Still a WIP though but getting close.

https://hackaday.io/project/26938-arcus-3d-c1-cable-3d-printer 

[Drake Quick-Laughlin]

Okay, well thanks for the clarification; I will pursue other options.

Are there any functioning CNC mills that can mill aluminum or acrylic that are bigger than the tiny one we have?

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[Shane Grey]

The shapeoko 2 can do aluminum and acrylic fairly well.  But I don't know the status of it's functionality.  I think the work area is around 13 inches square.

With aluminum, it would be limited to slow and shallow z passes unless a more powerful router was installed on it.  

If you are in the market to purchase a CNC, I might be able to get you a barely used X-carve with a 800mm square work area.  Probably somewhere over $1000 though. 

[Drake Quick-Laughlin]

Excellent, i might be looking to use the shapeoko 2 then, it's a shame our dedicated metal mill isn't any bigger. Unfortunately, i dont think i can purchase a CNC right now. Thanks Shane.