Laser Cutter Recommendations for Middle School

[Michael Davola]

Good Morning, 

My name is Mike Davola, and I’m one of the Technology Staff Developers (K-12) for a public school on Long Island, New York.

We’re currently exploring options for purchasing a laser cutter for our middle school and would love to hear from those who have experience with this process. If you have any recommendations, insights, successes, or challenges related to selecting and sustaining the use of a laser cutter in an educational setting, I’d greatly appreciate your input!

Looking forward to learning from this group. Thanks in advance for your help!

Have a great day,

Mike Davola

Technology Staff Developer (K-12)

[Justin Schmidt]

Hi Mike,

If you dig through the archives a bit this topic has come up recently. I forget who, but someone did a survey on laser cutters and shared the results.

I don't want to "endorse" a specific machine, but I will say I've been happy with the xTool P2S that we have in our small MIT Makerspace. It's user friendly, cheap (for what it is) and feature-packed. The thing that really sold me was the fact that they have video guides for replacing almost all of the parts of the machine on their website.

Getting a 50+ watt CO2 laser is probably the way to go. There are diode lasers on the market that can cut, but they are slow.

When I ran a middle school Makerspace, I held off on getting a laser cutter for a long time. Our HS space had an epilog laser cutter and I felt that leaving that as a "next step" tool to look forward to made sense. And they were expensive. I eventually went for a Glowforge.

On the Glowforge: I liked the camera, overall ease of use, and I didn't have many technical issues with it at the middle school. At MIT, our Glowforge died after 3 years and support/service was nearly impossible (and expensive) to get. After teaching many students and writing guides for it, I grew to dislike the software too - mainly for the difficulty in setting up a workflow if you aren't using their premium materials, paywalled basic features, and reliance on a good Wi-Fi connection.

My MS students liked the laser cutter, and I had a few rockstars who could use it independently. I found that overall students had a harder time figuring out what to use it for (beyond making keychains and signs) than they did other digifab tools. 3D printing has Tinkercad to dive right into, Cricut/Silhouette machines are pretty easy to engage with, etc. I was using the Glowforge mostly with students doing independent non-academic projects, and I left the school before I had a chance to really dive into creating projects for it with teachers.

I guess the TL:DR is laser is good for MS, get a strong/fast enough one for cutting, and make sure you have activities/curriculum in mind for getting students engaged with it. And Glowforge stinks.

Justin Schmidt

Instructor

K-12 Maker Lab | MIT Edgerton Center

Email | LinkedIn

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From: k-12-f...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Michael Davola
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2025 10:48 AM
To: K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces
Subject: [k-12-fablabs] Laser Cutter Recommendations for Middle School

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[Rob Morrill]

Hi Mike, 

I have used Glowforges with middle school for a combined 7.5 years and think they are fantastic. The one I'm using now is 5 years old and has never had an issue. I rarely use Glowforge materials and just did a little playing around to find settings for the  wood and cardboard and acrylic we normally use. The camera is a game-changer in terms of positioning cuts and also scanning drawings for cutting / etching. The air filter is also extremely effective. 

Best,

Rob

Woodland School  l  Portola Valley, CA

650.854.9065 Main

woodland-school.org

Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Vimeo | Linkedin

[Rob van Nood]

Hi Mike,

Another Rob here.  I have been using the Glowforge for about 5 years and also have never had an issue with it.  I have the pro model that allows for larger material using the passthrough.  I primarily use it with elementary aged kids.  I even have 1^st graders using it as its so easy.  We mostly use cardboard and some of the Glowforge materials but also just a lot of precut thing plywood.  We etch, engrave and cut.  I have the airfliter but prefer to have it vented out a window as the filters are expensive and still give off a lot of smell. 

 

I don’t use the passthrough a lot but have learned that if you COVER the glass the alignment works perfectly. 

 

As mentioned there are occasionally issues with WIFI (no corded connection) but that is very infrequent. 

Rob

 

Rob van Nood 
Educational Technologist
Catlin Gabel School
8825 SW Barnes Rd
Portland, OR 97225

Office: 503-297-1894 x5520
vann...@catlin.edu
catlin.edu

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[Sandee Bisson]

Hello Mike,

Another Glowforge endorsement. We've run ours in our K-8 school for about 6 years and never had an issue. I use it a lot. Primarily with middle school. I use an array of materials, very few are the proofgrade.

For us, the Glowforge has been reliable and easy to use. Easy maintenance is a must for me. It's nice to have a dedicated computer so students can learn the whole workflow process. We've used to make parts for pinball machines, tessellated puzzles, boxes, mechanism for other projects, signs, figures with stands, layered scenes, and much more.  

Hope this helps,

Sandee

Sandee Bisson Maker Educator and Lower School STEAM Curriculum Designer 415-294-4901 office pronouns: she, her, hers  (why is this important?)

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[Katie Topper]

For those using the non-Premium version of Glowforge, what do you use with Middle Schoolers to create images and text? My high schoolers use inkscape, but i’d like something a bit simpler for the younger ones. 

FYI I’ve “inherited” a Glowforge in my new position running a Design Studio. I don’t love the software but I haven’t had any hardware problems in 6 months. One thing we do experience is the bed image doesn’t always align with the artwork, which can make it difficult to realign cuts if students accidentally move materials. Advice regarding this would be great. The machine I have doesn’t have a direct connection so uploading files over wifi to the laser is a bit silly to me. 

I do not like that you can’t do simple shapes and text without premium and that just seems ridonkulous to me. On the plus side, the space doesn’t have a proper ventilation system so we can run the laser inside a relatively small classroom. 

-katie

Sent with Chuck for iOS

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[Karen Blumberg]

Younger students use Tinkercad to create designs with or without text which we then export as an SVG for the Glowforge to cut. 

We also use Snap (block based web-based coding environment similar to Scratch) to export SVG files of their designs.

With the really young students, I sometimes have them draw with a marker on paper and then Trace their designs with the Glowforge camera.  

Love our Glowforges!

(The Brearley School, NYC)

On Feb 13, 2025, at 5:08 AM, Katie Topper <katie....@gmail.com> wrote:

For those using the non-Premium version of Glowforge, what do you use with Middle Schoolers to create images and text? My high schoolers use inkscape, but i’d like something a bit simpler for the younger ones. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/k-12-fablabs/c34da6bb-91b6-4821-863c-6d23179c3990%40localhost.

[Rob Morrill]

+1 with Karen on using Tinkercad to design for SVG export. It takes anything touching the workplane and exports it. Tinkercad's Codeblocks can generate really neat designs that can then be cut in various materials. 

I also have students draw a design in pencil, get feedback from me, then trace in black maker. Glowforge can then scan it for cutting. 

Some ideas for Codeblocks laser cutting, paper cutting, and 3D printing here: https://www.robmorrill.com/codeblocks 

[Tatian Greenleaf]

Karen,

I never thought of using Snap (or Scratch) for that. Are you having students code using pen blocks and then exporting that as an svg?

Tatian

Tatian Greenleaf

Design, Tinkering and Technology Integrator

Director of Summer Tinkering Camp

Pronouns: he/him  

Mark Day School
39 Trellis Drive

San Rafael, CA 94903 

415.472.8000 x1014

 

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[Tatian Greenleaf]

I think I answered my own question. I needed to enable "log pen vectors" from the settings menu to then have an option to export from Snap as an svg. Thanks for the inspiration! I think some of my 2nd and 3rd graders who struggle with getting started in Tinkercad but understand Octostudio block coding could do this pretty easily.

Tatian

Tatian Greenleaf

Design, Tinkering and Technology Integrator

Director of Summer Tinkering Camp

Pronouns: he/him  

Mark Day School
39 Trellis Drive

San Rafael, CA 94903 

415.472.8000 x1014

 

[Sylvia Martinez]

Could use Turtle Art too -- like Scratch but focused on art and geometry -- it exports SVG and is now completely browser-based. https://www.playfulinvention.com/webturtleart/

Sylvia Martinez

The Language of Computation: CMK in Reggio Emilia (April 2025)

CMK in Australia (August 2025)

https://constructingmodernknowledge.com

[Michael Davola]

Hi Everyone, 

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful responses and for sharing your experiences and insights!  Our team is currently evaluating the Xtool, Glowforge, Epilog (mini), and FLUX lasers for our middle school makerspace.

I’d also love to hear some of your favorite use cases for the laser cutter. Below is a list of ideas that I’ve gathered—many of which have been inspired by your contributions.  If you have any additional resources, tutorials, websites, examples, photos, or videos, I’d be very grateful to have them:

• Design Thinking & Rapid Prototyping:  Students create 2D prototypes that can be attached to form 3D objects (using glue, tape, or other fasteners). They could potentially also build storage solutions for their smaller prototypes with custom-made laser-cut boxes. The goal is for students to solve real-world school problems and create mockups or prototypes using the laser cutter.  
• Rube Goldberg Machine Creation:  Laser-cut components support student-built Rube Goldberg machines (we currently run an elective for Rube Goldberg - so this would probably be an easy expansion of their projects). 
• Pinball Machines: Exploring projects like the Pinbox-3000 or MIT's DIY Pinball to create interactive pinball machine models.  The goal would be to recreate this for large groups of students in a quick and cost-efficient way.  
• Outdoor Learning Space Design: Students design and create small-scale prototypes of outdoor furniture and structures, with the possibility of building a real product using wood or other sustainable materials.  
• Library Makerspace & Creative Applications: Laser cutting and engraving for keychains, nametags, jewelry, ornaments, book stands, game boards, marble runs, cases, and more. This can also serve as an avenue for teaching entrepreneurship (e.g., creating a school store featuring custom middle school designs).
• History Courses:  Designing historical maps engraved with extra facts, or even redesigning famous landmarks or pieces of architecture. 
• Science:  Creating models that illustrate animal adaptations, ecosystems, or other scientific concepts using cardboard and other materials.
• Art Courses:  Producing creatively shaped canvases to showcase work or creating intricate stencils for murals.
• General Showcasing of Work:  Allowing students to design projects in Tinkercad or other software and build physical models of what they are learning about, such as board games or puzzle pieces that enhance the curriculum.

Thanks again for all your guidance and expertise. I look forward to any additional insights or examples you can share!

Have a great night, 

Mike Davola 

[Lucie deLaBruere]

Katie - to answer your question about design software,  many of the schools I work in are using Cuttle.xyz.

I discovered it little over a year ago when I was looking for a design tool that worked on Chromebook and that we could get a signed student data privacy agreement from since many of the school IT departments will only allow tools with signed data privacy agreement. 

I just did a blog post on Cuttle's new AutoTrace feature recently. 

Here is another post that includes a list of reasons why Cuttle really works well. 

https://createmakelearn.blogspot.com/2023/05/make-something-meaningful-with-cuttlexyz.html

[Lucie deLaBruere]

oops I forgot to include the link about the AutoTrace feature 

https://createmakelearn.blogspot.com/2025/02/game-changer-cuttlexyz-launches-auto.html

I recently used Auto Trace to import  hand drawing from Kindergarten students  that we used to create characters for Playsets they made from cardboard. 
The AutoTrace is still in Beta, but its a great addition to Cuttle. 

I echo Sylvia's recommendation about students coding their designs with Turtle Art.

And thank you Karen and Tatian for sharing how you can export SNAP as SVG!  I always wished there was an export as SVG and figured there was a way since Turtle Stitch (build off Snap) can export as SVG.  THANK YOU for that tip. 

Lucie

[Anna Delia]

Mike, great to see you are developing our projects along with the Laser Cutter.

Wanted to respond that we have a variety of projects in some form or another within our external website for people to use and reference:

Hawken Fab Lab Projects

Fab Play @ Home remote learning experiences and projects targeted to PS-5 makers, anywhere – many can be extended to be laser cutter final prototypes

Fab Play Institute – annual conference for Maker Educators – materials from previous years are linked within the site.

 

Feel free to reach out individually if you have questions about anything you find! We are always happy to jump on a call and talk details.

 

Best,

Anna

 

Anna Delia

Hawken School Fab Labs

Cleveland, Ohio

Instagram: @HawkenFabPlay

 

 

From: k-12-f...@googlegroups.com <k-12-f...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Michael Davola
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2025 12:00 AM
Cc: K-12 Fab Labs and Makerspaces <k-12-f...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [k-12-fablabs] Laser Cutter Recommendations for Middle School

 

Hi Everyone, 

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[Anna Delia]

Developing *your projects along with the Laser Cutter!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/k-12-fablabs/IA1PR11MB7870478FA29D3C62F93BCE76DBCB2%40IA1PR11MB7870.namprd11.prod.outlook.com.

[Mark Schreiber]

I'll throw in my quick recs and a question too.

I actually really like the workflow of the Full Spectrum lasers (I've used PS20) it has a local web interface so all students can prep their files at the same time via a chromebook, PC, Mac, tablet... -any device with a web browser. To me this speeds up cutting workflow immensely!  The Epilogs also now have a local web interface so the workflow might be similar.

Question: For GlowForge, what do you do to speed up the workflow? Do you have all students log into one machine? Share the main device login/pass? Have separate logins for each class or student? I would love to know what works best for you all as I have shop with a GlowForge and would love to speed up the workflow so students aren't tying up the machine except right when they are, or are about to, cut.

Thanks in advance all!

Mark