PA LaserCutter

Project Summary

Project Code

LASER

Project Contact

Tim Slagle (tim at slagle dot org)

Project Status

Not yet proposed

Project Description

The goal of this project is to buy and set up a laser cutter in the HacDC space. Funds from Project Awesome will add to exiting earmarked money and additional donations for the initial purchase of the machine, and will support its ongoing maintenance and repair.

Links To Other Project Pages

(none)

License or IP status

The laser cutter will be a machine in the space, available for use to everyone with the proper training. Objects will be created on it from design files that can have their own license terms.

Additional Info

We currently have $1500 earmarked for the laser cutter: $1000 from the church for Martin's intercom wiring, and $500 from a joint WPA/HacDC workshop on computing with Arduino and Processing. A minimum of $3000 will be needed to buy the entry-level laser and pay for accessories, so some additional fundraising will probably be needed to make the initial purchase.

Here is a LINK to the laser cutter I have been looking at from Full Spectrum Lasers. It has a 40W tube and a 9.5"x14.5" laserable work area. It is driven from a custom driver under MS Windows, which claims to support any software that can output to a printer.

If more than $3000 can be raised we may be able to get a more capable laser, such as this one, which has a larger 20"x12" cutting area. It sells for $1000 more than the entry model.

Other laser models and companies will be considered as funding permits. However I would like to buy something that will not require a lot of work to set up or rebuild, and I am not interested in making a laser cutter from scratch or plans - I want something that can be used for other projects ASAP and is not a project in itself!