| Type |
Picture |
Type |
Materials |
Products |
Cons |
Pros |
Work Flow |
Difficulty |
Price |
| Laser Amazon |
Use the Z. You can always remove it later. Continual focusing the lens will lead to " lens shake" problems. This can result in zero shifts enough to create lost work. My 2 cents. I use a “Z-less” laser machine, and routinely cut 1/8 inch Cherry wood at one focus height (3 inch). It will “cut though” usually in two or three passes, but always needs 6 to 7 passes @ about 12ipm to assure clean cuts in the harder grain areas. The higher focus height increases depth of field at focus, AND assures the lens stays freer of smoke contamination Good air flow at the wood surface is needed, and an air assist nozzle can help a lot by clearing the cut path of burnt wood. Cutting with a slower feed rate seems to hinder cutting due to more charring of the wood. I am using a higher power LD operating at 3 amps of current. YMMV. | A good starting point is a laser CNC. One can
do a host of functions without breaking bits and ruining
materials while learning to expediently run work flows. The down side is that one has to control the smoke. Laser printing can often be used to up-cycle materials readily at hand or that can be had inexpensively or even free. A laser CNC can also be adapted to draw with a pen. |
Plastic Glass Name Plates Wood PC Boards Posters |
Crafts Personlization Coasters Art Clocks Ideas |
Smoke Eye Danger |
Versatile |
Easel Universal G code Uploader Video Gcode to Laser Light Burn alows for control of z axis |
** |
$300 |
| 3D printing Amazon |
https://shop.tiertime.com/product/cetus-3d-printer-mk3/ |
3D printing is less "aromatic" but comes with
a bit more learning curve. Electircal printing, replacement parts, knobs... |
Conductive PLA |
Ideas |
Materials Not readily available |
Sketchup Tinker Cura Repitier |
**** |
$300 |
|
| CNC Routing Amazon |
CNC routing has the steepest learning curve.
One should rehearse without a bit and units should be
equipped with embedded controllers as well as end stops and emergency stops. Dust is the down side here and commercial units run at above $1000. |
Wood Aluminum Brass Poly PC boards |
Ideas |
Dust |
Most Value |
3D Cad Easel Inkscape UGU |
****** |
$300 entry $1000 to $2000 $65 per month. |
|
| CNC Plasma |
Metal Aluminum |
||||||||
| 3 in 1 Amazon |