[Noisebridge-discuss] Laser Cutter

[meredith scheff]

Note: I haven't read all of these, but I do have a lot of experience with
laser cutters. SO:
1- just buy the best we possibly can
    while I appreciate DIY, buying a build-it-yourself or older laser cutter
is entirely foolish. We want a TOOL, not a project.
2. fire hazard
    nonzero but not great. Perhaps we can take turn having a weekly
laser-cutter learning class?
3: Open source
   my experience is that epilog lasers work great just the way they are.
They take AI and other vector files seamlessly. While open source has a lot
of cool factor, see above, re: TOOL NOT PROJECT
4: Cost. I was thinking, maybe we could contact epilog for a partial
donation to our 501? Secondly, Kickstarters rule for this sort of thing!

Ok, that's my 6 cents. Please, please, please listen to the TOOL NOT PROJECT
part. Look at the cupcake cnc and see how it's worked for maybe 2 people in
the 2 years we had it, and barely at that. Look at what helps us MAKE MORE
COOL SHIT, and it's the things that just WORK with minimal hacking
(soldering irons, sewing machine, drill press, etc).
My best
Meredith
PS- I'd be happy to make a video for the kickstarter.

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:50 PM, Shannon Lee <shannon at scatter.com> wrote:

> Great.  Can I put you down for $50?  :)
>
>
> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:26 PM, Taylor Alexander <tlalexander at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Jumping in to add my thoughts to the last few messages.
>>
>> -Buying a cheaper cutter now and worrying about upgrading later make a lot
>> of sense, since clearly its tough to arrange the funds for a larger
>> purchase. Normally I'm more for spending more upfront, but if the money just
>> isn't there, I see sense in cheaping out until we have more options.
>>
>> -The fire hazard seems real to me too. Not so much about burning the place
>> down, but what about burning up the $2000 machine we all would have just
>> fought so hard to buy? When I took the techshop Epilog class (years ago, I
>> think it was opening week) they were VERY serious about not leaving the
>> machine unattended. Not even texting while it was in use (he almost failed
>> me on the training for that). That may be a little extreme for noisebridge,
>> but it makes sense to be at least somewhat anal about it. I don't think
>> there's too much risk of a building fire as long as someone doesn't leave
>> the entire building while the machine is operating, but there is real risk
>> of burning up the machine if you're halfway across noisebridge working on
>> your laptop with your back turned while its operating. I never really go to
>> noisebridge so my input is just trying to be helpful, but if I were in
>> charge I'd suggest making it a rule that you can't stray ~10-20 feet from
>> the machine while you're using it, and ideally I'd have a workbench right
>> next to the machine that was set up so that the operator could cruise on
>> their laptop while they were waiting for the machine to finish, while
>> keeping it in clear view.
>>
>> And in unicorn news, if I ever succeed in starting my company (something
>> I'm working on) and it does really well, I'd consider buying NB a nice laser
>> cutter. After I bought myself one. And a Lamborghini. Just saying.
>>
>> -Taylor
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 12:15 PM, Felipe Sanches <juca at members.fsf.org>wrote:
>>
>>> I've done it there:
>>> http://jucablues.blogspot.com/2010/12/pinball-hacking-in-vienna-i-am.html
>>>
>>> Felipe Sanches
>>> Garoa Hackerspace - São Paulo, Brazil
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 6:09 PM, Rubin Abdi <rubin at starset.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Wladyslaw Zbikowski wrote, On 20110109 201159:
>>>> > https://github.com/Metalab/epilogcups
>>>> >
>>>> > The driver is currently working very well; the project is in active
>>>> > development as the primary developers are currently refactoring the
>>>> > code as a basis for future work. They really need people who are
>>>> > interested to write and run unit tests to guard against regression.
>>>> > Both developers gave lightning talks on the last day of CCC which are
>>>> > probably online somewhere.
>>>>
>>>> I'm sitting next to these guy right now at Metalab if anyone has any
>>>> questions. Also I am rubbing my balls on their Epilog EXT36.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Rubin Abdi
>>>> rubin at starset.net
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Shannon Lee
> (503) 539-3700
>
> "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
>
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