<div dir="ltr">I have been thinking on this, and I'm not entirely convinced we *need* to decide on a specific model before the fundraiser. I think we should shoot for CO2, at least 60w, and as large of a bed as we can fit thru our door. For the sake of the fundraiser we can just set some vague target at 3k or more, and print out a picture of one like <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01I1H3G04/">this</a> or something. FYI, software and control is gonna be just as important of a decision (if not *more* important) as the machine itself, and a lot of machines might require auxiliary hardware (ie a C02 laser is typically water-cooled, if you don't have plumbing then you need an external coolant reservoir/radiator combo... not expensive, but still something to be aware of)<div><br></div><div>While I was at MakerFaire this past weekend I checked out quite a few laser cutter companies, got some business cards, etc. There was one particular company that really caught my eye, but all three of their reps were SUPER busy so I didn't talk to any of them while I was there. I did drop eaves on their spiel and it seemed like just the kinda thing we need. I'm planning on making contact in a week or so, I'll give them a phone call and explain that I overheard their pitch at MakerFaire, who we are, and what we need.</div><div><br></div><div>The <a href="https://cohesion3d.com/">company in question</a> makes replacement controller boards for Chinese or DIY laser cutters, which allow you to turn cheap hardware with iffy software (like the one I linked above) into cheap hardware with super-dope software. It's akin to buying a MonoPrice 3D printer and swapping the brains out with a proper RepRap board like a RAMPS or Einsy Rambo controller board so that you can take advantage of upgradable firmware and open source software. One of the things I overheard a rep there talking about was that he had previously guided clients through the process of selecting a "cheap" Chinese laser and pairing it up with their board so that they could have the best possible setup for their budget. I'm hoping a phone call with these guys will yield some valuable insight, even if we don't wind up going with their offerings.</div><div><br></div><div>FWIW I don't like Glowforge. That might be simply because they've been BOMBARDING me with ads on utoob (their ads are SOOOO annoying) ever since I started searching around for laser cutters for DMS... but also they kinda remind me of MakerBot. Anyone who was around in the RepRap scene back when MakerBot took a previously open source product line replaced it with proprietary stuff knows why they're scum. To make the 3D printer analogy again, I much prefer Prusa to MakerBot, and the Cohesion3D guys were giving off big Prusa energy. They seemed less like corporate suits and much more like makers interested in helping fellow makers hack together a functional budget laser cutter.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, May 21, 2019 at 4:31 PM Julie Morrow <<a href="mailto:juli34nn@gmail.com">juli34nn@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
<div name="messageBodySection">
<div dir="auto">The two people I asked who have laser cutter experience recommended Glowforge. One of them who has access to a big fancy one said, if you can ONLY spend $3k, I guess that might do. The other who has a cheap one at home said if they COULD spend $3k, that’s what they dream of getting.
<div dir="auto"><br></div>
<div dir="auto">-Julie</div>
</div>
</div>
<div name="messageReplySection">On May 21, 2019, 3:48 PM -0700, yourcurtainsareugly <<a href="mailto:yourcurtainsareugly@gmail.com" target="_blank">yourcurtainsareugly@gmail.com</a>>, wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite" class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165spark_quote" style="margin:5px;padding-left:10px;border-left:thin solid rgb(26,188,156)">
<div dir="ltr">One of the schools I work for has a Glowforge, which range between $2.5-6k, and it seems to be pretty user-friendly. They say they can cut most materials, but all the CO2 lasers I've looked at in this power range only promise the ability to engrave but not cut metals, and a specific few at that.
<div><br></div>
<div>That sounds like a reasonable set of characteristics. Not sure I'm up to learning to read Chinese, though.</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, May 21, 2019 at 3:27 PM Robert Nickerson <<a href="mailto:rob@omsoft.com" target="_blank">rob@omsoft.com</a>> wrote:<br></div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail-m_1176397995487994165spark_quote" style="margin:5px;padding-left:10px;border-left:thin solid rgb(230,126,34)">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>hi<br></p>
<p>perhaps ryan mckay can offer up what they were looking at.<br></p>
<p>a 60W or better laser perhaps that we know can cut at least .5 in wood plastic, tile etc, and engrave/mark on stone, metal etc . With as big a bed as we can get right?<br></p>
<p>I did a bit of looking from your list from a couple weeks ago and came up with a $6k estimate. The nice thing is there is a wide variety of kit at a variety of prices so we can go lower if needed</p>
<p>Boss Laser, Universal laser, Trotec, brands seem optimal.<br></p>
<p>Morphon has a 130W for around $5k, but the manuals are in chinese<br></p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>RAN<br></p>
<p><br></p>
<div class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-cite-prefix">On 5/20/2019 8:17 PM, Emily Schleiner wrote:<br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165spark_quote" style="margin:5px;padding-left:10px;border-left:thin solid rgb(52,152,219)">
<div dir="ltr">Hey all,
<div><br></div>
<div>I'm not sure how much money we will be able to raise to buy a laser cutter, but I googled 'laser cutter under $3000' and found this machine, which looks alright to me:</div>
<div><a href="https://www.smartdiys.cc/products/fabool-laser-co2" target="_blank">https://www.smartdiys.cc/products/fabool-laser-co2</a></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Any thoughts about preferred materials to cut with lasers? (Glass? Plastic? Metal? My preferred material is metal, but that might be a step up.)<br>
<div><br></div>
<div>(An aside) I need to offer everyone an apology for referring to Steve Inness when I meant Steve Edburg in a previous email, especially Steve. I'm sure reading that was a moment of surprise and upset for everyone who knew Steve Innes too. I'm sorry about that.</div>
</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Sending my best,</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Emily</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 6, 2019 at 7:40 PM Emily Schleiner <<a href="mailto:cordial.emily@gmail.com" target="_blank">cordial.emily@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote gmail-m_1176397995487994165spark_quote" style="margin:5px;padding-left:10px;border-left:thin solid rgb(211,84,0)">
<div dir="ltr">Hey all,
<div><br></div>
<div>Woo hoo!<br>
<div><br></div>
<div>Our Laser Cutter Fundraiser is on Friday June 14 (during Art About).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Big question:</b></div>
<div>What laser cutter do we want to buy? Here's one random article to get the conversation started:</div>
<div><a href="https://all3dp.com/1/best-home-desktop-laser-cutter-engraver-aio-machine/" target="_blank">https://all3dp.com/1/best-home-desktop-laser-cutter-engraver-aio-machine/</a><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Schedule:</b></div>
<div>6pm Pizza (Rob)</div>
<div> Roland's jam band</div>
<div>7pm Steve Innes's friends' band</div>
<div> Raffle [ask local businesses - theater (Ryan), bookstore, hardware (Emily), Roland's fitbit ]</div>
<div>8pm Rob's friend's jam</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Questions:</b></div>
<div>Can we have alcohol during the event? (Rob to find out)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Projects:</b></div>
<div>Lighted sign (Rob and Emily),</div>
<div>Poster (Emily),</div>
<div>Make Thermometer Thing to Show Progress (Volunteer needed)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Publicize ASAP:</b></div>
<div>Communicate with Downtown Davis Association (Roland)</div>
<div>Write to Davis Enterprise (Rob)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Please write back with ideas for LASER CUTTER preferences ASAP!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Cheers, </div>
<div>Emily</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br clear="all">
<div><br></div>
--<br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470gmail-m_-5732425433571174155gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>__________________________________<br>
<div style="line-height:13px;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(1,52,89);letter-spacing:1px"><strong>Emily Schleiner</strong></div>
<div style="line-height:13px;font-size:8pt;color:rgb(51,51,50)">Web Designer & Developer<br>
Davis, California 95616<br>
Tel: (530) 505-1187 <br>
Moniker: <a href="https://cordial-emily.com/" target="_blank"><strong style="color:rgb(0,154,157)">Cordial-Emily.com</strong></a> <br>
Website: <a href="https://paralleldesign.net/" target="_blank"><strong style="color:rgb(0,154,157)">Parallel Design.Net</strong></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br clear="all">
<div><br></div>
--<br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>__________________________________<br>
<div style="line-height:13px;font-size:9pt;color:rgb(1,52,89);letter-spacing:1px"><strong>Emily Schleiner</strong></div>
<div style="line-height:13px;font-size:8pt;color:rgb(51,51,50)">Web Designer & Developer<br>
Davis, California 95616<br>
Tel: (530) 505-1187 <br>
Moniker: <a href="https://cordial-emily.com/" target="_blank"><strong style="color:rgb(0,154,157)">Cordial-Emily.com</strong></a> <br>
Website: <a href="https://paralleldesign.net/" target="_blank"><strong style="color:rgb(0,154,157)">Parallel Design.Net</strong></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
Davis Makerspace Discuss mailing list
<a class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org" target="_blank">Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org</a>
<a class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss" target="_blank">https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss</a>
</pre></blockquote>
<pre class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-signature" cols="72">--
Robert Nickerson
UCD Class of 1996
CEO, Om Networks
cell: 5308483865
<a class="gmail-m_1176397995487994165gmail-m_-652412229155311470moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.omsoft.com" target="_blank">www.omsoft.com</a>
</pre></div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Davis Makerspace Discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org" target="_blank">Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss</a><br></blockquote>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Davis Makerspace Discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org" target="_blank">Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss" target="_blank">https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss</a><br></blockquote>
</div>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
Davis Makerspace Discuss mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org" target="_blank">Discuss@lists.davismakerspace.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.davismakerspace.org/listinfo/discuss</a><br>
</blockquote></div>