[hackerspaces] Lasersaur on kickstarter.com wants $10k to develop an open source laser cutter

[Matt Joyce]

I really do have to suggest being WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY careful with a project
like this.

those lasers are not easy to deal with, and are severely dangerous.

be super super cautious.

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 9:55 PM, john arclight <arclight at gmail.com> wrote:

> This sound interesting. Most importantly, I think we need a good,
> sturdy 3-axis gantry that can be used to move around a router, Dremel
> tool, LASER head, stencil cutting knife, etc.
>
> All of the systems I have seen so far (Reprap, Makerbot, etc)  are too
> light to move something like a LASER system or a high-speed router for
> cutting out circuit boards/etc.
>
> And all of the heavy-duty movements I've seen have involved one-off
> salvaged components, like steppers+ball screws from a wrecked CNC
> machine tool or a large industrial line printer.
>
> So I would encourage the team to think about not making the platform
> 100% specific to LASER cutting, but an open design that could have
> multiple components bolted on.
>
> A repeatable design for a nice, rigid 3-axis movement would be an
> excellent "Stage 1" design goal, even if the LASER portion proves to
> be harder to master.
>
> Arclight
> http://shop.23b.org
>
> On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 7:49 AM, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Lasersaur
> >
> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/405545346/lasersaur-open-source-laser-cutter-0
> >
> > """
> > The idea is simple: Design a laser cutter and make the building
> > process repeatable for others.
> >
> > Here's the thing. Laser cutters are traditionally expensive ($30,000
> > to as much as you can spend) and there are a lot of artist, hackers,
> > architects, designers, DIYers who could do great things with them- if
> > they could afford one, or even get regular access to one. Pretty much
> > anybody who is a maker could benefit from a laser cutter.
> > Unfortunately, turnkey systems are expensive, and there isn't really a
> > clear and simple way to build one. We can change this: with roughly
> > six month of R&D time we can develop a laser cutter which anyone can
> > build, use, and maintain. Most importantly this system will be open
> > source which means anyone can improve and modify the design.
> >
> > Everyone should be able to have a laser cutter! Our goal is to design
> > a 100W machine which is capable of cutting 1/2" (12.5mm) acrylic,
> > wood, multiple layers of fabric or thin sheet metal.
> >
> > Why
> > Laser cutters are a key technology for making things.
> >
> > Remember when people couldn't make their own videos, CDs or print out
> > photos? Me neither (at least we try to forget). In many areas of
> > media, the last century was quite the read-only culture where a few
> > gatekeepers would sit on the means to produce everything. Not the best
> > situation for creativity or for people with lots of cool ideas but no
> > cash.
> >
> > When you look at robotics and fabrication this is still the case. In
> > 2010, a reasonable laser cutter is still well over 30k and therefore
> > outside the budget of most of us. However, we are at a point where
> > this can change. We believe we are able to design a laser cutter that
> > can be built for under 5k (a 100W version) and a budget version (25W)
> > for under 3k. It would be completely open source and repeatable.
> >
> > How this will go down
> > First of all, we need your support! Your pledge is what makes this
> > project possible. Once our funding goal is reached, the first
> > prototype will be formulated. With material testing and debugging
> > underway we can make a solid alpha system in about 6 months. At this
> > point, start checking your snail mail box for the alpha kit (see
> > pledges on how to get one).
> >
> > Once our alpha testers have had a chance to geek out for a few months,
> > we will launch into beta with the beta testers. Then collaborators.
> > Our goal is to launch publicly within a few months thereafter,
> > releasing the project, documentation and schematics to the greater
> > good.
> >
> > We will offer the Lasersaur open source system as kits available to
> > the public as well as offer documentation online for anyone wishing to
> > build their system from scratch.
> >
> > Who we are
> > We (addie and stefan) are alumi from NYU's ITP and more recently
> > fellows at Eyebeam in New York City. Both are institutions dedicated
> > to open source culture and experimentation with cutting edge
> > technology.
> >
> > As individuals, and as collaborators, we have been designing open
> > source software since 2002, hardware since 2006, and like sharing our
> > ideas with the bigger community. Our first open source hardware system
> > was launched in 2007 (CUBIT: the multitouch system, as well as the
> > later Touchkit, 2008). These systems were covered internationally and
> > nationally by media such as MIT Technology Review, The Economist, Der
> > Standard and even CNN. Over the last half a decade, our open source
> > hardware has been built and used by hundreds of people, labs and
> > research universities or institutions. We believe that people should
> > think globally and act locally and the open source movement has been
> > instrumental for this.
> > """
> >
> > I was kicking around the same idea with a fellow in Austin, TX a while
> > back but we had a sub-$1000 price target. I wonder if these eyebeam
> > fellows will be wise enough to use EMC2? I hope so.
> >
> > - Bryan
> > http://heybryan.org/
> > 1 512 203 0507
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