[hackerspaces] Laser cutter: Buy or build? Both?

[Walter van Holst]

On 2012-04-13 06:31, Nathaniel Bezanson wrote:

> I'm sure a number of other hackerspaces are using Chinese lasers with 
> a
> variety of software. LaserCut, LaserMate, Newlydraw, Thunder Laser, 
> who
> knows what else. What are your thoughts?

At Revspace we have procured a Chinese HPC A4 40W lasercutter without 
its standard controller through a UK importer of those. Instead of the 
standard controller we have put in a LAOSlaser controller 
(http://www.laoslaser.org) which, although not without issues, was 
nowhere near the hassle to get working as we feared.

The nice bit about this arrangement is that it indeed more or less 
works as a CUPS printer on the network (you have to do a little more 
than just install the proper CUPS driver on your computer to get it to 
work). But after you got the driver to work, you can lasercut from any 
vector software. We usually use Inkscape for that purpose.

Total cost so far was less than 2k EUR.

Regards,

  Walter