[hackerspaces] Cost sharing for lasers and 3D printers?

[Mark Atwood]

On Fri, Jan 18, 2013 at 5:04 PM, charlie wallace
<charlie at finitemonkeys.com> wrote:
> we just supply the machine, space and electricity and knowledge for free,

That doesn't work so well for laser cutters.  The tubes are good for
only so many hours, and then they burn out.   And they are not cheap.
 I've looked into laster cutters and that TCO costs, and there is a
hard bottom floor of about 25 cents a minutes *just* for tube wear.

And then you will spent N hours a week just keeping the XY drive unit
properly tensioned, the fans and ducts for the venting clear, etc etc
etc.

They are not anywhere near "print and forget" as a modern xerographic printer.

..m