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Desktop Laser Cutting/Engraving
bwags writes "I ran across this VersaLaser desktop Laser Cutting and Engraving printer. I really do not know what I want to do with it, but you gotta admit it is cool. Maybe make some balsa wood airplanes. At only $10K, I want the purple one!"
after reading what the laser will cut through.. man i wish they could have one of those on a battle bot :-p
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Not just wood, but a variety of materials, too..
I wonder if it can fabricate keys. "Government Property - Do Not Duplicate," here I come.
If you shave your arm, numb it a bit, adjust the power, you have a home laser tattoo machine.
Imagine the price of a replacement cartidge on that one...
Je t'aime Stéphanie
There is a definate need for these. Think about all the times you've gone to the mall and seen those "personalize this P.O.S for your loved one" They need engravers that are small as possible.
Now all I need is something to engrave my CD's so people stop yanking them.
...a (slashdotted) website actually hosted on one of these with content along the lines of "AOL CD in the Microwave" showing how you can carve an AOL CD into a cease-and-desist letter in five seconds flat.
fifth sigma, inc.
Our company bought something like this to engrave the company name in our laptop computers. (about 60 of them) However, we realized too late that the power was too high. We ended up wrecking about 15 of them. When I turned mine on afterwards, smoke actually came out of it.
You can tell the server is in the process of being slashdotted, the main image took about a minute to load.
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"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell
Now I have a portable unit to engrave "Made For Linux" on company laptops.
"No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"
----- In Your Cubicle No One Can Hear You Scream...
How many request for a free sample will VersaLaser be getting. (For those who haven't been to the site, they offer a free sample of material cut with the lazer)
More junk to collect!
I've seen this somewhere before. Nice tool for creating prototypes and models of vehicles, espesially air-planes. However I didn't know this technology was available for PC. And for what a price!
As they mention on their site, TechTV did a short story about it (it's the last item on the list).
Teenagers these days don't have as much sex as they want each other to think they do.
Now our children's limbs can atrophy further, because we no longer have need for scissors and manual dexterity. Thanks, technology! In 2048 when children are routinely born with no arms I'll be thanking this widget after fitting the little buggers for hoversleds.
Very cool stuff.
Alot of companies use this type of machine to make paper models of buildings for architecture . Fast prototyping stuff.
It's a laser, isn't it?
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I wonder if these could be used as an inexpensive way of routing PCBs. It seems it would be more reliable way to make boards without using a drill bit which would definately be niced. They don't seem to mention it being usable on metals though.
I do security
The metal film on the back of the CD would make a great engraving surface... (yes, joke)
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
You could check here; they seem to have at least one laser cutter, plus several other 3d-fabricating machines. You can even submit your own CAD-files for jewelry, toys etc.
-- Language is a virus from outer space.
"sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads"
or..
Just add the sharks!
Are you local? There's nothing for you here!
Desktop Laser Engraver/Cutter
It's the perfect new-baby gift for any family. The brand-new Moil 2000 comes with hyper-circumcision laser. Just imagine the fun... *not responsible for anyone inserting penis into machine*
Those are all professional grade machines, I never saw those before and thank
you for the link.
However have you ever seen the
stuff Roland puts out? They make a desktop CNC mills for under $1500
that can produce small items. Leases start at $100 @ mo. They have
desktop laser 3D scanners (put a real world object in, produces 3d model) too.
1. Scan in printer
2. Print printer
3. PROFIT!!!
4. goto step 1.
will produce even cleaner and crisper $100 bills.
Go calculate something.
James Bond: Do you expect me to talk, Goldfinger?
Auric Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
[A laser is about to cut Bond in half.]
James Bond: I think you made your point. Thank you for the demonstration.
Auric Goldfinger: Choose your next witticism carefully Mr. Bond, it may be your last.
Actually these machines can do 3d relief mapping which is really cool. The software is expensive to do it but you can take a greyscale relief map (ala bryce 3d) and the machine will create a 3d engraving. It's really neat -- I play with these machines all the time because our company sells them used. www.usedlasers.com Thanks, Rob
Actually they use a patented quick change co2 laser cartridge with a lifespan of ten to twelve THOUSAND hours of use. After that you trade it back in and get a new one at the cost of about $1500. www.usedlasers.com -- we sell these machines used. Thanks, rob
I find one use of it - If you can't get a refund of your unused Windows CD, engrave it with the words "It sucks! Give me back my money!" and send it to Microsoft.
Of course, I was playing along.... yeah
...
Fucking retard
But can you attach it to a fricken shark's fricken head?
You could use this to put windows in your case, as well as etch designs into the window.
The URL for their demo video is here -http://www.versalaser.com/english/techtv.wmv
It is kinda slowing down, right now am getting about 20kbps.
just use a hamster.
"Now Mr. Shaggles, I'm going to dress you up in this miniature tuxedo I took of of my sister's Goin' Out Tonight Ken (TM) doll, and then I'm going to strap you to a 1/25th-scale mock-up of the table in Gold Finger made out of popsicle sticks. Then, I will dismember you with this high-powered, laser engraving printer. Any objections? No? (Hamster beginning to visible cry) Excellent."
why run from Vincenzo?
If you hate "lunix zealots" so much, *why* in the name of all things homosexual do you still come to this site?
Basically, I thought it would be really cool to combine a camera (get color), 3D laser-scanner (get shape), styrofoam mill (make shape), and airbrush (put color). Then, place the device beside the traditional PhotoBooth in malls across america, and people would be lining up for their own "instant 3D statues" ... until the fad died out.
Obviously, it's still a bit too expensive to make such a "3D photobooth".
--
Power to the Peaceful
Come for the (non-linux) articles,
stay for the trolling.
For bigger projects there is a company called
Photomachining (http://www.photomachining.com)
that has some pretty serious laser systems that
sell for about $100k. Check it out. .
pretty neat stuff.
They'll also laser machine just about anything for
you in any custom way. Anything from PCBs to
medical devices to laser-etched guitar picks.
It's already been done, except for the paint part. The company went bankrupt.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
The problem with reflection isn't just that it can bounce back into the laser, the problem is that by reflecting the energy, the metal isn't absorbing much.
If the metal doesn't absorb much energy, your ability to cut it will be limited.
So much for using this for evil leet case modding...bleah.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I bet you a thousand dollars that something like this is already patented, and the guy who patented it is just waiting around to sue whoever builds it first. That's how the system works now.
They'll fabricate keys for you! Even one's that say do not duplicate or "restricted"- as long as you tip the the guy $5.
My uncle has something similar to this, just a few years old. He can do some pretty cool stuff, he just does a greyscale image in corel draw and sends it to the engraver. He can do batch jobs and such, hes making good side money by doing things for weddings such as mirrors with a picture of the couple cut out of the silver...etc He got his used for less than 5000$...Quite intersting stuff
Took movie offline today while investigating DDOS attacks. Will make the movie active again shortly.
It utilizes unused disc space to visually burn labelling onto the CD itself.
Last I heard, it's street price was around $150.
The teacher starts yelling at me.
Something about "public property".
> --- All Of The Above --- >
they should use it to replicate themselves another web server or two to handle the
One shudders to think what Martha Stewart would do with one of these things...
500 WATTS!??! Even if a third of that power actually goes to lasing, thats a really powerful laser!
--sig fault--
that's where I say it today, the ad on Pg 116
thanks for looking up the price, I was going to hit the website later
today and you saved me the trouble..
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
It's great for actually cutting stuff, for when you're using flat materials; fast, and a very small kerf.
As such it's just a 2D device. Can't do some of the more useful CNC work such as fly-cutting surfaces, pocket cutting, and 3D slopes.
If you want to do the same thing and can live with an 1/8" or 1/16" kerf, you can build a homebuilt CNC machine for an incredibly low price. Depending on what parts you make and where you get them, the price can range from near nothing to $750. Plus you get 3D profiling and a much more flexible machine: put a pen in it and sign lots of certificates, put a woodburning iron in it and make a cool clock face, put a small router in it and engrave your logo into your valve covers.
Just do a Google search for "homebuilt CNC" and you'll find plenty of good links.
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Anonymous Coward
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I wonder what would happen if I took the laser off they cutting table and used it freehand to cut.... other things... I'd like to see my cat chase that dot :)
Wow, notice how the ads at the top are for the item advertised in the story!
I could sharpen my sword collection with that
After all, didn't they already have one of these things in the movie "goldfinger"? Admittedly that only printed onto huge blocks of gold, or secret agents.
Calm down....electrical input and lased light output have NOTHING to do with each other.
Most cutting/welding lasers are usually no more than 100W lased light output(and we're talking BIG units here, for cutting thick, strong metals, and doing so quickly). In fact, if you look at the parent company's website for this "junior" unit, you can see they offer modules from 20W to about 60W. I'm guessing the "junior" unit has a 20W supply.
Still, 20W is a lot; around 5mW you're getting power levels capable of doing damage to the eye(this is calculated based on the time it takes for the brain to think "BRIGHT LIGHT!" and for the eyelid to respond; past a certain power level, damage occurs before the brain+eyelid can react).
I wonder how they get around the licensing restrictions on high-power laser systems(yes, believe it or not, over a certain power level, they're 'controlled' devices, given the trouble they can cause.)
Please help metamoderate.
Come on hackers... somebody GPL a design so we can all roll our own with parts from radioshack!
why spend $10k when you can spend $1k and built it yourself?
One of my customers: http://www.laserlizard.com/ does this exact thing.
Rob
www.usedlasers.com
Engrave some little 35 millimeter metal sheets, gut a disposed disposable camera, and pow! the flashpoint projector!
http://www.hactivist.com/flashpoint/
Heil Sig! -Rob
There is this highly advanced technological device used by people to mark CD's.. its called... A Sharpie
I'm a member of an antique auto club, and as time passes a lot of the perishable plastic parts from the 50's and 60's are becoming unavailable new. The plastic from those years eventually got brittle and disintegrated. It would be lovely to be able to reproduce these parts using 3d printing tech, but is that even possible given today's state of the art?
I use a LaserPro Mercury 50W machine at work, and can cut up to 20mm thick acrylic.. only our imagination limits the use of the machine... it's real fun work sometimes :)
A buddy and I were looking for a good way to make water blocks for CPU cooling, making custom laser cuts on computer cases/fan grills/cats..
The versalaser is cool for engraving, but that is it. Too bad these things are so expensive. We are looking at a kit to put a plasma torch on a CNC rig, you could also add a router or whatever.
By the way, your blatent, repetative, self-advertisement is disgusting.
aw come on, the guy finally get's a story that's about his subject area and he want's to participate and contribute his knowledge.
If you bothered to contribute positively to the world you'd be promoting it too.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Reminds me of an old TV commericial...
"It can cut through everything I threw at it, it was beautiful. I watched it all day long, cutting random shapes from a mandelbrot generator I coded in Pascal... what an experience..."
"So, where is your laser cutting printer?"
*sob* "I bought aluminum siding!" *sob*