Slashdot Mirror
Glowforge is a CNC Laser Cutter, not a 3D Printer (Video)
Co-Founder and CEO Dan Shapiro says, right at the beginning of the interview, that the Glowforge machine is a CNC laser cutter and engraver, not a 3-D Printer. He says they've "simplified the heck" out of the hardware and software, and are making an easy-to-use, non-costly ($2500 has been bandied about as the unit's likely price) device that can fit on a kitchen table -- or, more likely, a workbench at a maker facility. Although Dan did very well on Kickstarter (and afterwards) with his previous venture, Robot Turtles, this time he seems to have raised his first $9 million in the venture capital market, with participation from several MakerBot executives.
Glowforge is not the only CNC laser cutter/etcher device out there (or about to be). In Australia, Darkly Labs appears to have raised $569,397 (AUD) on Kickstarter to bring their LazerBlade to life, and already makes a small laser device called the Emblaser. There are others, too, including Boxzy, which did the Kickstarter thing and will now sell you a device that "rapidly transforms into 3 kinds of machines: CNC Mill, 3D Printer & Laser Engraver while enhancing precision & power with ballscrews." All this, and their top-of-the-line "does everything" machine sells for a mere $3500. Obviously, devices to give makers and prototypers the ability to make ever more complex and accurate shapes are coming to market like crazy. We'll continue to keep an eye on all this activity, including a second video interview with Glowforge's Dan Shapiro tomorrow.
Glowforge is not the only CNC laser cutter/etcher device out there (or about to be). In Australia, Darkly Labs appears to have raised $569,397 (AUD) on Kickstarter to bring their LazerBlade to life, and already makes a small laser device called the Emblaser. There are others, too, including Boxzy, which did the Kickstarter thing and will now sell you a device that "rapidly transforms into 3 kinds of machines: CNC Mill, 3D Printer & Laser Engraver while enhancing precision & power with ballscrews." All this, and their top-of-the-line "does everything" machine sells for a mere $3500. Obviously, devices to give makers and prototypers the ability to make ever more complex and accurate shapes are coming to market like crazy. We'll continue to keep an eye on all this activity, including a second video interview with Glowforge's Dan Shapiro tomorrow.
Ok as one who uses laser cutters on a regular basis on a multitude of materials, I didn't listen to the whole thing but in the first half, heard nothing of note nor anything that is new.
1/1000" resolution is good, but not a big deal (your laser will be thicker than that anyways). So what if it cut holes in leather? Laser cutters already do that. The idea of having to futz with a material, big deal. Where we work, we have this stuff written on a wall and we say, '1/4" acrylic, this power and speed. Done." Their already is good software out there for laser cutters. If you buy a $595 chinese laser cutter from ebay, yeah, then it isn't good but there are other companies out there making decent laser cutter for that price. Not professional quality but good enough for home use.
There is nothing that is really new. Can you come up with a robust and reliable 24"*36" cutter with good optics for that price, then I'll be impressed but for now, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for this to come out.