A Great Time for Makers

LASER CUTTERS First up is laser cutting. Unlike 3D printers, which deposit material one layer at a time (an instance of additive manufacturing), laser cutters use a powerful laser to cut or engrave material (subtractive manufacturing). While laser cutting has been around for some years, your best bet as an independent maker to get access to one was to join a local hackerspace that already had one of these beauties. Not only were these devices heavy and expensive, they required complicated exhaust and ventilation systems. Recently, a successful crowdfunding campaign hatched the Glowforge “3D laser printer”– a laser cutting device targeted for home use by enthusiasts [Figure 1]. The laser isn’t as powerful as some of the larger systems (the basic model comes with a 40W laser while the pro model offers 45W). But this is likely adequate to cut and etch material such as acrylic, wood and leather. What is most exciting is that this is being designed with home use in mind. You still need to deal with fumes – external venting is a default but it also supports a filter attachment that obviates the need for ventilation. With cheap 3D printers, there have been several reported complaints of foul smelling fumes when used in closed spaces (inhaling the odor of plastic burning is likely never a good thing!). Time will tell how well these filtration solutions work in practice.