Any recommendations for laser cutting services?
Any recommendations for laser cutting services?
here in australia there is a mob called 'arrow laser' in bundoora.
they have great prices for one offs and usually get back to you by the end of the week.
http://www.arrowlaser.com.au
also, most civil engineering and architecture universities have laser cutting rigs to allow the students to make detailed models. chum up with one of those peeps if you want all your cad cut for a slab of beer.... hehe
I've had quite a bit of stuff done through Ponoko - http://ponoko.com
Simply upload a drawing as an EPS (they have templates you can use) and they'll cut it and send it to you. They have a hub in NZ and in the USA where they make the items and then send them out to you.
There's a pretty decent range of materials that they can cut - acrylic, mdf, plywood, felt etc...
Pretty discouraged now... I was very pumped until I saw the cost for laser cutting service. Ponoko is charging > $120 to cut one panel (there are six, not including the driver chassis). Other services seem to be similar. So basically, if you don't know someone or otherwise have access to a cutter ...
Talk about bursting my balloon! I've wanted to DIY CNC for a while and I thought Lil CNC was perfect. But the intricacy of the pieces/joinery is simply impossible for me to achieve by hand.
Don't despair just yet! While the DIYLILCNC plans are an important part of this project, the umbrella goal is to facilitate homebrew CNC in general. Perhaps there's another builder on the forum who does have direct access to a laser, and would be willing to cut panels cheaper than Ponoko? Let's see if the market can solve this problem.
Michael, buck up--ponoko is hardly the only game in town. Follow Taylor's advice and shop around. Here's a lead: Riley Porter of synthetos.com has indicated that he can offer laser cutting services for less than ponoko.
We are happy to introduce our company GRAND LASER WORKS INC. We are a laser cutting/marking job shop based in Brooklyn, NY, we recently moved to a bigger facility and also upgraded our laser equipment, we are ready to do the laser cutting of the wood panels for a reasonable price.
Please feel free to contact us @ 718-832-3810
http://www.grandlaser.com.
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