[sudo-discuss] laser cutter

i have visited two hackerspaces here in Toronto, including http://hacklabs.to and http://torontotoollibrary.com and it's clear that a hackerspace needs a laser cutter. Sudoroom doesn't have one yet, so we should start thinking about which one we will get. I heard we had $12,000.00 too much in the bank, and here at TTL they have a HUGE laser cutter called the Lasersaur. It's a kit, sortof, but it's a very serious machine. It uses a 100 watt laser! and that means it can cut through 3/4" plywood (in multiple passes) http://www.lasersaur.com/ okay maybe we're not ready for something like this quite yet, but when we're ready we should keep it in mind. We can skip over the step of getting a cheap lame cutter like those other hackerspaces. speaking of other hackerspaces, hacklabs has one from Universal Laser Systems that they got off Craigslist for $500 because the controller was fried. They built a motor control system (the hard way) and then they had a nice laser cutter! I think it's 25 watts. -jake