Hi all; I'm in the process of designing and building my own laser cutter. It's inspired by the BuildLog.net laser cutter but has some key differences. The laser will have a cutting area of 4' x 2' and will be 80 watts. It's a gantry-mounted tube system like the Kern lasers. I'm also using the DSP system from Light Object so I'll be able to go the whole "print from Corel Draw to cut on the laser" route. If you want to see my build log and all my current ideas, it's available here:
buildlog.net • View topic - Mike's EyeZap Laser Cutter
I have about a million projects I want to use it on and they range from very small (inches) to very large (multiple feet, full plywood sheets). I plan on vector cutting wood, paper, plastic, etc. I do want to support engraving though that will be far less common than cutting.
My practical experience with laser cutters is a bit limited. I've used a nice but small-ish Universal Laser multiple times but that's about it. What I'm really hoping to get out of this post is specific advice on features and requirements for my machine based the experience you experts have here.
So with all that said, if you were buying a machine to do some of these things, what would you expect it to have from a feature-standpoint? And those of you that have used larger bed machines, what features did you wish it had to make your life easier?
Thanks much!
-Mike