What laser cutter for classroom use?

[bbuonomo]

Hi All.

I know very little about laser cutters, but I have seen some ads in some Technology Education (used to be called Industrial Arts) magazines.

I'm looking for some type of machine to use in CAD and Engineering classes. At first I was thinking a small desktop CNC so the kids can see their CAD designs brought to life. Rapid prototyping machines and 3D Printers seem like they will be way out of budget.

So I'm starting to think a laser cutter would be good to output 2D CAD parts in plastic, foam or wood.

Any enlightenment is appreciated.

My concerns are cost, material types and operating issues. For example, how long does it take to cut acrylic or wood on a laser cutter? Does it produce a lot of smoke? Can I actually do this in a "clean" environment (aka computer lab/classroom or is this stuff only suitable for industrial labs and shops?

Or am I better off with a small enclosed CNC mill?

Thanks!

Brian Buonomo
Technology Teacher
West Islip High School
West Islip, NY 11795

[signbloke]

Hi Brian
You will find that a laser cutter of 80w - 100w will suit your purpose perfectly for cutting plastics etc, you must be prepared though to ensure the machine is vented properly and all fumes extracted to outside the classroom, the materials you cut will give of fumes and smoke and in some cases these can be toxic or corrosive. Plastic (acrylic sheet) will cut very quickly, mdf slightly longer, priority would be to have a safety in operation protocol firmly established in a classroom envireonment as these machines are definatelely not toys to fool around with, they can however produce fantastic results.

cheers

[TMT89523]

Brian
If cost is something that you want to keep under control, have you thought about using plasma instead of laser.

[ViperTX]

For a classroom environment....where the students want to see the action....you would be better off with a small enclosed mill....where the enclosure is some type of plexiglass.

[charper]

I am also a Tech Ed Teacher. I have a Versa Laser which I love, a plasma cutter which I hate, and two small Techno CNC Dav Vinci mills

The kids design using Rhino 3D and I can print right from Rhino to the Laser cutter or I can import the Rhino file to Mastercam and mill from there

I have used foam and wood on the laser, but you have to play around with the intensities. I also have a 3D printer, but with some of the mold making applications I am doing on the mill, you really don't need the expensive 3D prototyper and can 3D construct really cheap.

Feel free to E-mail me a private message and tell me a little bit about what you want to do and I can share with you some of the pros and cons of dust/cleanliness/versitility, etc. these machines as far as my applications are

[bbuonomo]

Well, I wasn't planning on doing much metal work in the computer lab, so I don't think I need a plasma cutter.

Money is always an issue though :-) But our PTA and another parent group have been passing out some really big "grants" lately. Last year the music department got a $60,000 piano, so i'm not too shy about asking for $$.

I know the laser cutters start around $10,000. I've seem a lot of the small cnc mills for $2000 - 4000. I have no idea what the 3D printers go for.

My main goal it to show them thier CAD work in real life. A while back I saw a really cool paper rapid prototype process by some UK company. You use a vinyl cutter and cardstock to build the model layer by layer. But I haven't had much luck getting info for it in the US. Plus, I think a CNC mill or laser cutter would be a bit more impressive.

Bottom, line laser sounds cool, but I;mnot sure if I'm better off with a small CNC mill in the classroom. Taking the entire CAD class down to the autoshop to watch the BP Series 1 CNC cut out a part doesn'tw ork out very well with 20 students. But cutting or milling in class, while everyone is workingat their stations would be far more reasonable. When I was in HS we had a couple of SpectraLight CNC lathes (or lightmachine?) It was great to code in gcode and watch the part come out. I'd like to pass that fealing of creation to these kids. They normally would never take a shop class or work with out robotics team to CNC or manual mill parts.

Thanks for the input so far, please keep it coming.

Brian

[smartcut]

Hello !

If you intend to put such a machine in a classroom, be advised of your government regulations ! These machines are for industrial use (or private !), so there safety rules prohibit them in a "children" environment !

(CO2 lasers for cutting machines are class IV !!!)


Philippe

[samco]

I would have killed to have a cnc mill in class. That would be my choice. You can do so much more with a small 3-4 axis mill. Kids interested in electronics could use it to mill circuit boards. Pattern making - prototypes.



sam

[TMT89523]

Take a look at torchmate they have 3 axis tables and do a lot of work with schools.

[charper]

If I had a choice between the mill and the laser, I would go for the mill. Like I said my classroom has a small Techno DaVinci table top which does quite well. Pretty much everything you can do with the laser, you can do with the mill. The versa Laser is just clean and neat. I know our 3D Dimension printer was extremely expensive, and like I said, you can design a mold in CAD and mill it out and cast in plastic for much cheaper than the Dimension. Plus, it was always gumming up and the material is expensive. Not worth it.

And you are doing EXACTLY what I am trying to do..show the kids a real model of their CAD designs. You can do that with the CNC and mold making

as for the enclosure..I highly reccomend my seniors are building such an enclosure for my two mills now out of plexiglass