Thanks! I appreciate it.
You're right. The laser isn't very powerful (0.5 W), but with enough time, I'm hoping it will be able to cut through very thin wood. It's all I can really expect. At work we have two 4000 W lasers for cutting through metal. This is a far cry from that sort of machine. If I happen to stumble across enough money to buy one of those, I'd jump on it. However, I like do the "DIY" aspect of this project. I like being able to make a laser cutter out of things that can be found in the basement, hardware store, etc. It makes me hopeful that laser cutters and 3D printers will be available to large numbers of ordinary people.
When this is finished, I plan on building a 3D printer from parts cut out on this laser. I should be able to stack thin pieces of wood on top of one another and fasten them together somehow to make a complete part.
Has everyone seen the DuPont conductive ink before? I knew there was a side project involving printing circuit boards with a 3D printer. I thought "why, when it would be done with a laser jet?"
