Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11.3 A laser cutter uses a laser to remove material.
One of the first things you might notice about a laser cutter is how much it looks
like a large box. There are a number of reasons for this. First, it is for safety—you
don't want someone putting their hands anywhere around a working laser. Second,
a lot of materials produce fumes when cut by a high-temperature laser, and the
enclosure helps to redirect those fumes using a special ventilation tool that sucks
out the fumes and expels them elsewhere (usually outside). Finally, some materi-
als (like glass) can reflect a laser, so the enclosure helps protect eyeballs from an
accidental reflection of the beam.
Inside the enclosure you'll find a setup similar to a CNC machine. The workspace
stays put, and the laser moves left and right and forward and backward. The only
difference is that a laser doesn't need to move up and down—it either cuts all the
way through a material, or the software controlling the beam uses a series of pulses
that cut only a fixed depth into the material.
As you can imagine, laser cutters are not cheap. Between desktop versions of a
CNC machine, a 3D printer, and a laser cutter, you'll definitely spend the most on
the laser cutter. It's a technology that hasn't dropped in price as fast as the oth-
 
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