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Re: FRC Blogged - FIRSTŪ Choice Adds Additives
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pault
I would like to see some initiative to get every team laser cutters capable of cutting wood/plastic (like the epilog zing) instead of the 3D printers. Right now, everything is all about 3D printers, mostly because they have the potential to evolve into amazing tools and the coolness factor. But in 2012 my team had equal access to a Zing laser cutter and a consumer 3D printer (not sure which brand). We utilized them both. And in 2013 we used the Zing a whole lot more, and never once touched the 3D printer. Everything that we could make with a 3D printer, we could make using a laser cutter, ABS sheets, and solvent bond. And the final products we much stronger than they would be if we 3D printed them (to put it in perspective, we used this method to make our drivetrain sprockets, and they never failed on us).
But, unfortunately, these laser cutters have been overshadowed by 3D printers, so they will probably never become popular in FRC.
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Perhaps the cost is the main reason why. I would suspect it is possible to increase a laser cutter's popularity if there were an abundance of companies out there that sold an affordable one.
We have a 3D printer that cost us over $55,000. We still bought a Makerbot Replicator 2 afterwards because of the much lower cost. Our Makerbot wont make FRC structural parts for us, but there are a ton of things we can use it for, other than that.
You are referring to a laser engraver/cutter, right?
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