Laser Cutter 2013
Purchasing
J-CUT
80W cutters:
- JCUT-1280 (1200x800mm work area): $4770
- JCUT-1290 (1200x900mm work area): $4840
- JCUT-1216 (1200x1600mm work area): $5350
Options:
- Rise-down platform $300
- Rotary axis $300
- Water pump free
- Chiller unit $470
- Air pump free
- Auto focus $100
- Red pot for position $100
- Honeycomb table $400
- USB $460
Shipping cost is $480 for JCUT-1216 and $200 for the smaller ones. Chiller unit is recommended for 80W lasers. If we don't choose USB, the interface will be a PCI card.
Dimensions of the JCUT-1216 (not leasted on the web page) are 2120x1810x1070mm.
Will be shipped by sea, presumably at least 40 days for delivery.
In addition to the lower cost, a good argument for going with the smallest model is reduced weight. A JCUT-1280 with rise-down platform, chiller unit, honeycomb table and shipping is $6,140. I would budget for $7,500 including materials associated with ventilation, customs brokerage fees, etc. --Guan (talk) 22:35, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
Funding
There have been offers of donations and loans from members. We believe the loan could be paid off in 2 years, and would make the loans have a (maximum) term of 3 years.
Assumptions:
- Budget $1,000 for repairs and other expenses per year
- Average rate of 75 cents per minute
- Operate for 50 weeks per year
- We are looking to raise $7,500 total
| Loans | Period | Budget per year | Minutes per year | Minutes per week | Budget per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80% | 2 years | $4,000 | 5,333 | 107 | $333 |
| 80% | 3 years | $3,000 | 4,000 | 80 | $250 |
| 60% | 2 years | $3,250 | 4,333 | 87 | $271 |
| 50% | 2 years | $2,875 | 3,833 | 77 | $240 |
| 50% | 3 years | $2,250 | 3,000 | 60 | $188 |
There is some risk involved. The laser cutter may not work at all and it may be impossible to recover damages from the Chinese manufacturer. We may have insufficient manpower to maintain or repair it, or not enough money.
It is possible, but would involve a lot of work and possibly legal fees, to create a structure where lenders are effectively partners in the laser cutter as a business. It may be simpler to simply have Hack Manhattan take the risk of the project: we will structure the loans to have a long term, for example 4 years if the anticipated payback period is 2 years. In the worst case scenario, this is a loan that we will pay back over 4 years, a payment of less than $100 per month.
Pricing
Ideas:
- $1/min for the public
- 50 cents or 75 cents/min for members
- 25 cents/min for funders or a fixed allotment of minutes
Moving
The laser cutter will likely be delivered to the Port of Newark. We have to arrange for it to be moved to the sidewalk outside the building, then upstairs. Piano movers would be best to take care of this.
Ventilation
Wherever we place the laser cutter in the space, we can probably easily vent to the board at the top of the window where the air conditioner is mounted.
Good laser cutter practice is to have a fan and run ventilation duct all the way to the roof, and a little above. Is that necessary?
Project management/todo
- Build PVC scale model to test that it can be moved in, and how it would look in space
- Get quotes from piano movers
- Finalize and propose a ventilation plan
- Finalize and propose a funding plan
