So tonight, I finally did it: I finally ran my laser cutter!

Once I had the laser on my bench, setup was easy.  The kit contains everything one needs to get the machine operational, and with the company's user guide in hand, it was a snap.  I also finally found a CO2 Fire Extinguisher in town.  it was expensive, but I figured this was one place I could afford the real deal. Thus setup, I filled the water bucket with distilled water, hooked up the pump, and had at.

My medium tonight is cardstock. It's cheap and it's easy to cut.

I first created the design file.  I did this first file in Paint.  Yes, MS Paint.  I created this nifty double hung 4 pane window.  I didn't do any "real" measuring on this first file, and though scaling will be important down the road, right now we're just getting a sense of What the Laser can do.

I then opened the file in the laser cutter software.  With the file in BMP, all I can use is raster engrave, where the [250x250, 500x500, or 1000x1000 DPI determines the total depth to which I cut the material.  My first run was at 250x250, and I barely cut halfway through the cardstock.  I'll have to do more research on this end, but for now, we'll be fine.

Then I hit "Go."  And like a line printer, the cutter executed the file.  The first run only engraved the cardstock;  second goof run on a .jpg taught me that 1000x1000 will cut all the way through the cardstock, so then I ran a subsequent second run on the window set.  I noted some discrepancies in the first run, corrected the file, and then ran it a third time. 

Here's the final product after the first two successful runs:

Time elapsed? I started the design file at around 5:00.  It is now 5:45. I have now run the file not once, but three times. It's still not perfect, but you can see where this is headed...

And so I took another hour, redesigned the file, shot it, and assembled the components - assembly time took about 10 minutes, which is quickest time in which I have EVER assembled a "scratch-built window" in my life - and this window is truer than any window I've ever made, too. 

This first window, it's Large scale, perhaps...You tell me...

 The design file is still not perfect, as you may be able to see where I need to make corrections to the trim and inner mullion, but I believe the point has been made.  Another 10 hours and I have little doubt I'll be able to get my designs figured out in the first run.  Most of the time lost in the first three runs came down to learning the laser.

Next step?  I need better software for creating my design files.  Paint works at the moment, but I would like to cut using vector cut mode, as opposed to raster mode, and I need the files in a different format to do this.  All the same, I feel I may be able to get windows for Bowie Station in cardstock with a only little more practice.

Benny, obviously you left out the photos. So where are they? It's nice to talk about what you have done, but it would be nicer to see it.

Irv

They should all be up by now... :P

A thought just struck me. 

I could seriously be offering this 0.608" x 1.08" window in a packet of 10 or 20 on eBay by 12:00PM this morning...by then I'd no doubt have the imperfections cleaned up, a prototype shot, a better model built, and then a file created with a sheet of [hmmm, the file for this window shot out at 2.35" x 1.30," so on a standard 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock, I could shoot 6 x 4 files] 24 windows, create the eBay auction, and have it listed...all by 12:00PM...what do you think I could get for 24 windows?  

Most window kits seem to only have 4 or 6 windows in them, so maybe what, I'd get 4 or 6 kits per shoot?  So now we set a price, $2.00 or $4.00 per kit?  I may have to run the laser 15 minutes to get that sheet, and at $0.30 a minute, we're looking at a $4.50 production cost for a sheet of 24, though I've read the fine print and it turns out the laser is good for 1200 hours cutting 1/8 wood.  After that, it will still cut, just thinner and thinner materials.  Paper will still cut down to about 2-10% of the total 30W power level.  Who knows how much time I'll get out of this laser tube!!

And my time to set up the file...at this point, I estimate I have about an hour put into the file, and I could probably have it all bedded down within another hour.  That's two hours time.

So we suppose 6 kits with 4 windows each, at a cost of $3.00 per set.  The gross is $18.00; the cost is $4.50 and 2 hours of my time to set up the file.  Each subsequent set will not have this setup time.  To sell them, I'd have to package them, so I'd use a ziplock bag for each kit [$0.10] and print off a paper label from my color printer [$0.05] to fold and staple over the top of the ziplock bag, and then a box, [$1.00] so I'm looking at a net right around $12.25 for one run on the laser.  Not bad for what starts toady as 2 hours worth of work and in the future would only be the time to turn on the laser, print a sheet, put them in baggies, and staple them shut.

If I was a real glutton for punishment, I'd assemble them and blast them with a coat of white spray paint from the rattle can...hence, I'd have fully assembled, full painted windows...though at the moment, I don't have glass in them.  Time to find a sheet acrylic supplier... And those, I'd sell them for what, $10.00 for 4?  That'd gross me $60.00 for a single run, though I'd predict it would take me 2-4 hours to do all the assembly.  If I had the nice peel and stick cardstock, perhaps that time would be much lower?

I looked up replacement costs on my laser tube.  A new one is as high as $300 from the company who sold me my laser.  New ones on eBay are between $150 and $75.  The most expensive part down the road will be lenses.  All in all, I should plan on replacing parts as I continue!!

That's how easy this laser game is...and I'm not even playing with the "fancy software" yet!

Postage:  In the US it costs nearly $2.00 to ship a small box that doesn't weigh anything. A lot of customers don't like paying more for shipping than the product costs. And you have to drive/take it to the post office, if you can't work out the postage beforehand. And go anyway for overseas custom forms.

Sale taxes: You have to keep records of ALL sales and inform them which are in state, and add and pay tax on those. If you compensate anyone for reselling or being any sort of agent, in their state, they owe sales taxes too.

Income taxes: State and federal, Schedule C. You used to be able to deduct the whole cost of capital equipment, such as the cutter, under a small amount. Otherwise you have to amortize just a part of it, each year..

Local taxes: Maybe, depending on your city regulations. Also you likely will need to buy a permit to run a business from home.

Insurance: It's also possible that your home insurance won't cover damage or loss to anything used for, or resulting from, business. Depending what you end up selling, to whom, and for what purpose, you might need some product liability insurance.

Once you advertise on EBay, or elsewhere on the Net, you've established a record of your business activity. Paypal and Credit card providers are obliged to send certain records to the IRS regardless.

Trademarks: Watch what you call your products. There are a lot of existing trademarks out there.

Postage is not an issue; the buyer pays it.  Getting accurate postage rates is no longer a guessing game, if I had a scale I could do everything here at home including have the local route carrier pick it up for me.

Taxes are an issue, of course.  They're always an issue.  The beauty of a laser is the fact that there isn't much overhead, and it can all be done "print on demand."  So there's no "stock' to tax at the end of the year.  There is the sales taxes, and I'm familiar with them.  20k runs about 4k tax - no problems for me.

The key to the amortization rate is to simply keep the business income equivalent to business expense.

Local taxes and permit issues all come down to the address I use to register the LLC.  Yes, it really is as easy as that, to decide if I'm "In the city" or not.

I've thought about what to do about ebay.  The simple answer is, upon establishing the LLC, I get a business account with the bank and set up a new Paypal account and eBay account for the business on that account, and do all business transactions through that account.

Trademarks: Stick to the public domain is my personal thought, as long it's public, it can't be touched.  They're "windows."  Or "doors!"

I come from a deep family in business, if I want to get serious, it's really not near as hard as you might want it to be.

The hardest part thus far, in all of this, was buying the laser.

Benny,

This could really turn into something. With your low overhead and flexibility this has great potential. I wish you well.

Rick

Nice work!

I started to do a google search on "laser cutters" and I can't find where I can buy one.  I see tons of Laser Cutting Services, but no one selling the machines. 

I'm trying to get an idea on how much one would cost and compare that to the cost of a 3D Printer. 

Thanks!

Ken L

My research started way back when Robert Ray started his laser adventure on Trainboard back about 5-10??? years ago.  He provided some good pictures and names of his equipment, and though they looked good, I knew they were out of my price range, especially back then.

Then a couple years back I ran into the Full Spectrum company while I was researching his machine.  There is also Epilog out there, which offers "better" machines, but at a higher price.

While I was reviewing this machine, I ran into reviews over on a lasercutter/3d printer forum.  Yep, they have forums too.  I did note that one person had a lot of issues with this machine back when it was the previous version of software, but now, it's settled down.  The lynchpin is when I saw someone's HO project, someone who said he just got it to mess around making little houses for his layout.  As soon as I saw that, I knew it worked.

I re-arranged my finances here last May, as I tried to jockey for position on buying a house.  That fell through, but that's all and well now.  I have my laser!

My search is basically for a 30 watt laser cutter.  Someday we may be running 60W or 100W lasers, cutting metal and such, but for now, 30 watt is more than sufficient for anything wood, paper or acrylic.

After running this first file, I VERY STRONGLY see an era where we modelers ship files back and forth when we want a new structure rather than buying the structure kit.  All it takes is a couple like minded people making files, and before you know it, you'll be seeing files for download from places like MRH.  All the hobbyist need supply is the laser and the material; my laser came with a gift card to a supplier for sheet material, and with research, I'll have a couple more.

So I basically took a nap between then and now, because starting 10:00 tonight I work the Fore shift, Mids.  This only means my weekend has been shortened by 16 hours over a regular weekend, but It'll be fine.

I got the wild and crazy idea to see just what custom lasercut windows would look like in Bowie Station.

You may remember my first attempt at windows.  I tried 'the old way,' by essentially cutting strip sytrene to length and then assembling it on a form.  The end result is inconsistent and there's no way I'd ever be caught dead doing more than a couple using this method.  The labor cost alone is prohibitive.

So I set up a new file, using my previous file as a means of gauging the printsize of my laser, and taking real measurements from Bowie Station and applying these measurements to my design file as proportions.  I had the first window drawn up in about 15 minutes, and then used copy and paste to make a whole slew of them.

Then I went back to the printer, ahem, Laser Cutter, and hit 'Go."

And after about ten minutes, the printer spit out enough windows to make a glass house...I made 14 windows and 4 frames.  If I want more windows,I just hit 'Go."  Bing, more windows.  100, 200, 500 windows?  The laser will spit them out, every one just like the last one...square, true, and instant!

I then took my new piece over to my station, which had been gathering dust, and put two windows in their place to give you all a good look at how it fits.  I don't think i did too bad for a beginner shooting only my SECOND project, do you???? :P

And while I was sitting here looking at the pile of scrap left over from the first project, I suddenly remembered we just had an article in MRH about this little"'lineside detail." If I add four dots to each pane of my window file...well, it looks like I'd have tie plates!!!  I have a total to 24 tie plates as a result of cutting the first three runs in project one...

Granted, the pieces on the left are small and the pieces on the right are too big, but for a "found" project, I'm happy.  Mind you, the large pieces came from a file that spit out an O-scale sized window, and they're twice as big as an HO scale tie, so it makes sense now that I think about it...make one 8-pane O-scale window, get 8 O-scale tie plates for free!!!

Now that I have actually ran the laser cutter and gathered feel for how it works, I feel I am now fully qualified to take some previous posts to task.  I would have before, but I wanted to be absolutely sure first.

Really, making lasercut windows at home is as easy as owning a laser cutter.   Looking at these two windows set in my station, I'm happy.  Bernd, this is the finest New York Strip I've ever enjoyed...

Another hour or so, and I'll have windows for rest of my Bowie Station project.  Any window now is no more than half an hour away, including the run time on the cutter.

Anybody who believes "Laser cutters are still production machines for a commercial setting" needs to wake up.  Hobbyists will have to spend hours on CAD to run the laser cutter?  BS!!!  I made the design file in PAINT, of all places!!!  And these windows are Raster cut, so we're nowhere near the full potential of the laser - Vector cut!

And anyone concerned about copying and such, well, all I can say is that I'm from the Napster Generation; if we can digitize something, we have no qualms shunting the file back and for ad infinitum.  I foresee a very near future where instead of buying lasercut kits, the hobbyist buys [or downloads for free]  a zip file containing all the cutter files for the project.  I'll have all my parts cut by the time your vender actually gets your order and starts packaging it.  I'll have it built by the time your mailman delivers it!  And I'll have an extra $20, $50, $100 in my pocket each time I design a project instead of buying it...

I'm looking at this stack of Old MRs...man, are there a LOT of structure plans in these things!!!!