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Show idea/question? Combined 3d printer, CNC router (& laser cutter?)

e14 Contributor

Hello people,

 

There's this idea in my head that keeps popping up:

 

Al these 3d printers, CNC's and laser cutters are (as far as I can tell) for the most part the same hardware.

And the axis and stepper motors do not come cheap.

Wouldn't it be awesome to combine these machines (if possible)?

By perhaps changing the extruder for a dremel/CNC head (or laser)?

 

If it's possible I would call it the Cerberus image (or Two Face in case the laser doesn't work out).

 

If it's not possible I would like to know why, so I can let it rest image

 

Thanks in advance for reading and possibly responding.

Parents

  • For laser engraving/cutting everything has to be enclosed by metal or laser safety glass, and you're going to need a vacuum setup for fumes as well. For the router setup you need stronger, slower (or much more expensive) motors and much stronger framing. You'd also benefit from a vacuum table, so that's at least easy to combine with the laser cutter. If you did all of this, you'd most likely end up with a 3d printer that wasn't capable of that good of a resolution. Overall, you'd get a jack of all trades, but it would suck at all trades too.

     

    Not to mention with all of this, I don't see this being much less than $10,000 and I haven't seen Ben do many overly expensive builds.

     

    That being said, I would totally love one of these.

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  • For laser engraving/cutting everything has to be enclosed by metal or laser safety glass, and you're going to need a vacuum setup for fumes as well. For the router setup you need stronger, slower (or much more expensive) motors and much stronger framing. You'd also benefit from a vacuum table, so that's at least easy to combine with the laser cutter. If you did all of this, you'd most likely end up with a 3d printer that wasn't capable of that good of a resolution. Overall, you'd get a jack of all trades, but it would suck at all trades too.

     

    Not to mention with all of this, I don't see this being much less than $10,000 and I haven't seen Ben do many overly expensive builds.

     

    That being said, I would totally love one of these.

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