3d Printing is a great compliment to the glowforge

Here is my Prusa cam my Prusa 3d printer webcam, right now it’s making a stand for my laptop. combining laser-cut items (subtractive manufacturing) with 3d printing (additive manufacturing)makes for some great items. currently, I am making a laser-cut Catan board but I am going to 3d print intricate town and castle pieces on the Prusa

live 3d printer cam

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It’s less a “compliment” than just being the right tool for the right job. I have a CNC, a FDM 3D Printer, two SLA 3D printers, and a GF. They’re all better at some things than they are at others. Which one you use depends on what you’re making… I’ve added to my workshop each time I found myself struggling with the limitations of my current equipment, buying the thing that’d be able to do what I wanted to do better than what I already owned.

Next on my list - water jet cutter.

Agreed. I bought my Dremel 3E45 to specifically make the Platonic solids to make Polyhedrals. I’ve gone pretty far down that rabbit hole, but have prined lots of other stuff that is’t Glowforge project integrated. It’s so awesome to have an idea, or find something on Thingiverse and physically have it in your hands hours later. I Printed the T-Rex skull recently, and have the glow in the dark high definition Moon on my list. So fun!

I should have said “they compliment each other”. There’s stuff each machine is better at doing. It’s why I have a bunch of different machines. Depending on the project, one machine may do more or less of the heavy lifting. But no one machine is subordinate to any other.

For example, I can cut and engrave flat stock with my CNC, but the GF is far superior for this task. But the GF can’t do metal or carbon fiber, which the CNC can, though it’s painful. Which is why I have my eye on a water jet… and while my CNC is 4-axis, so I can do turning, I really ought to get a small CNC lathe at some point, too. The right tool for the right job, as they say. (though some, like my wife, might argue it’s an addiction).

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