Thanks – missed that entirely
It ships with safety glasses, and isn’t nearly as powerful as the Basic. It looks interesting, but I’d have very limited space where this exceeded my Pro when I get it.
good way to accidentally turn graffiti from a misdemeanor into an assault charge?
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we were talking about this in another thread. i think it would be great for engraving onto something like cookies or, as they show macarons. i wouldn’t try to do much beyond that and paper with it. it’s too slow.
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Considering what this IS, and WHAT its doing. This just wrought with liability, danger for the user, and danger for anyone around this.
Think about how much safety has been a concern for our friends at Glow Forge. Outside of the liability, I genuinely believe that Dan & the team wish us to be safe. I would put money down that part of our delays, have been unspoken (in the forums) safety concerns. In Washington state, where the GF is being developed, and my home (Shout out to my Evergreen State friends!), you can not sue your employer by law for being hurt on the job (yes there are nuance & etc that you could possibly, I’m speaking just in general here), BUT you can sue the manufacture of equipment that was used that did injure you. Hence, one event, this company is gone.
But, to my real point, our vision is priceless. I encourage anyone thinking about using this thing to consider all the possible effects, situations, and down right idiocy that could result in someone losing, or significantly reducing vision in one of both eyes.
And, side bar, Thank Dan and the team for taking our vision and safety seriously. “Thanks Guys!”
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yeah, i really feel like they probably should have made it only work with the shield. but i doubt they’d ever be in trouble unless it turns out there’s an issue with the stand. as long as buyers are warned, people sell these things all the time. i have a 4w diode laser that just ships naked with a few warnings printed out.
of course legal != moral sometimes.
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A 4W exposed laser is class 4 with all the safety and legal implications that come with that. 500mW is class 3B which is a bit less onerous.
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i didn’t imply otherwise. just pointing out that it would take more than just selling these for the company to get into much trouble.
While I agree with his assessment that it is a toy, he also said some things that are totally false.
- many battery packs of that size are meant to power iPads and can supply 2.4 amps
- he claims the 10w input (rated) power must be inaccurate because of no cooling, yet tablets often run in the 5-10 watt range with passive cooling. The aluminum case would itself make a good heat sync.
- he says patented and confidential are mutually exclusive, but that is not the case. Especially in software patents, the basic premise of what it does is described, often in “example” detail. But the actual algorithm, the how of the patent can remain secret, covered by copyright and other IP protections.
- the diagram of the laser focal plane lists a 10 mm depth of field at 150 mm. That doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.
That said, he’s probably right that there was some smoke and mirrors going on with their video (pun intended).
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Yes you can scan a 110mm circle at 150mm and keep within the 10mm focal depth. Having a long focal length to get a good depth of focus does make the spot bigger though.
I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work but getting safety approvals looks problematic. And my experience of engraving in the open is that it is very smelly even with a small low power laser.
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Yeah. I’m certainly not getting one!
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Having done Kickstarters, backed Kickstarter and watched a lot of tech campaigns fail miserably, I have serious, serious doubts that this device will be delivered as promised. With a $25k goal and now over a million in orders they are going to be completely overwhelmed. Fulfillment, in particular, will be a challenge they probably don’t even realize.
Also, OMG this thing looks dangerous. Plus, so low power it can’t really do much of anything other than paper, small pieces of wood and child’s hands. Plus, severely limited in engrave size. Plus, super slow engraves.
They offer the shield for “for users who have higher safety standard.” Meaning, the company and device itself have basically no safety standards at all and it’s up to the user to figure it out. Just imagine you start engraving something and your toddler wanders in and sees the pretty lights and sticks their hand in there in a split second to grab it. Sheesh.
This really feels like a device that doesn’t need to exist.
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At least their hands will heal; their eyes not so much.
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SAFETY SQUINT!
Best laser cutting advice ever 
.
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Hey, good news if you were upset you missed out on their Kickstarter… Apparently you can get the Cubiio in lots of 100 for $20/each.
It’s the fire sale I always imagined they would be.
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How many cubiios per foot would you need on a one-axis gantry to make a one-pass engraver?
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3, apparently. Given they have a 100 sq mm workspace, and 1 foot = ~304 mm.
But if you’re going that far, why not make an entire grid and get them blasting the surface all at once?
A 10x10 grid should give you 3.25 sq feet of blazing glory. 
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So for $60, you would have enough for the 4’x8’ grid to process sheet-goods, and a dozen spares.
I’m not the person to make this monstrosity… but there is someone out there who should do, I’m sure.
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All instances of it without the shield have been wiped from the kickstarter page. Now $500 is the minimum to get this thing. People are still begging to be able to be allowed to detach it from the shield (or buy it separate from the shield).
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