Material Availability in the UK

True, but unfortunately it’s oriented toward business. That’s a much harder market to make something mainstream. If people use them in their personal life they’ll bring them to work (hence all the smartphones and tablets at offices who 5 years ago swore against any byo program).

Although the commercial market has deep pockets, it’s not as broad as the consumer one. My son is deep into AR/VR and is hitting both markets - the AR is going to be very commercially oriented for the next couple/few years with the VR market tending to the consumer market. That consumer market is driving the technology improvements that help in both markets.

Glass could have been much bigger by now if they had started a bit more consumer friendly and focused a bit there. Our commercial app is more a curiosity than a compelling “I need that” application (it allows nurse case managers to talk to doctors about patient treatment plans while the see in the glass protocols and reasonable & customary treatment modalities - the doc doesn’t see that so he doesn’t get the feeling he’s being managed by computer which they absolutely loathe). If the users had them for day-to-day activities then the commercial app would be more justifiable as it wouldn’t have to stand by itself.

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Thanks for this, I might give Hobarts a shot when mine arrives.

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Thanks for the link, looks interesting, I’ll definitely investigate. It’s very helpful!

Hmm, can’t argue with maths, so perhaps I was conned. It wouldn’t be the last time I was conned buying a laser :smile:

I think I am right in thinking Glowforge has a 0.2mm spot, which I read is very good for CO2. That gives a power density of 1273W / mm^2 for 40W by my calculation.

The 1W 808nm laser diode with lens that I bought on eBay claims to be able to focus down to 0.013mm by 0.12mm rectangle. That gives a power density of 641. The focal length is 3-16cm and it claims to be able to cut sheet materials up to 3mm thick.

I can’t try it at the moment as have gone south to avoid the British winter for a couple of weeks.

My 12W diode laser has a 0.8mm fibre output but I don’t have a fibre or lens for it. Not sure what it would focus down to. I was planning to try soldering SMT components with it unfocused. It’s a beast though. It has peltiers and thermistors built in and needs a very low fraction of a degree per Watt heatsink. I suspect I would need water cooling to achieve that.

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Not offhand, I’m afraid.

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Do you know how long it would take for a swallow to fly to England from Africa*?

*whilst carrying a coconut.

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What kind of swallow?

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An unladen European Swallow should take about 57 hours to travel from the UK to Morocco.

"Kinematic data for […] African species was difficult to find, but the Barn or European Swallow (Hirundo rustica) has been studied intensively, and kinematic data for that species was readily available. "

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Do they have a line of creeper?

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