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I have just started getting into wood working and want to build whirlygigs which I believe would go a lot faster with a laser cutter. I am thinking the way to g

• traverseda 5y ago
  I inherited a glowforge from a failed business venture. I can't say I'd recommend that brand for serious works, among other things it requires an always on internet connection and need to re-process your files after every run. It is very easy to use though, and aside from normal maintenance and one $1600 hardware failure that I had to pay out of pocket to fix, it's been generally rock solid and zero configuration/tinkering. Just reliable results every time. For serious work I'm looking at an omtech laser. They're basically inexpensive chinese laser cutters that have a parts warehouse and support in north-america. Their entry level machine is less than a grand, so I'd probably recommend one of those instead of a glowforge to start with. I only really have experience with the glowforge, but even if I wasn't price-sensitive the time it takes to process the designs and the SaaS business model would mean I probably wouldn't get another one.