Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Welcome to Make:’s Digital Fabrication Shootout”.
Hi i’m at make labs, and today we are testing out desktop fabrication machines. This category includes 3d printers, but more too we’re also looking at cnc machines and laser cutters, you’re, probably already familiar with 3d printers. They work by literally printing with plastic layer upon layer of material slowly adding up to a print like this or this, but 3d printers aren’t the end of the story. The big new category in desktop fabrication is the small cnc machine that stands for computer numerical control, which is a holdover from when these were giant industrial machines.
Cnc machines are mills, they use a cutting bit with a high-speed spindle to carve material away. They can work with metal with wood and high-density plastics and they can even be used to etch circuit boards and finally, we’re looking at laser and vinyl cutters for making things like signs and car decals like these to test all these printers we’ve assembled all the make. Editors and flown in our family of experts we’re running the same print through each printer and the same jobs through the mills and the cutters.
We’Re looking for a few key things for the capability to print or mill. The same thing consistently for the ability to render small details, we’re also looking at the ease of use for these products, how fast they work their cost and how loud they are. The goal is to find which 3d printers, which cnc machines and which cutters are best for which jobs and the results. Well, as you can see, our testing is still underway, we’ll be revealing all the results in the november issue of make, and also online at makezine.com.
Don’T miss it. .