ISO Lasercutting service and wood

November 21, 2019 5:14 PM

I'm making a wood lasercut thing which I hope to sell. Currently I can make prototypes at a fablab, so my only cost is the wood. Looking for ways to scale.

The fablab sells 3mm birch ply for $10 per 12x24 sheet, which is enough to make 2 things. It takes about 9 minutes to cut the thing.
I have looked at Ponoko which has a 3.2mm birch ply, making my thing would cost about $12 starting at quantity 5.
Any sources you can recommend for purchasing the wood? (3mm birch ply) And any lasercutting services competitive with Ponoko? Joining a local maker/hacker space might end up costing as much as just using Ponoko.

posted by Sophont to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: You should look for a local plywood distributor and ask about “Russian birch” or “Baltic birch” plywood. They might call the thickness you need 3mm, or they might call it 1/8”. It will come in 60” square sheets that cost... about $10. That’s right, you’re paying a roughly 1300% markup for someone to cut it down to 12x24 pieces.
posted by jon1270 at 5:24 PM on November 21, 2019 [4 favorites]

(I run a student shop and buy this stuff regularly)
posted by jon1270 at 5:26 PM on November 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

Agree with Jon, and if there isn't anything local you'll probably be able to find something like 2'x4' sheets online for a lot cheaper too. I haven't found anyone better than ponoko on prices (mostly because I haven't found anyone else that wasn't for high volume commercial service only). Another thing to note if you haven't discovered this already - you might need to tune power and speed settings anytime you get new wood in. Number of layers, type of glue, wood species all contribute. Always do a test run with a fresh batch.
posted by MillMan at 5:49 PM on November 21, 2019

It looks like you're in NYC- I once had to lasercut a bunch of things and used a shop in Williamsburg run by a Hasidic man. Unfortunately I can't remember the name, but it was affordable. I would check around for local places like that.
posted by pinochiette at 7:05 PM on November 21, 2019

Home Depot sells 2 kinds of 5.2mm ply, $29 for a 4ft x 8ft sheet; they'll cut it into quarters at least so it'll fit in my car. They have Birch & Sande; I think the Sande looks nicer.
posted by at at 8:25 PM on November 21, 2019

Best answer: Check out Ocooch Hardwoods... I am happy with my 1st order of their project ready wood.
posted by tinker at 8:12 AM on November 22, 2019

As for laser cutting consider a local shop when you are ready to make quantity. A shop I work with (mostly for sheet metal) charges ~$150/hr with $150 min... I can usually get couple pieces with the min. charge. Additional pieces are run time + material cost. I suspect his Misubishi CO2 laser will be faster than the one you are using as 9 minutes would be a more complex part than anything I've done. If the shop buys the material he'll add 30% to his material cost.

btw, I'm in a pricey neighborhood
posted by tinker at 9:50 AM on November 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Was told the Fablab gets its wood from Amazon; Woodpeckers, at about $700 worth at a time. I got some pieces from a local place, a 30x30 cost me $8, so I get 2 pieces plus. Quality is not as good, a bit rougher. It worked fine for what I was doing. One other local place, main issue is the $2/cut charge, plan to try it in a few weeks, if I do most of the cuts it would be less than $2/sheet. Ocooh looks like a viable option.
posted by Sophont at 10:31 PM on December 22, 2019