Difference between revisions of "New Laser Cutter Project 2014/2014-01-22 Initial Meeting"
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Latest revision as of 11:55, 5 February 2019
Meeting 22-01-2014
Ideas meeting for purchasing a new laser cutter. Finance is a larger issue to be discussed as well.
Dominic Morrow, Andrew Armstrong, James Hayward, Martin Rainsford, Michel Foor-Henry.
Main idea from Dominic and Martin (only one suggested). See: Sharks Laser Proposal. Main things:
- £4000.00
- Software can be used on more than one laptop (only one )
- Chiller can run both lasers
- Bed size is 1200x900 cutting area
- Note: The shipping cost is not included in the £4K and James suggested the space pay it. Currently is unknown cost.
Will investigate alternatives. Similar one from other companies are around £6000:
- HPC at £6,250: http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2
- eBay at £6,900+: http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/laser-cutter
- Others, eg, CTR, are "call for quote". http://www.ctrlasers.co.uk/product/382/categories/CO2+Laser+Cutting+Machines/TMX12+laser+machine+%281200+x+900+MM%29
Raising money:
- We have this cost of X amount, how do we get it?
- Pledge drive can be tried first
- Will this include laser time?
- Argument is people will pay more for "free laser time" if payment is part of the usage, and if not then it'll be much less and be a donation.
- Will this include laser time?
- Aim would be to raise the money in a few weeks of time
Using the laser cutter:
- Feeling of pledges need to have something back for it (ie; usage of the machine)
- Pay per use:
- Expensive machine to run (most expensive on the space)
- Money could go towards a new laser (and other things, like fixing it), or new machines (CNC machines etc.)
- Note this might price people out of using the machine
- Could charge at cost, or subsidised
- Membership payment (from membership fees):
- Easier to manage (no taking individual money, tracking it)
- Issue possibly with overuse
- What about
- Both ways?
- Possibly preferable for membership to have both options
Upkeep cost
- Price list for replacement (laser hours for a tube and so forth)
- 1200 hours for a tube, 12-18 months replacement time. Plus mirrors is £450.
- 37.5p/hour or something? Perhaps subsidised.
- Maybe £3 an hour for cost then?
- 1200 hours for a tube, 12-18 months replacement time. Plus mirrors is £450.
- £250 for power supply but these are replaced less often.
Final ideas
Main pay-to-use option:
- £1 for 20 minutes (versus £1 for 10 minutes currently) was suggested which still makes roughly £2.60 "profit" back when taking into account average laser
- Note option is there to charge what we want, just this is based off cost of replacement parts.
- Pledge users would get time back for what they pledge (presumably)
- Would this be changing in the future?
- Change of price could go up or down depending on if we aim to do things with the money such as a second laser cutter to allow more people to use lasers in the space
Secondary free-to-use option:
- Free to use; Hackspace subsidises the running and maintenance costs out of the standard membership fees done on an honour system
- Remember average running cost is around 40p as above
- Time could be allocated by scheduling or booking if in heavy use
Tertiary both-of-them options:
- Allow membership to pay what they feel like through normal fees
- Also have a pay-per-time option for those who want to pay through using it
Pledge drive the amount of £4000 with kickstarter-like extension goals of "more laser part spares" which are cheaper when brought with the machine.
- Each donation gets the amount they donated back in laser cutting time (eg: Donate £30 gets you 10 hours time)
- Pledges would need to be collected before a deadline to purchase
- If funds are not made up decision would have to be taken on if Hackspace funds would fill the gap
Timeline
- Request for Comments (RFC) up until midday of the members meeting:
- Agree on the laser we are buying
- Agree on payment option (pay to use versus free to use)
- Agree on pledge process
- Results will be given at the 5th of February members meeting on final decision and if anything has changed
- Pledge drive start that evening for the laser cutter, duration 2 or so weeks or up to £4000
- Check on pledge drive process and see if more funds are needed and if project is successful
- Collect funds from pledges by a deadline
- Pay for laser cutter