[paulmd]

This is a pretty neat product. I especially like the continuous-feed idea.

I'd really like to do stuff that involves stainless. What would be the cheapest option capable of doing some reasonable sheet stainess? My wallet is cringing at the mere concept, but maybe I could talk a local hackerspace into doing it or something.

I've been meaning to build a CNC mini-mill for a while. I think that seems like a more practical option for stuff that doesn't require intricate cuts. And definitely more affordable.

[IshKebab]

For sheet stainless you're probably best paying someone to water-jet cut it. Laser cutters that can cut metal are way way way out of the price range of normal people. Also you can't really mill sheet metal.

If you want to do something cool and home-made you could probably hook up an electric nibbler to an X-Y stage.

[theatrus2]

A CO2 laser will not cut stainless - it won't even mark steel unless you coat it with a special ceramic.

You're looking at a very very large fiber / YAG laser to cut it. A low power YAG laser can engrave steel - commercially these start at about $30k

[krasin]

Technically, the statement "CO2 laser will not cut stainless steel" is not accurate. Stainless steel is commonly cut by 500W-5kW CO2 lasers, see:

https://www.coherent.com/Applications/index.cfm?fuseaction=f...

https://vimeo.com/106264555

But it's true that sub-100W CO2 lasers are not even remotely capable of cutting steel.