Beamo Laser Cutter

[dan.schumaker]

I just saw the kickstarter for this guy.  For the price, it looks like it could be a good option for some of us.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flux-inc/beamo-worlds-smallest-co2-laser-cutter/description

Any laser experts have any thoughts on this?

[pickdropper]

The thing I'm skeptical about, with all of the cheaper engravers like this and Glowforge is the ventilation.  Laser engravers exhaust noxious fumes.  We moved the FFX laser recently and I made the mistake of running it with a fan (necessary for safety) but without the proper ducting run.  It was surprisingly toxic, just cutting off the powder coat.  I can't fathom cutting something like acrylic without a strong ventilating fan AND a compressor.

Until recently, I was looking for a less expensive option because it was inconvenient to get to ours.  I'm admittedly picky, but I was unable to find one I was powerful enough but that I was willing to have in my home.  I would highly recommend doing a bunch of research on how the ventilation works before spending any money.

[pickdropper]

On further review, this one does look more promising from a ventilation standpoint.  That's already a significant improvement over the Glowforge.