fellow hackologists may be interested in a year and half long project of mine to build a computer controlled sheet metal cutting system. It uses a 100 watt CO2 industrial laser.

Further fiddling with the mirrors revealed the least little bit of laser output — nowhere near enough to start cutting, but certainly on the path to the ultimate goal of building a laser cutter.

A research team led by Chinese scientist “Crazy Li” has equipped small drones with the ability to emit powerful metal-cutting laser beams—a feat once thought impossible. The research ...