In the not-too-distant future home manufacturing will be as commonplace as home printing. Devices like the Makerbot will fuel the revolution, but only when they become as easy to use as this Constructable, which precisely cuts materials based on doodles made with a laser pointer.
Users don’t have to master computer-aided design software in order to create a pattern for the table’s high-powered laser to slice. They just have to use a set of 15 different laser pointers to draw directly on the material they’re cutting. Each pointer serves a different purpose, from creating gears, to joints, to freehand shapes. And it appears to compensate for those who are terrible artists by straightening lines or ‘beautifying’ curves. Because no one’s going to want to use products they made themselves if they look that way.
