Things made by laser cutters
Fabric
Lasers are ideal for cutting fabric appliques because they cut without physical contact. Designers can make incredibly ornate patterns in computer programs and have them reproduced with motion-controlled cutting robots. This is especially useful on expensive fabrics, where reproducible results are paramount.
Printed Circuit Boards
Printed circuit boards are the backboards that house the microcircuitry that make motherboards function.Laser cutters are especially useful for the manufacturing of these components because they can build up the layers of the board with silicon powder and etch the grooves for the integrated wiring that allows the various components to communicate with each other.
Metal Working
Laser cutting is used to etch heads for diamond drills, as well as cut layers of metal for applications such as aluminum armor plating on tanks. The technique also is useful for creating etchings on metal, which can be anything from manufacturer markings to grooves of measurement to metal signage.
3-D Printing
The concept of 3-D printing is growing in popularity with hobbyists and small companies. A prototype of an object is made in an engineering/diagramming program such as AutoCAD or Google Sketchup, and the finished product is printed out using various materials, fused to each other by laser heads. Currently, the limitations of additive printing allow for simple, 3-D models of objects, but it nevertheless is a useful tool for designers and engineers.
