Shaper Origin or laser cutter??

[rocky100370]

Can someone help in deciding which machine to purchase? I plan on making wildlife scenes in wood and other material. Would also like a machine that can cut a lot of detail. If it's a laser cutter which brand and unit is best to go with? Don't want to go broke purchasing one.

Thanks in advance

 

[woodferret]

With Origin, engraving is limited but passable - not worth the price if that's the only thing you wanted to use it for.  Origin is better suited to marquetry type applications as the ability to dial in offsets is a must.  If that's not the direction you want to go (esthetically and workwise) and are happy with just rastering greyscale burns into wood, then go laser.

 

[woodwise]

The Shaper Origin stands as a testament to adaptability in my toolkit, akin to a Leatherman multitool. It's a go-to that I can rely on, ready to step in for a variety of tasks, such as taking the place of a laser engraver when one isn't available. However, much like reaching for my Leatherman, using the Shaper Origin as a substitute means accepting certain trade-offs. It may be slower and less precise compared to using a dedicated laser.

It probably comes down to what you want to do, what type of projects, budget etc.

Can you tell us more about your projects?

 

[Packard]

Perhaps, the gold standard for adaptability is the Hasselblad (followed hard on the Haasy’s heals, the Nikon F.

The Nikon F, a meterless manual camera when it came out, would later have a meter option, aand later have a through the lens metering option, and later have a motorized back option.  It was not until autofocus came out that they started anew.

The Hasselblad was even more adaptable.  An ancient 500c accepts a 50 mega pixel digital back, and last I heard Leaf was going to offer a world class 75 megapixel back.

I will be impressed when the Shaper will be forward and backward adaptable some 70 years in the future.

 

[festal]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Michael Kellough]

[member=71889]festal[/member]  what is this green thing?

 

[Crazyraceguy]

They are completely different things, with a tiny overlap, unless your "details" are inlays. At that point, the Origin is it. If those details are more like shading and tiny lines, the laser is probably better.
Without knowing more, there isn't much we can say to help.

 

[festal]

[member=71889]festal[/member]  what is this green thing?

Laser module

 

[rocky100370]

I will mostly be making signs and detailed pictures of wildlife.

 

[woodferret]

Gantry CNC then

Wildlife Bas Relief - CNC Gantry
Wildlife Etchings - Laser
Wildlife Marquetry - Shaper
Signs - Shaper (limited) or CNC Gantry
Signs with beveled text - CNC Gantry
Signs with straight through basic cutouts > 1/8" - Shaper or CNC Gantry
Signs < 1/8" with extremely sharp/defined corners - Laser

If none of these make any sense as a newbie, feel free to post a picture of something you'd like to reproduce and we can tell you which one can do it or can't (or which parts it can't).