A new industry has emerged called the "Maker Market." It's an industry of people who make cool shit from home. Along with the industry, there's a lot of companies selling shovels in the form of scaled down industrial equipment designed for garage-sized spaces.

I was hoping we might have some "Makers" among us who could share their thoughts on the different nifty tools and machines. For instance, I'm about to buy a laser engraver, my mom has a cool little paper cutter called a Cricut, and I just came across this thing called the Carvey that carves up all kinds of neat stuff.

What else is out there? What are some cool maker machines that were formerly only available to manufacturers? What machines cost just a few hundred or thousand that used to cost 5 or 6 figures? What opportunities are there for tools or machines that haven't been scaled down yet?

Glowforge - Laser Engraver
Cricut - Cutting Machine
Carvey - Carving Machine

 

What kind of stuff can you make with Fusion360? Does it just print plastic?

 

Thanks. I don't know anything about any of this stuff. That's why I created the thread. Was hoping to be enlightened. So far it's working!

 

Vaquform
Professional-grade thermoforming made compact, affordable and easy-to-use. Claims you can start manufacturing from home instead of just prototyping. It's in pre-order stage now.


Hot Foil Stamping Machine
This one comes thanks to a link @RazorCut sent me. I'm not sure on the quality, so I'd probably look for a better model. If anyone has a link to something more reliable even if it's a higher price, I'd like to see it.

 

That is truly badass. It's bigger than it looks in the picture, but still cool. Looks like it's about $7200 pre-order. Love the idea of making my own clothes.

 

OPPORTUNITY

Anyone know of an affordable machine for making corrugated boxes?

Would love to control my packaging instead of paying crazy prices for U.S. or playing guessing games with China. I like this idea because it's a service most crafters and makers need.

All I've found so far were industrial size machines that need a full-size warehouse or manufacturing facility and a team of people to operate. On the sourcing websites they go for $20,000 up to $500,000 or more.

Plus it seems like you need several different machines to complete the process. This could make a good Kickstarter project if someone could figure it out. Here's what a smaller machine looks like. Not exactly small-space friendly. Definitely not wallet friendly.

 

Is there a freelance platform for makers?

The closest thing I found was Etsy, but you can't post a job and let makers come to you (as far as I can tell). Seems like a potential "next big thing" in freelancing. Where can I go to just post what I want and have someone pitch me on their services?

"I need a leather worker to create 50 custom leather shark laser key chains. If that's you, please send past samples and your price."

Is this a thing yet or is this an opportunity?

 

There's a few out there. Looks like they're mostly manual operation. A few semi-automatic models around $800. They don't have reviews on Amazon though.

Semi-Automatic Can Sealer