FRAN FLAHERTY, ARTIST & EDUCATOR
Building the Digital Arts & Fab Lab at WPSD Prepared for: Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf September 20, 2014
FRAN FLAHERTY, ARTIST & EDUCATOR
DIGITAL IMAGING AND FABRICATION FACILITY PLANS For The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
Objective To create a mini digital Arts fabrication lab on WPSD campus to primarily support the Digital Fabrication Initiative in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon School of Art's Digital Arts Studio
Facility Goals • Provide a safe environment for students to learn and practice digital fabrication in the arts • Provide reasonable access for students to use the facilities • Provide a digital laboratory conducive for learning and developing proficiency in the digital arts
Time Table • Decision on what laser cutter to get in the next few weeks • Facility upgrades by end of October? • Purchases completed by mid-November • Installation and testing of all equipment by mid-December • January 2015: soft opening
BUDGET FOR FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT Description
Cost
Duct work, ventilation, electric
Cost factors: type of laser cutter purchased, length of duct, CFM blower requirements (white paper attached)
Laser Cutter
$8350.00~$16,000.00
Dedicated Laptop or Desktop Computers for Laser Cutter
$1400.00
Software (attached)
$360/year for Adobe Suites *unless already owned*
Miscellaneous furniture
$500
Improvements to Mac Lab (specs attached)
$1999.00 each
3D Printer
$2900.00
FRAN FLAHERTY, ARTIST & EDUCATOR
Description
Cost
Dedicated Laptop or Desktop Computers for 3D Printer
$1400.00
Total
$14,910.00 + facility and machine upgrades
COMPARISON: EPILOG VS RABBIT Epilog Cost
Rabbit Rabbit laser cutters are about half the cost of Epilogs
Reliability
Epilogs parts are mostly manufactured in the US Strong tech support locally and nationally Epilogs have a solid manufacturing and sales history
Parts are manufactured In China and assembled In the US Young company with one office in Middleton, OH Not easily accessible tech support
Machine quality
Epilog's provides lower voltage machines relative to cost therefor limiting the variety of laser able material
Higher voltage relative to cost, wider variety of media that can be use, also has attachments such as rotary attachments
Usability
Relatively user-friendly, has a dedicated driver that can be plugged in to existing software
Needs G-CODE to run machine, therefore cannot be plugged in to existing software
Safety
Lower wattage, Many safety features
More powerful machine with minimal safety features
FRAN FLAHERTY, ARTIST & EDUCATOR
CONTACT INFORMATION
Fran Flaherty-Project Coordinator
fcflaherty@gmail.com, 412 680 5318
Marybeth Lauderdale-Director
mlauderdale@wpsd.org
Brian Slavinksy-Faculty, Rasters and Vectors
bslavinsky@wpsd.org
Greg Bowers & Terry Uzarski- Facility Coordinator gbowers@wpsd.org, tuzarski@wpsd.org Barb Manning & Matt Champion-Financial Coordinator
bmanning@wpsd.org, mcampion@wpsd.org
Linda Burik-Technology Director
lburik@wpsd.org
Makerbot
https://store.makerbot.com/replicator
Rabbit Laser
Phone: (513) 217-5707, Email: ray@RabbitLaserUSA.com
Allegheny Educational Systems
http://www.alleghenyedusys.com/