New and confused!

[nicodemus]

Hi - I kind of know what I want to make, I am just not sure what type of machine I need.
I want to produce wafer thin dies and embossing plates - www.spellbinderspaperarts.com is basically the type of thing I am looking at.
I have looked at a cnc router, cnc plasma cutter and a laser cutter - each seems to bring something to the table, either in regards of detail, speed, opportunity for other products etc. Originally I thought I wanted a router, now I am swaying towards a plasma but I really don't want to make a really expensive mistake.
Any suggestions?
many thanks
sal

[antsals]

Do you want to make the plates that you can cut items from paper? For example if you wanted a star shape you want to be able to cut that out of steel? Plastic? The. Put in one of them little hand powered paper cutting machines? Also how sharp / clean do the edges need to be?

Ant

[Tony Goodwin]

Had a few thoughts re your question you dont mention your useage expectations but, off the wall sugestion 1. could you perhaps look into etched dies ie photo etched plates, male and female. Could be a relatively low cost low use option plus your artwork will last indeffinitely. Off the wall sugestion 2 I have worked on LOM machines in my rapid prototyping days. These were made by a co called Helysis, The LOM stands for Laminated Object Manufacture.Basically a CNC gantry laser paper cutter. This tech is now old hat by modern standards but could be sourced cheaply and there is still backup available. Look at the 2050 model not 1015.
Bell me on 01502 712574 if i can help more.