ShopBotWhat it does:This computer-guided router makes complicated cuts in wood. It can carve intricate designs for furniture and elaborate lettering for signs. It can also cut panels for cabinetry. Size: 120 in. x 79 in. x 68 in.Cost: $10,890

3-D printer

Vinyl cutter

Equipping a fab lab

What it does: Uses a precisely controlled blade to cut lots of thin materials. It can cut vinyl for signs, T-shirt screens and decals, as well as slicing cloth, cardboard, and thin metals such as copper sheets, which can be used to make electrical circuits.Size: 33.7 in. x 12.4 in. x 9.4 in. Cost: $1,995

What it does:Its carbon dioxide laser can cut through plastic and other materials as much as a quarter-inch thick. Can also engrave text, graphics and photos on lots of material, such as wood, glass, marble and leather.Size: 34.5 in. x 26 in. x 16 in.Cost: $16,000 to $20,000

What it does: A tabletop-sized milling machine that can drill holes and mill small parts and prototypes from a designers plan. Can also scan a part and then replicate it.Size: 18.8 in. x 15.1 in. x 12.1 in.Cost: $4,495

Not every fab lab has this expensive machine. Its able to print three-dimensional objects, such as parts or prototypes, by heating plastic powder and spraying or extruding it into layers that build up the proper shape. Size: 48 in. x 31 in. x 55 in.Cost: Approximately $30,000

Where it starts: The PCFab lab users start by designing the product or parts they want to make, using a desktop computer. The design software is meant to be easy to use. Some fab labs use software developed at MIT, while others use commercial programs such as CorelDRAW or Google SketchUp.

TEXT BY JOHN MANGELS, GRAPHIC BY REID BROWN | THE PLAIN DEALER

Roland Modela Epilog laser cutter

Personal digital fabrication laboratories, or fab labs, are places where people with minimal training can design and make just about anything they can imagine, using computers linked to advanced manufacturing machines. The idea originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has spread around the world, including places like Lorain County Community College and Clevelands new MC2 science, technology, engineering and math high school. The labs cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to set up. Heres whats inside.

SOURCES: MIT Center for Bits and Atoms

fab lab program; Lorain County

Community College fab lab program