Am I on safari?

Well, well, well. It seems that the hunt continues more. A few posts back, I described my quest for a laser paper cutter. My search revealed several issues. The system needs an exhaust component. Shipping alone is four hundred dollars. Software is needed at one hundred fifty to five hundred dollars. The base model laser engraver/cutter is on sale for about eight thousand dollars. Money can be saved by using an external exhaust unit, but a window is not in my work area. What to do? Maybe run a duct through the living room? As you may have noticed, costs are somewhat formidable. Also, you may recall one of the tenets of The Omega Scale Railway is that everything can be done inexpensively. Looks like I'm getting off track (pun intended). But there is a silver lining to this cloud. One of the entries I saw online was about using a CnC paper cutter to “prototype” before firing up the laser cutter. It seems that this method saves time and money. Aha, I thought. Now I will be investigating CnC paper cutting. The hunt still continues