@ Mike - That drove me nuts the first couple of times I used the service. I’ve been doing enough lately to justify going prime, but I (we) really need to find a similar service on the east coast with better turn around times and (hopefully) lower cost.
+1
Maybe we need to form a laser cutter coop and do our own. Only around $3K. ???
It may be that their software works it out as being a UK company shipping to the US. I going to call them monday and find out.
I’d like to get one of these boards too…
Mike - Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic about the laser cutting coop :
If you are serious, and others are interested, I’ll do some homework. To date I’ve only looked at Epilogs. Their smallest starts at about 5K and adding a decent laser (higher wattage) and proper ventilation, gets it closer to 8K. I think that one would do 12"x24" max. They can be leased for about $200/month, so if we could generate that much regular revenue, it might be doable. Ponoko charges $40/mo for their Prime membership. 5 people willing to do that and were almost there.
You guys do not need to go far! GHI needs a laser for its gadgeteer boards so it is an automatic free laser for this community. We have looked at few but this is new to us and making a decision is more challenging than having money to buy it 
So you want to see this happening soon? Then help GHI make a decision on what to buy. Hopefully answered from someone who have tried the machines first hand.
Why http://www.epiloglaser.com/? Or why http://fslaser.com/? Why not a Chinese one off ebay? Is 40W enough? Is 80W too much? Are servo motors needed or steppers are good enough? Where to get acrylic sheets? What colors? How can GHI help the community? How can you the community help GHI? Do you know enough about these and we should talk to you on the phone?
Note that GHI is not ponoko and do not have interest in becoming one but if this will help our gadgeteer kits and your gadgeteer inventions then why not.
Ransom:
I was being serious about a coop. But, looks like Gus is toy shopping. 
@ Gus - that would be fantastic!
In case you haven’t seen it, Adafruit went through the same process and they have some good information:
That would be more than fantastic! We could come up with a library of various enclosure designs for all of GHI’s products pretty quickly. From the homework I’ve done to date, Epilog seems to be the winner for small systems. Not the least expensive brand out there, but I’ve yet to run across any negative feedback, and they are made in the US (which is important, to me anyway).
As far as wattage goes, it comes down to what materials you want to cut and how fast. Larger wattages seem to have a logarithmic relationship to price. Prices get steep fast!
You can be sure I’ll ramp up my research efforts with this kind of good news!
Keep these in mind when you do your research http://fslaser.com/products/lasers
They are stepper not servos but $10K will buy the largest machine…and still made in USA
Wow… GHI just never slows down.
I actually have access to a laser cutter as we use it in the company.
I might be able to make an agreement with them about laser cutting a couple of these Spiderwebs in some acrylic material. What thickness is required?
But if Gus is having a look on one, I think we should support him and find the right one for the community - and GHI Electronics of course
@ mindThomas - your offer would be nice in the short term. I had mine done with 1/8" (~3mm) acrylic. It’s solid enough for those dimensions (~7"x7") but thicker mght be better if you went with something bigger.
Now that there a bunch of Spider kits in the wild, I think we’ll see more folks asking about something like this.
GHILC, GHILC, GHILC !!!
Aside from the spider image on the board, the spider web does not need a laser. A CNC machine with the proper drill bit should be able to turn these out in minutes. Any one know enough about CNC to confirm?
I thought laser is faster? And less messy? You only have fumes but this can be taken care of easily.
There is the trade off of speed versus power. You can cut fast with high power, but that would burn and/or melt the acrylic.
Drilling holes is much faster.
The board I am waiting for from Ponoko takes about 15 minutes on laser cutter.
Oh yes! holes is a big problem for lasers! But what about cutting lines? I think on thicker acrylic this would be a problem but on 1/8" acrylic, a 60W laser is faster than CNC…this is what I think but I never tried it!
I am curious, how much did your board cost at ponoko?
The board was around $43 plus $10 for shipping.