A Chinese company called XPhotonics has developed these Xlaserlab X1 machines. They're desktop laser welders that can also cut, clean, and remove rust. They come in two flavors. The base-level $1,7000 X1 can be used with stainless steel, carbon steel and aluminum sheets up to 2mm thick. This unit is primarily good for spot-welding.The larger $2,500 X1 Pro can handle the materials above, along with galvanized steel, up to 3mm in thickness. This unit is designed for continuous operation.Kickstarter backers have gone nuts for these things: At press time they'd racked up $1.8 million in pledges, with 37 days left to pledge. They expect to ship in April.