I had the front doors of the laser off, which might be a bad idea. In this photo you see the 'hatch' or top cover, and then two doors with key sockets on each side.

The two doors are actually one, but it is hinged in the middle so that …

Work holding and tooling are like 90% of doing well in a machine shop, and maybe 60% in a wood shop.

I first started with laser cutters in 2009 at TechShop, and that was before I knew about work holding and tooling.

Then I got to live on a property …

Zach wrote an instructable about his DIY Fume Extractor.

Lensdigital Wrote about his build.

And now perhaps it is my turn.

But it is a lot of work, and how well does it work?

I don't like the carbon being on the sides, it means that if the carbon isn't …

(an ongoing post)

Laser Love and Beer! Continuing my hopeful inclusion in North Bay Python.

I paid for my Laser cutter right before NBay Python 2024, while I was frantically and frenetically working on my talk about cocktail robotics.

It was in the period I defined as the great laser …

I have a directoy named 'laser_box' with two files in it.

It is a parametric model for a live hinge. Specify a few parameters in the OpenSCAD file and you get a live hinge that you can export to a dxf, and then read into your laser software.

• hinge_work.dxf …

I finally got my GigaMacro rig up to the 'new' house (we have been here for 17 months, so 'new' seems a bit of an over statement).

It is in a sub-nominal condition, there is rust, and wear from neglect. But it is, to me, a beautiful object, and I …

I wanted to make drawer dividers for my tool boxes, especially the out of control screwdriver drawer. I did a little search, and decided that it was worth it to just pay $3 for an SVG of drawer dividers from Pacific Grove Designs on Etsy.

The pattern is designed for …

I like customizing clothes pins. And other people also like doing it

Years ago I made a jig to hold the clothespins. And today I made a better jig.

Image not showing up.

And calibrating the

Hazy little thing cardboard

Engrave 300-22

Regular Cardboard

Cardboard cuts just fine at speed 50, power 60. And probably even lower would work.

You can press the laser button on the control panel to turn the laser on and then press the direction buttons. This lets you cut straight lines, like when the laser doesn't want to cut for some reason, but it engraved something that you like.

You need to lift up …