Howdy from Oklahoma!
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2020
Hey everyone! My 50 watt eBay laser arrives on Friday 
I'm also buying a cheap arc welder from a local Harbor Freight store this week to weld some pipes I have laying around (well okay, it was the kids' old swingset that I chopped up with an angle grinder last weekend) to build a table for my new laser cutter. (I did feel a bit guilty chopping up their beloved swingset in the backyard while they watched through the living room windows... But their new swingset with a slide is getting installed in a couple of days!)
So, two new hobbies in the same week! I've been interested in pursuing both for many years now and this seemed like a fun way to kick them both off to a good start.
I've done a fair amount of 3D printing (I own a Prusa i3 Mk3), I'm fairly handy with electronics (love to solder), and I've experimented with laser cutting in the past through both outsourced services like Ponoko and Pololu as well as running the machine myself at a local maker space.
It's been years since building my last major project involving laser-cut parts! High time to get back into it, and what better way than setting up my cheap laser in the garage so that if I break it I can learn how to fix it.
Here's a fun video I made of a portable Super Nintendo I made about 10 years ago using laser-cut parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSdrwq5k1a8
Speaking of YouTube videos - man, those RD Works Laser Lab videos are quite the journey, aren't they? I'm about halfway through them all and have learned so much already. I'm starting to hear Russ's voice in my sleep
I'm also buying a cheap arc welder from a local Harbor Freight store this week to weld some pipes I have laying around (well okay, it was the kids' old swingset that I chopped up with an angle grinder last weekend) to build a table for my new laser cutter. (I did feel a bit guilty chopping up their beloved swingset in the backyard while they watched through the living room windows... But their new swingset with a slide is getting installed in a couple of days!)
So, two new hobbies in the same week! I've been interested in pursuing both for many years now and this seemed like a fun way to kick them both off to a good start.
I've done a fair amount of 3D printing (I own a Prusa i3 Mk3), I'm fairly handy with electronics (love to solder), and I've experimented with laser cutting in the past through both outsourced services like Ponoko and Pololu as well as running the machine myself at a local maker space.
It's been years since building my last major project involving laser-cut parts! High time to get back into it, and what better way than setting up my cheap laser in the garage so that if I break it I can learn how to fix it.
Here's a fun video I made of a portable Super Nintendo I made about 10 years ago using laser-cut parts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSdrwq5k1a8
Speaking of YouTube videos - man, those RD Works Laser Lab videos are quite the journey, aren't they? I'm about halfway through them all and have learned so much already. I'm starting to hear Russ's voice in my sleep