8 Likes
Thanks for the detailed response!
4 Likes
Hmm, didn’t know this topic existed here on BB. 
The things you’ll discover!
Anywho, over a year ago, the wife and I started taking improv classes. The great thing at this theater is that after a class you get to perform on stage, in front of an audience for a one hour showcase. It was a lot of fun and we met a great community of people and we had continued taking classes through the year, including… a puppet workshop. Me, I loved puppetry and had always wanted to get a show together but my wife HATED puppets… until this workshop. Something clicked and she was hooked!
Taking advantage of a good thing I suggested that we put together an episodic puppet show. She was down.
Built some Broadway flats for set backgrounds, scripted a short show, filmed it and put it on YouTube. So, here it is fellow mutants, Shiny Happy Wonder! (not totally safe for work).
6 Likes
Also, @Brainspore and @Mechanismatic use lasers.
4 Likes
I don’t own one yet, for the next few weeks we have a couple big jobs in our regular bill paying job. After that I’m going to get very serious about buying one.
I’m leaning towards the xTool D1 Pro. Probably 20 watt but it has the ability to swap out the 20 for a 40.
We’re going all in at about 2 grand maybe a little more.
I keep coming back to xTool because there’s seems to be a pretty big community for help, support, and ideas.
There are quite a few sub $1000 machines,
@MrShiv really laid it out pretty good.
I think after cost you should really research the venting aspect, we have a spare bedroom we can set up with a vent to the outdoors. Of course I have to convince my wife we really don’t need our daughter’s bedroom set anymore, she’s really not coming home.
With the cats and my asthma I want to be really sure the fumes are going outside.
For me, the research is half the fun. The software is more fun for me. My wife is the idea person,.
Wish I could help more, by this spring I should have some hands on experience.
6 Likes
i have posted before about the laser that i use and the very niche operations that i bought it for.
i got an AtomStack A5 M40 5W laser, 400mm square working area. very low power, but i do not cut wood, rather i reverse the images, etch linoleum, acrylic(black) and wood deeply and then print the images on my press. halftones, type, reverse-outs. i use it to cut heavy chip and coated stock for boxes, cards and pop-up elements. i have used it to mark on blank tin boxes, but it requires a special coating to be applied.
this set up is too low powered to do any heavier materials, but for the price (~$400usd) and what i need, it is sufficient.
so my experience can illustrate that lower than 10W is not a great all-round starter set up for more robust cutting projects.
edit to add: like others have stated, ventilation is very important. my vent hood also provides eye protection with amber gel windows. good safety glasses are also a good idea.
5 Likes
A bedside table I made for my wife:
I was initially making the matching one at the same time, but then I sped up working on hers to finish it for the holidays. Now the one for my side is 40% finished, and I expect it will stay that way for many months…
15 Likes
You might try finding a local makerspace that has a laser cutter to get an introduction to it.
My STEAM Center has a Glowforge Plus, which may be out of the price range for a lot of newer hobbyists between the cost of the device itself and the cost of a filtration unit if needed.
6 Likes
One last laser project to share, then I’m taking a break. This is a just-finished contour map of my home county (Boone, Missouri). 8 layers of 3mm basswood, about 15" x 10".
Meanwhile, Ms. Shiv has been working for months on this thing. I can’t say I fully understand, but the thousands of little dots are called “French knots” and she’s made them one by one.
11 Likes
I love mid-century design!
3 Likes
Getting Nam June Paik vibes from that one.
4 Likes
so our work at this house finally came to an end. in addition to the ceiling and handrails upthread, we made this staircase and handrail, a nonstandard height and thickness door out of solid poplar boards that were something like 1 and ¾ inch thick, and a matching jamb and dog door.
then on my days off I built this shelf table thing out of scraps I’ve accumulated over the last year+.
I needed it to maximize the space between my wall and bookshelf, and be the same height as the adjacent workbench
9 Likes
And now I have to go listen to Jellybean!
4 Likes
first appearance of Madonna!
but the cover artwork by United Artists crew is the real draw, for me. that’s legendary subway king SEEN and DUSTER, his acolyte.
5 Likes
5 Likes
this makes me smile.
at work, my boss is in charge of the design. sometimes I offer input, sometimes he solicits my input. but I make at least half of everything once the design is hashed out. and of course, usually the clients decide how it looks. but a lot of the design is picking the best path of how to achieve that.
5 Likes
I’ve started a collaboration with Stephen Malinowski, using his cool musical animations as input to the Video Feedback Device.
Watch as his animation of Bach, Cello Suite No. 1, 1st movement (Showing Bowing) changes into various fractals, all done with optical video feedback (HD cameras looking at HD monitors).
Read more about Stephen on his Wikipedia page, and check out his animations here: https://www.youtube.com/@smalin
Check out more about the Light Herder project on my website: https://www.thelightherder.com
12 Likes
I don’t know if this counts but…
Lately my mom only calls when she thinks her computer has been hacked or for stuff like this.
Ring ring: “I sent two things to your house, can you put them together and bring them over.”
The little one was easy, the big one took two hours. It’s so overwhelming when you break open the box and see all the parts, sorting it all out is half the battle
Tomorrow it’s deliver and move her tv, cable, internet modem, and whatever other electronics go in that thing.
Oh, and FedEx was awesome. It was freezing rain when the big one showed up, I was in the garage and didn’t know he was there. He knocked on the door and offered to bring it inside for my wife.
8 Likes
Woah, very cool.
Would your machine be able to support a camera looking at a live feed of someone bowing, say in the dark with lights on bow?
1 Like
