Collaborate Disseminate
For the last ten to fifteen years, optical drives have been fading out of existence. There’s little reason to have them around anymore unless you are serious about archiving data …read more Continue reading Laser Engraver Uses All of the DVD Drive
Digital media provides us with a lot of advantages. For something like recording and playing back music, digital copies don’t degrade, they can have arbitrarily high quality, and they can …read more Continue reading I’ve Got Two Turntables and a Laser Engraver
We’re going to start this post with a stern warning: building a laser engraver that can fit in your pocket is probably not a wise idea. Without any safety interlocks …read more Continue reading Interesting Optics Make This Laser Engraver Fit in a Pocket
Everyone should know by now that we love to follow up on projects when they make progress. It’s great to be able to celebrate accomplishments and see how a project …read more Continue reading Collaborative Effort Gets Laser Galvos Talking G-Code
Hooking up a laser to a CNC gantry isn’t exactly an Earth-shattering innovation, but it does make for a useful tool. Even a cheap diode laser mounted to an old …read more Continue reading No-Laser CNC Engraver is Something New Under the Sun
Laser cutters and 3D printers are game-changing tools to have in the workshop. They make rapid prototyping or repairs to existing projects a breeze as they can churn out new …read more Continue reading Laser Z-Axis Table Comes Into Focus
Did you ever see one of those videos that causes you to look at an everyday object in a new light? This is one of those videos (embedded below). And …read more Continue reading Impressive Hack Turns Bolt Into Pneumatic Engraver
As we’ve said in the past, one of the most exciting things about the proliferation of low-cost desktop 3D printers (beyond all the little boats we get to see on Reddit), is the fact that their motion control systems are ripe for repurposing. Outfitting a cheap 3D printer with a …read more
CNC comes in all shapes and sizes, from huge industrial lathes to homebuilt wire benders. [MJKZZ] has built their own compact rig, using optical drive parts to create a cute but effective laser engraver. (Video embedded below.)
The build aims to keep things simple by holding the laser stationary, and …read more
[BlueFlower] sends in this cool wine bottle engraver. It’s a simple machine that reminds us of the infamous EggBot. One axis can move in x and z while the other axis rotates the work piece. The EggBot works in spherical coordinates while this one lives in a cylindrical world.
The …read more
Continue reading Forget Printing Labels for Your Bathtub Hooch, Why Not Engrave The Bottle?