Collaborate Disseminate
The recent crop of laser cutters are nothing short of miraculous. For a few hundred dollars you can get a machine that can easily engrave and — subject to materials …read more Continue reading Better Laser Cuts: Know Your Kerf
When you want to measure the length, breadth, or depth of an object, there are plenty of instruments for the job. You can start with a tape measure, move up …read more Continue reading Laser and Webcam Team Up for Micron-Resolution Flatness Measurements
Last year, I found myself compelled to make a scaled-down replica of the iconic test chamber signs from the video game Portal. If you’ve played the game, you’ll remember these …read more Continue reading A Hacker’s Introduction to DIY Light Guide Plates
[Rik]’s Hexastorm laser scanner project originally used a discrete polygon mirror controller+motor module from Sharp to spin a prism. But the scanner head was a bit difficult to assemble and had a lot …read more Continue reading Laser Scanner Upgraded to use PCB Motor
Glass! It’s a finicky thing. Strong as hell, yet chip it and glance at it the wrong way, and you’re left with a bunch of sharp rubbish. It’s at once …read more Continue reading Drilling Glass With Femtosecond Lasers Just Got Even Better
Sometimes you absolutely, positively need to know the angle of the cutting edge on a knife. When you do, the best tool for the job is a laser goniometer, and …read more Continue reading Goniometer Gives You an Edge at Knife Sharpening
Few things are more impressive than a lighting strike. Lightning can carry millions of volts and while it can be amazing to watch, it is somewhat less amazing to be …read more Continue reading Turns Out, Lighting Can Strike Twice, With a Little Help
Sadly, the usual CO2-powered suspects in the DIY laser cutter market are woefully incapable of cutting metal. Sure, they’ll cut the heck out of plywood and acrylic, and most will …read more Continue reading DIY Fiber Laser Adds Metal Cutting to the Mix
Lasers are known for the monochromatic nature of their light, so much so that you might never have thought there could be such a thing as a white laser. But …read more Continue reading A White-Light Laser, On the Cheap
It’s the holiday season, and what better way to celebrate than to carve out some generative snowflakes on your laser cutter? [Bleeptrack] has developed a web-based tool that creates generative …read more Continue reading Laser-Cutting A Flurry of Generative Snowflakes