Blog – Page 5 – smokeandmirrors

Restoring a Chinese Laser Cutter

by Kirsty Lockhart October 24, 2018

After a fire put this Redsail X700 laser cutter out of commission at Joshua's work, he managed to snag the carcass and passed it onto Amy, who was ...

Posted in Experiments, HOW-TO, TOOLS AND UTILITIES

Acrylic Stained Glass Window

by Kirsty Lockhart October 17, 2018

Paying tribute to famed Canadian musician Gord Downie, the people over at Trotec Canada have made this beautiful laser-cut acrylic stained glass wi...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, MATERIALS

Mini LED Desk Lamp

by Kirsty Lockhart October 09, 2018

Providers of a multitude of laser-safe materials, Kitronik also provide a range of electronic components and mini kits, along with a host of tutori...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, Electronics, TOOLS AND UTILITIES

Repairing Your Broken Screen with Wood Veneer

by Kirsty Lockhart October 02, 2018

"Repair, don't replace" is a pretty big part of the maker community, with people all over the work laser cutting or 3D printing the parts required ...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, HOW-TO, Repairs

Burn the Subs

by Kirsty Lockhart September 28, 2018

Not quite your average build, this wall mounted laser etches new subscribers onto a piece of wood in real time whenever Jesse goes live on Twitch. ...

Posted in Arduino, Don't Try This At Home, Experiments, Laser Diodes, Laser Safety

Laser Lathe

by Kirsty Lockhart September 21, 2018

This here is the Laser Lathe, otherwise known as the Cylindrical Co-ordinate CNC Machine, the brainchild of Austin Steingrube. Custom built using ...

Posted in Arduino, Electronics, Laser Diodes, Laser Goggles, Laser Safety

Laser Cut Wire Inlay

by Kirsty Lockhart September 19, 2018

After watching a tutorial on wire inlay and realising that it was a very time intensive process, watchmeflyy wanted to simplify that process; and w...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, Experiments, HOW-TO

Expression Flower

by Kirsty Lockhart September 14, 2018

Utilising the Android Things platform, the Expression Flower has been designed to react to the facial expressions of people interacting with it - i...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, Electronics, Raspberry Pi

Taco Stands

by Kirsty Lockhart September 11, 2018

As someone who enjoys a taco or two, I've yet to bother making them at home. Despite being pretty simple to make and put together, they're also jus...

Posted in ARTS & DESIGN & CRAFTS, HOW-TO

Laser Bent Boxes

by Kirsty Lockhart September 04, 2018

As part of the laser cutting community, we're no stranger to a living hinge or 2, but there are a lot of makers out there that have grown tired of ...

Posted in Experiments, Plywood, Wood

Custom Model Paint Racks

by Kirsty Lockhart August 30, 2018

As the person in charge of the organisation of the workshop at Tested HQ, Sean was in need of a better model paint storage solution than just chuck...

Posted in Acrylic, Plywood

Laser Cut Pocket Watches

by Kirsty Lockhart August 23, 2018

After finding a collection of inexpensive pocket watches in his mother's loft, Rob Roach had the bright idea of rehousing the mechanism in custom l...

Posted in Fusion 360, Plywood