Cameron and I are both makers; my primary hobby is sewing and textile art/mixed media while Cameron’s interests are sprawling. We have both been interested in investing in a laser cutter for several years but after an exhaustive search of lasers one can buy “off the shelf” we were unable to find one that met all of our requirements relative to power, stability, reliability, cost, and size that we could physically get through the front or back door of our house. I need the laser to cut various textiles (without burning the raw edges as most of my textile art involves raw edge applique) into everything from very tiny mosaic pieces and 3/4” wide strips to larger shapes from apparel patterns. I can’t regale you with all of Cameron’s plans for it here, but we knew we wanted to be able to etch metal, glass, marble, granite, wood, acrylic, and leather as well as cut acrylic, paper, wood, and of course, fabric.

One night after a disappointing test run of fabric cuts done by a laser cutter retailer Cameron said that he could build one. I was incredulous but intrigued. As is his way, he had been searching various online communities of like minded folks who were bumping into some of the same roadblocks we were and had settled upon a set of plans that looked to be of high quality; numerous builders had already completed their builds with excellent performance results. But his shop wasn’t set up for such a mammoth build nor end result. So he went to work on weekends and after hours reconfiguring his tools and machinery, organizing and cleaning, and staked out the space where the laser would live. At 70” wide, 52” wide, and 50” tall with additional space needed for loading materials, outdoor venting, and space to do the actual assembly there were a lot of logistical considerations but, six weeks later he placed his first round of orders.

I’ve made a wobbly, unprofessionally narrated video of the shop in its laser build ready state that I’ll attempt to post here. I’m not particularly software/computer savvy and this is my first foray into blogging; the road ahead will have some bumps but I’ll do my best to keep them to a minimum. Thank you in advance for your patient attention.