Cameron’s Laser Build

The Build is COMPLETE!

Greetings everyone! I hope you’ve all found some time to relax and enjoy yourselves doing what ever recharges you for the week ahead. It has been another nose to the grindstone here but it’s all good! Cameron completed the build at 6:50 pm Saturday, June 3, and after a number of high fives and rear view mirror conversations we went out to our porch and lounged there until almost 11 (it’s screened in so the bugs can’t bite). It was a rare evening of leisure given the past four months of the push to cross the finish line. Here is a photo of the happy camper!

Cameron with his new toy!

You may recall that we named him Diablo; Jonathan Frost, the architect of the plans for the Rezo laser, surprised us by including the name Diablo under the model number in flaming orange, one of my favorite colors (not that my love for orange had anything to do with the vinyl decal). He also sent a laser engraved serial number with Cameron’s signature on it as he does for every completed build. It was such a special moment, affixing that plate; it was the very last thing he did yesterday.

Engraved serial number plate-so special!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t share here that Jonathan has been a steadfast resource to Cameron along with the rest of the REZO builder community. It was soooo cool to receive the package with the REZO decals and this plate; truly a professional finishing touch and a meaningful symbol of achievement for a once in a lifetime build. If there is anyone out there contemplating building this behemoth of a laser, know that if you commit you’ll land amongst kindred spirits with an extremely capable architect in Jonathan at the heart of it. I could say at the center or at the helm of it, but it took passion to fuel the creation of these plans. It takes passion to embark on a build like this, and it takes passion to muscle through, over, and beyond the fleeting obstacles and setbacks on the path to completion. There will be lots of folks cheering you on, so go for it!

We made a dent in the aftermath of the build (cleanup) today but, Cameron made time for some makes. We cut out a camisole out of 95/5 cotton spandex and another out of ITY and lace. The videos are about 3 minutes each; I’m going to post them on YouTube and post a link to them tomorrow. We also made three rubber stamps and a slate coaster. One of the stamps is for my mom as is the coaster. She is an artist, her medium is painting, and she makes greeting cards and bookmarks and framed art. I thought she should have a stamp for the backs of her cards. The other two are for me; we tried to make the lettering bigger than it was in the first iterations and then changed the layout to make the lettering even bigger. I haven’t tried them yet but will post the results tomorrow.

Coaster for mom
Stamps
Deeply engraved maple blocks for stamps

I’m leaning toward launching a Laser Adventures YouTube channel for all of the videos of our makes, the mistakes we make, and the things we learn as a result of them, and posting stills of our makes here as the blog officially transitions to a makes blog now that the build is complete. I’ll post a link when I have that together. For now, I’d like to leave you with two photos, one of the beginning and one that is both an ending and a beginning. Enjoy!

The beginning
The end of one leg of the adventure, the beginning of the next!

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  1. Debbie

    This has been so cool, seeing the project from beginning to end. You and Cameron should both take a bow and pat each other on the back! I’m looking forward to seeing how you put this to use!

    Reply
    1. Cameron’s Rezo Laser Build

      Thanks Debbie! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it! We are having fun finding our way through the various techniques for different materials and have recently discovered innovative ways to incorporate powdered resins, foils, and powder coatings for metal engraving into our makes. Lots to learn and try; it will be fun!

      Reply
  2. Mindy doeden

    This has been so exciting and interesting following you two on your laser build. It is an amazing accomplishment. I can’t wait to see all your projects. Good for you!

    Reply
    1. Cameron’s Rezo Laser Build

      Thanks Mindy! We’re looking forward to doing some cool makes; there is a lot to learn but there are a lot of similarities between the ten needle and the laser. I guess CNC technology is in many ways the same no matter where you install it. ????

      Reply
  3. Elena Arosemena

    HI Dana

    CONGRATS TO YOU AND CAM for the complete build of Diablo.

    So very cool ~ I will follow along once you get the link to YouTube up and running. I’m certain with the endless possibilities of creation and imagination ~ Diablo will be busy ongoing !

    The stamps and coaster for your Mom are awesome.

    I’m headed to Vegas and CA next week, looking forward to the change of scenery. My travel dates are 6/14 to 6/28 – when I’m back it will soon be July.

    When I’m back, I’m supposed to go help Maggie organize her new kitchen. (remodel work happening right now) ~ kitchen will be complete end of June and she wants help organizing and putting things back – to maximize space and storage in the new cabinets, shelves, drawers, etc.

    I’m curious what is the cost for a machine like Diablo ?

    Headed for a swim 30+ lengths of the pool. I started being able to swim 20+ lengths and hope to build up to being able to do 25 laps or 50 lengths total. It’s a bright bright bright sunny day, perfect for the pool.

    Greetings to you and Cam ~

    Elena

    >

    Reply
    1. Cameron’s Rezo Laser Build

      Thanks E! We are excited for sure!

      Your travel sounds fun; I do love to eat my way through Las Vegas and of course, the west coast will always have my heart. The kitchen reno is such an enormous undertaking; I bet it will be spectacular! Cameron sometimes jokes about getting me a job stocking shelves at Wegman’s because of my organization compulsions ????. Organizing a kitchen and pantry is a party for me!

      As for the cost of the laser build, Cameron initially thought it would be about $8000 but material costs jumped on us between the time he started exploring the options and when he started ordering parts, so he thinks we are at about $10,000 for the build itself but there are costs for accessories like the rotary (which we haven’t yet tried), multiple lenses, I think he upgraded the compressor from the specs, and what ever else he has bought for the other mods he made. Then you have costs for thinks like masking when you do wood and metal engraving as well as glass, so it can add up. He thinks we are close to $11k however, if you compare that to what a machine built to his specs would cost retail it’s almost three times that cost all in, maybe a little more. Prices fluctuate a good bit and I haven’t looked in a while.

      Have a great swim! It’s such good exercise!

      Dana

      Reply
  4. Tommi Carter

    My jaw dropped open when I saw this. Wow, so many questions but mostly I’m just so impressed with Cameron’s building and your documenting.

    Reply
    1. Cameron’s Rezo Laser Build

      Cameron is an amazing man who never stops surprising me with the breadth and depth of his talents and intellect. That he is as nice as he is brilliant makes him a real needle in a haystack but of course I’m hugely biased ????. We’ve been told so many times by people who know us well and people who don’t that we make a great team; it has always felt that way to me.

      Thank you for your enthusiasm; we are getting our feet wet and getting our bearings with YouTube. Right now I’m loading videos we shot in the very beginning onto YouTube even though they are obviously not really formatted for YouTube. At the time they were filmed the intention was to show a quick snippet of what we were doing. We weren’t even considering YouTube. Going forward I’ll be more mindful of that. Neither of us want to be on camera and Cameron wants nothing to do with narration so it will be interesting to see if or how that works out????

      Reply