Hi everybody! I hope everyone’s weekend is off to a great start. Stay safe out there!

It’s hot and steamy here but we are like popsicles in the basement with the laser firing. I am so excited today to have seen how the rotary tool works because it adds yet another capability for creating bespoke items! Our first effort was a bit disappointing in that it came out etched more than engraved which wasn’t what we were going for but you can see it here. We used a wet paper towel to absorb some of the heat and it was steaming when we took it out.

Our second attempt went a lot better. We achieved a palpable engraving and a more even result by lowering the power and the speed of the laser. Plus, hey, it’s a snowflake and this penguin at heart is pining for a blast of arctic air right now. I don’t know how folks in the tropics cope! Anyway, see for yourself; it was a better result.

So next we delved into using the rotary tool to engrave a rolling pin to emboss cookie dough. Staying with my wintry theme Cameron used a bunch of snowflake SVG’s purchased on Etsy and a rolling pin I bought with pre-mature optimism a few months ago-but it’s time has finally come!

I’ll tell you a secret. I don’t want to get kicked off of WordPress or YouTube, but I’m DYING to make, how shall we say, naughty, salty languaged (yes I turned that into a verb) rolling pins for comical cookies and maybe even pie crusts? But I’m pretty sure they’d violate content and decorum rules so, I’ll post here that I made them when I do and you can let me know if you’d like the photos emailed to you. The danger of a tool like this is that you can do everything from elegant to debaucherous (apparently another liberty taken with wordsmithing) and I have an effervescent imagination! Cookies with messages for various occasions! I have a friend who will retire this year; I’m thinking “I won’t miss you” cookies would be hilarious. You could do gender reveal cookies, how about cookies with company logos? Pet birthday cookies…the possibilities are endless!

We definitely encountered a learning curve on this one. Rosewood is harder than beech or birch or maple, who knew? So that was one factor, but as with any new material we had to play with settings to get a depth that will render a clear embossed image on dough. No one seems to volunteer what depth they’re carving to but this one is just north of 3mm. It took an hour and a half to make because we did three engraving passes and one final low power pass to shave away a lot of the scorching. In the video and photo below I haven’t yet washed or treated it with a combination of oils and wax, but my thoughts have turned to how to clean it after using it on dough. Hmm. We’ll see! I’m anxious to make some cookies for a test run and happen to have a very willing cookie taste tester on hand so I’m all set! Check it out.

We have more fun planned for tomorrow-see you then!