Shopsmith Forums

Built these using interlocking dados to display the laser etched family tree. They are for each of our twin sons. Their families are represented on the plaques.

Those are really nice Gene. Black Walnut?

Another great one from Gene!
I'll speculate either walnut or his more-native mesquite

Chris

Yep, walnut cut offs. The plaque is BB. Saving the mesquite for boxes. They'll get etched, too.

thanks, guys. Yep, walnut cut offs. The plaque is BB. Saving the mesquite for boxes. They'll get etched, too.

Gene Howe wrote:thanks, guys. Yep, walnut cut offs. The plaque is BB. Saving the mesquite for boxes. They'll get etched, too.

Do you have a laser etcher or is there someone local that does it for you?

My wife made about 100 crafting jigs called a bow tie. It is used to tie different sized bows for craft projects. We had a local person do the laser etching.

John, my laser is an el cheapo from China. It does flat work only and is limited for height. There's no way I could etch the end like you showed. I lust for a larger, more capable one.

Gene Howe wrote:John, my laser is an el cheapo from China. It does flat work only and is limited for height. There's no way I could etch the end like you showed. I lust for a larger, more capable one.

I have thought of buying something but they are expensive. For the one or two off projects I just take it over to the Hill, AFB Arts & Crafts shop. They have a couple big lasers and the price is dirt cheap compared to going off base to a commercial shop. However, her bow tie jigs were fairly cheap because the guy that did them works out of his house and it is not a commercial enterprise. His laser has limited power so he can't engrave a brass plate for example. It works great on wood though.

Mine was $120 when I bought it 2 years ago. It has only one watt of power, yet it burns about 1/64" deep. I'd love to have a 50 watt machine. An Epilog or the new Dremel laser would be great. A Chinese one can be had for around $1500 but I'm not too technically savvy and they do require some fiddling.

Yes, I understand. It is not about being able to afford it. It is just that we don't want to do enough to spend the money right now. Of course if we had one then we might do a lot more.