Laser Cut Stuff

Another post from the laser cutting group now,  Jocelyn has shared these Christmas letters and is currently working to complete the set. I hadn't realised how early people start working towards Christmas craft faires until I started reading these groups but I guess it makes sense. I'll keep you posted as to when the rest of the set it released assuming they letter do it amidst all the requests.

Instructables user JackCarter  made this awesome  lasercut tank model from MDF. The functional tracks looks great and the laser is perfect for making a repetitive object like that, although they do also provide the files to make a static track if you don't have enough patience for assembly. There are lots of tank models out there but, because this comes with instructions, it is definitely a challenger for the best.

A lot of wargaming models are cut from 3mm mdf, the folks over at Laser Cut Card  have opted to use 1mm card instead. They say it gives them more options to make better details and it receives paint better, it's also lighter for shipping. The results certainly seem to agree that it's a workable material. My painting skills couldn't cope with making a finished item like this, they're pretty tearable.

akselmusic  on Thingiverse , just released this industrial terrain complex  for wargaming. It 's cut from mdf so it's relatively cheap and it's configurable so you set it up in different ways for different games. They're a little plane and could do with some military detailing detail, but because it's thingiverse you can remix it , just don't forget to say tanks.

There are a couple of giant hand builds around but I like this one from instructables user  musicandsky  because they've gone for a purely Halloween theme scare style. When combined with the skull mask, I imagine they had a lot of fun out and about in the evening. You'd have to pick your party carefully though, they should be good with finger food but undoubtedly clawful with drinks.

Etsy seller, Feel My Craft , has this wonderful  ape skeleton  available in their store. It's self assembly so the kids would get the fun of putting the item together before Halloween. I always found the skeletons of other animals far more creepy that humans. The idea of making a winged monkey skeleton  is suddenly very apealing to me

This laser cut ball mask  from instructables user woz.artur  would make a great costume for any Halloween event. The mask is cut from black acrylic and engraved with the maze detailing. The mask was heated and shaped to match the contours of a face and then the lines were filled with gold paint. The handformed nature to convert this from a flat sheet means you won't be going in to mask production but it would be a spectacular one off

LesMarco kindly shared this file for a sugar skull pen holder  through the thingiverse  website. It's a good example of slicing a shape and decorating it appropriately. Being cut from Poplar plywood the details could be coloured in nicely with some fine tips pens to add a real flourish of colour. A handy pot lot this is a good way to despens stationary as required.

Glowforge user  kittski , posted these  Halloween Trinkets  over on the community pages. They are painted before engraving to give a distressed appearance. The miniature skulls appear to have come out extremely well. They made both positive and negative engravings to see which was best, I guess their heart just wasn't in it.

The Sparkfun  site has this guest write up post about a marvellous, laser cut, Halloween costume . They go through the whole process of simplifying a 3D model and slicing it into something that can be cut on a laser. They even insert nodes into all the joints to help them stay together with friction. Don't just wing it, start now and there is lots of time to get a costume sorted before the end of the month.

These Halloween cards from  Alexis Mattox Design  are brilliant. Using the inner layer to add a touch of colour is inspired, one design can easily look like multiples simply by changing the under sheet. I couldn't find them for sale on the Alexis Mattox shop but you could spin off your own design and get them on the web in time for Halloween.

These tiny Ghoul Charms  made by Timber Green Woods  over on Etsy are bewitching. They come in a range of colours and I imagine they fit neatly into the scrap off cuts of larger projects so it's a good way to reduce your waste. Bookle your seat belts there are a lot more Halloween puns to come.

Daisymoon designs have created these spooky Shelfies  to aid your Halloween decorating. They kids would have great fun decorating them and setting them up to peer over the edge of your shelves. I prefer the use of super natural poplar over mdf because it accepts colour so easily, just don't make too many boo boos while painting them.

MaryEllen  from the glowforge community  made this smashing pumpkin wreath for Halloween. Different design processes fascinate me and I love seeing a sketch like that become a physical design. The wood is tinted using a prismacolor marker and the pumpkin itself is layered to give it a real sense of depth and roundness. Put on a happy face and let's get jacked for Halloween my little punkins.

Dough Roller from Etsy  produces these eerie rolling pins  carved with skulls. When rolled out the pattern appears on whatever your baking.  They have other Halloween designs in their range too, but hopefully this choux stopper will be enough to tickle your fondant fancy for now.

chevalier_jeanpaul  from the glowforge community made this incredible wand box , I particularly like this lightning bolt shaped join at the top between the living hing and the rest of the box. There is also a music box in the top section playing the Harry Potter theme tune. A nice wooden box like this will definitely stop your magic stick from wandering off.

Diego from engravers dungeon  has developed an incredible technique for laser cutting that really makes their designs stand out. The colours are painted on before engraving but the secret sauce lies in the two tone style of engraving, something that they are understandably keen not to share. The whole thing is finished off with a mixture of wax and varnish to make a nice piece that I would be happy to own. I make no bones about it, this is some high class engraving even if I am trying to be humerus.

Full Spectrum Laser  have gone all out producing this model airship. It's a great example of all the little things that laser cutters can do, especially when you have hours of dedication and some modelling skills. It's largely made of wood but they make good use of metallic plastics to highlight little details and features, the canvas balloon and flags are a nice touch too. The photos are a little dinghy but if detailing like this makes you want to buy your own laser you should probably talk to their sails manager.

Rekanize  from the glowforge community  made an wooden box for their deck of tarot cards, the detailed engraving and line artwork produced by the glowforge is pretty impressive and I expect a lot of it is to do with their pre masked, proof grade materials which really reduce staining. You wouldn't want to lose a box of tarot cards like this, it would cost you a fortune.

The American laser company  released this  laser cut Ouija board  a few years back now but it's a timeless classic and with Halloween approaching soon, now would be a good time to cut yourself one. A real wooden ouija board would certainly make a spooktacular show piece for a Halloween party.

Coloradoscopes posted these colour changing Jellyfish Lamps  to the laser engraving group , they're made from cherry, walnut and are glass backed which makes them really shine. I fish I could finish a product quite as neatly, if you can think of better puns then let minnow.

Instructables user Brichtl  made this great version laser cut version of Dudeneys Dissection , they go through the whole process of drawing, cutting and assembling, it's a well written article makes a nice item. It's not too puzzling to build but if you get it wrong it'll be wreck-tangled.

The decorations on these bottle openers , from Fowl Play Enterprises are all laser cut, it's a great example of how a little bit of finishing can make all the difference. Looking at the colours and the styles it's not immediately obvious that they were lasered. The puns appeal to me too, although making more alcohol related jokes already gives me a sense of deja brew.

The nice cuts team ran a mini workshop where they made these faux stained glass windows, laser cut from MDF. The idea is pretty simple but very effective, I imagine they would be a lot of fun to run for a group of kids. Clearly, you'd be shattered after running a workshop for the whole day but they totally smashed it.

Full Spectrum Laser are offering up these interesting maze designs through the instructables website . The mazes are constructed of 3 layers with the walls sandwiched between the two outer layers, very small ball bearings are inserted into the layers to make the maze game. Being an instructable they provide pictures and files so you won't get lost while trying to recreate it.

SugarCookie has produced a whole range of these laser cut bobbins  for her etsy store. They would make great gifts for any crafty person in your life. Something like this could stop you spooling around and get all your presents buttoned up well in advance.

Damion Silver  laser cut this beautiful skate deck , when you take a closer look you can see that by changing the line style he's managed to created darker areas on the board which gives it a two tone effect. The white lines are just the places where the board hasn't been engraved at all. There's no half-pipe jobs here, he's ramped it all the way up to eleven to create this wonderful board.

Britt has made this cute little shadow box full of Halloween demons using her new glowforge laser . Layering the cuts outs creates an excellent sense of depth, I'd love to see what it looked like with some LED illumination between the layers. These little characters look like they're having a devil of a good time, they're so cute though they could easily be a ghouls best friend.

Red Beam Designs has made some rather nice gothic style wargaming terrain, they've got lots of other amazing models on their site too, great for inspiration or purchasing directly. Once you have a library of architectural features you can make infinite variations upon a theme, but building up the library in the first place must be a bit of a pain in the buttress.

This endless calendar , by instructables author  nakeishaestrada , is very simple but also very functional, it's a neat little example that shows how easy it is to use the laser cutter to make tangible items. I keep trying to think of puns for this but they're a bit too week, if you've got any better suggestions I'm all years.

The glowforge forums are soon to be a hotbed of inspiration while people figure out how to use their new laser cutters and this free design is a great place to start. The cathedral wine box is an iteration of a previous design and it would make for an amazing gift. You'll need to make sure you red white down to the bottom of the article to find the svg files. What more reisling do you need to make one?

Ki-Gu-Mi wooden art puzzles  has a whole range of these fantastic models that like a lot of fun to put together. You'll need to move quickly if you want to adhopt one of these models, the website doesn't appear to have been updated for some time and it may just be living on burrowed time.

These signs made by laser flair  are engraved onto old scaffolding planks that have been cut down to size, the end result is rustic and very effective. You must have to align the planks Caerphilly to get brielliant results like this.

These notebooks by Creative use of tech  cleverly cut through the font cover and expose a coloured sheet underneath it to make the text stand out. The details are a bit sketchy but if you book really closely you can see the tell tale cut marks of the laser.

Lexus commissioned a fully functional electric car built from laser cut cardboard. It comprises 1700 individual pieces and took 3 months, I imagine the builders were quite card-bored by the end of assembly.

Sometimes a customer presents you with hand drawn artwork for laser cutting, this post from Nice-Cuts  describes how you can quickly convert it into something laserable and show several of the different cutting options. It's not always pawsible for people to generate their own CAD but when you can convert sketches those people are free to spend koalaty drawing in other ways.

With end of summer approaching and the weather turning a little bit chillier again, the peeps over at Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts  have created this cute little banner to celebrate the occasion. Don't beleaf it though, I expect we'll have a few more sunny days before we move into the gourd-geous season of Autumn.

The folks over at CutLaserCut have discovered you can engrave cocoa butter when they made this sign for Lush Cosmetics .  The results are margarine-ally better than doing it by hand and you probably want to put something under it to catch any drips, butter safe than sorry.