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Received β€” 9 November 2023 ⏭
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Can this $13,000 tool PAY FOR ITSELF?!

By: ILTMS
27 May 2023 at 15:00

A laser belongs in your shop AND can make you money – here’s how.

There’s a ton of different ways to use your wood shop to make money. Years ago I started out with a GlowForge laser, then I upgraded a few years later to a 90 watt Full Spectrum laser – it has become time to upgrade again to a 130 watt Nova 51 Thunder Laser. Adding a laser – no matter what it is – can allow you to make extra money from your shop.

  1. Save time with a LaserΒ 
  2. Make Money
  3. Laser Adds Capability
  4. Laser Machine Cost

1. Save time with a Laser

Using a laser can allow you to quickly taken an idea and put together a prototype to easily see a product in the real world. Over the last year, Josh has been working on designing and prototyping desktop arcades. The tab and slot tolerances in the design really only work well because they were cut on a laser. The laser can make prototyping super fast and effecient – I can model it in Fusion 360 and then send it to the laser for the prototype. After that, I can use the laser to batch out several arcades at a time. By using a laser to make the cuts, they become even more precise than if I were using traditional shop tools.Β 

2.Make Money with a Laser

Using a laser to make unique objects and use different materials to make objects. One of the more popular items I’ve seen made with a laser is jewelry. You can make super intricate designs out of wood, leather, or other mediums. Not only can you make the unique and intricate design, you’re able to batch out those designs to sell.Β 

You can make even more money by customizing whether by customizing a unique item you’ve made or by customizing items off the shelf. You can always pick up a cutting board locally and customize those with a logo, name, or even a design using your laser. Adding customization to any project is a way to make instant extra money – a specific example would be a simple walnut box sold on Etsy and it was an additional $25 just for a lasered customization. That’s a pretty significant amount of profit for no work.Β 

How do you figure out what to make and where to sell it? Look for gaps in a market. Look at your own personal hobbies and see if there’s something that can be added. If you’re into collecting Hot Wheels, maybe there’s a market for selling display units for storing the cars. With a step further, you can even customize those items that are filling the gaps in the market.Β 

Once you have your products to sell, where do you even sell them? You can start out at local craft shows for people in your community to see in person and walk away with it in hand in that moment. You can also check out Etsy – it’s a website created specifically as a marketplace for handmade goods. By loading your products on Etsy, you’re able to make ond ship out a ton more product across the world. Another local option is to check in with local shops and boutiques – whether they buy your items wholesale in bulk from you or sell at the items as consignment.

3. Laser Adds Capability

Several of my kids are on soccer teams and the parents will often use lasers to create merch for the other parents to purchase in support of their kids. The laser allows you to work on a bunch of different mediums with a ton of different capabilities.

Not only can you engrave wood but you can work in a ton of different materials. For the desktop arcade, Josh designed and cut cardboard packaging on the laser. He designed it in Fusion 360 and it was completely custom to the arcade and even added integrated zippers for opening.Β 

There’s also engravable plastics that look like wood or metal. Not only can it cut some heavy duty materials, but I can also laser in super delicate materials like paper. You can engrave beautiful wedding invitations right on the laser by dialing down the intensity. If you remember last year, we introduced shop mats for your shops that we lasered in house!

Just like there are certain materials that wouldn’t be cut with woodworking tools, there’s certain materials that shouldn’t be cut with a laser. Make sure to do your research to make sure that it’s safe to cut them.Β 

Though some traditional woodshop tools can be precise, nothing is as exact as laser cutting for curves like name signs.

One of our favorite capabilities is the safety aspect. My son was able to design a school project and cut it out on the laser with minimal supervision and minimal risk – something that I would not do in a traditional woodworking shop.Β 

4.Laser Machine Cost

We definitely are aware of the price tag that goes along with one of these machines. Josh’s 70 watt laser ran him almost $700. My 45 watt Glowforge runs about $7,000. The 90 watt Full Spectrum laser at the office ran us about $13,000. To the newest super laser upgrade: the 130 watt Thunder Laser – cost $13,400. This big machine can cut through 3/4 inch ply wood. The capabilities is has far surpasses all the other lasers we have combined.Β 

By creating and selling different projects made on this laser, you could easily pay it off.Β  My biggest advice is to have a plan prior to purchasing – know what your projects are and what your profit would be to pay off the laser. Josh came up with a book nook that cost him almost $3 in material to make. Most book nooks on Etsy profit at least $40. To make up the cost of the laser in just book nooks, Josh would have to sell 325 to pay off the machine. It would be super easy to come up with several products to make your money back quickly and start making a real profit.Β 

I think having a laser in your shop can add capability AND can pay for itself. What projects would you make on your laser?

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Tools List:

(purchasing via these affiliate links supports ILTMS)

3d Printing/CNC/Laser:

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β€œMaking It” Podcast Table

By: Meighan Cable
23 September 2022 at 15:00

What does it look like when three different people build three different parts of a table? It turns out looking WACKY. The guys from the Making It Podcast came together to create something fun!

  1. Let’s Build Something
  2. My 1/3 of the Table
  3. Putting the Pieces Together
  4. Adding the AcrylicΒ 
  5. Finishing the Table

1. Let’s Build Something

Jimmy Diresta and David Picciuto and I have been recording a podcast together called Making It for the last 8 years. We have recorded several live broadcasts of Making It and the most recent being the one at Maker Faire in Louisville, KY. Since we were all going to be in town together we decided to collab and make a table. Here’s the kicker: we each made a 1/3 of the table separately.

While we were in California, the team and I brainstormed what we could do for my 1/3 of the table. We thought of everything from a colorful oil and water mixture to trying to create a something made of resin for the table top. We landed on something that I got pretty excited about – creating a plinko game.

2. My 1/3 of the Table

Starting off, I used 1/2 inch MDF that I picked up at a local hardware store and using basic geometry (can you believe Geometry in high school actually paid off?) I drew out the shape of the table top. Using a digital protractor, ruler, and a pencil I made a 120 degree angle. From there I went 12 inches out and that will give me the curve and the outside profile. The back walls of the table are being made out of 1/4 inch MDF so as I was preparing my 1/2 MDF to cut, therefore I had to make sure I accounted for the material I was going to be adding in later.

Using the jigsaw I cut out the base of the table then I used the table saw and miter saw to cut the 1/4 inch MDF for the back sections of the table. By cutting a miter into the two pieces, the corner would fit in with the other two sections of the table that Jimmy and David made. Since the table won’t be carrying a ton of weight, I used wood glue and pin nails to hold the base and back walls together. At this point, I painted it black (you already know my love for painting it black – get the t shirt here!) Josh went over to the laser to cut out the acrylic pieces.

The top and front portions were both clear acrylic in order to see the marble going through the plinko game; the interior piece was lasered with tiny holes for the 3 mm acrylic rods to stand in as the obstacles for the marble. The acrylic rods came in a pack and I needed to use the laser to cut them down to fit them into each hole. Honestly, the trickiest part was figuring out how to mount the tilting acrylic inside of the table; it had to be angled for the marble to roll but also have the clearance to roll down.

3. Putting the Pieces Together

For the front piece of acrylic, I pre-drilled holes into the MDF to attach it with screws. Next, I used one of the 3mm acrylic rods as the pivot point for the tilt – I attached that with acrylic cement and a Total Boat 4 minute epoxy to make sure it stands the test of time. Later, I 3d printed a knob to go on the end for easy manipulation of the tilt.

After getting that together, I cut down the rods to fit into the holes on the orange acrylic. Since the holes cut were every so slightly too big, I glued each rod in place for security. To mount the tilting piece I attached a small block of wood with a sanded taper on it and drive a screw to capture that back corner allowing it to pivot on that screw.

When I tested it out, I realized there were straight paths downhill with negates the game aspect. Therefore, I cut down additional acrylic walls and set them up in between random pins to force the marble to go different places – above all I wanted to make the game more fun!

4. Adding the Acrylic

For the last piece of acrylic, I drilled holes in the top for the marble to be dropped in and I attached it to the table game frame with glue to the front piece.

Attaching the acrylic top to the back walls made of 1/4 inch MDF didn’t go as smoothly. I had to drill a hole slightly bigger than the screw I used through both the acrylic and the MDF, fill that hole with CA glue and then put in the screw. I did this in order to allow the glue to harden the MDF for the screw to sink into rather than splintering up the MDF with the screw.

To finish up my part, I used a thick dowel as the leg and I used a hardware set to make a tapered leg. It came with a plate that goes on the bottom of the table, with a threaded insert and a threaded rod. I put the insert in the dowel and used that rod to connect the table to the leg. With the addition of the leg – my part is DONE!

5. Finishing the Table

Just as I predicted, David’s table was modern and slick and looked really good. Jimmy’s was filled with stuff from his shop with resin and a bent wrench for the leg. We used a Total Boat epoxy along with a circular piece of WOOD to attach the three pieces together.

When we flipped this table over it looked – interesting. It was fun to put our heads together and create something totally different. Be sure to check us out weekly on the Making It Podcast.

The post β€œMaking It” Podcast Table appeared first on I Like To Make Stuff.

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