Probably not the most creative idea but I know my first order of business would be labeling all my tools! Not only with my name, but also sizes on things like hex wrenches and drill bits.

Hopefully then I could keep everything in order and also prevent disputes when tools walk off.

Posted at 12:35 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by stuart

I’m not very familiar with laser cutters, but…

I’d probably make either a stack of 1/4″ thick aluminum shuriken, a Klingon d’ktagh, or a mek’leth… I’ve always wanted a set of Klingon bladed weapons.

Posted at 12:35 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Skyler Orlando

Probably something boring, like parts for my Radline or Xmods…

Posted at 12:36 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Charlie

set it to cut at specific depths into materials, so that it would basically cut inside of things, (i have seen this done at the hospital’s laser in tennessee) and cut internal designs into plexiglass, glass, and other translucent materials, then shine a colored LED into it, making an awesome lighting effect, or just cut cool designs into knives and such..

Posted at 12:38 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Spencer

Rather than just shining lasers in peoples eyes, you can tattoo people from a distance! (with a custom lens)

Or, make peices of toast with either images of religious objects (to sell on ebay) or RSS feeds ( breakfast+news :D )

Posted at 12:40 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by atrain

I’d hook it up to a web site, and allow people to choose a design/message to put on a hunk of aluminum. Then, set up votes to allow everyone to decide who’s post gets to go on the hunk of aluminum. Then, use the votes to determine the surface area that each design/message gets. (some kind of statistical method that eliminates the designs that don’t get many votes). Then, burn in all the designs according to the results.

What next? Launch it into space. Or put it in a museum as “Internet Art”. Or chuck it into the ocean. Something dramatic.

~Sticky

Posted at 12:51 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by StickyWidget

Definitely should make some hack-a-day gear with that.

Posted at 12:54 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by chance

You could make some of those business cards with the pop-out lock picking tools, like Kevin Mitnick’s one, or you could make your own aluminium business cards in cool shapes with cut out letters, or engraved, or BOTH!

Posted at 1:06 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by gary woodhouse

Well, the first thing id do is pop the cover off my 360 and have some fun, but thats not what i really have in mind.

I have guitars, lots of them, i could take one of my crappy ones, and try it out first, with some sort of elegant engraving, and if all goes well, id be doing some nicer ones, i bet you could produce some beautiful patterns on these things.

Then if all goes well, i can charge my friends and kids from school to do theirs.

Posted at 1:08 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by ethan

i’d make me a bride

Posted at 1:08 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by james

If I had that, I’d turn the 3D engraving feature around on some guitar bodies.

Posted at 1:13 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Steve

I’d cut out a hole on the shell of my up dv9000 laptop andwith either the apple logo….the up logo, or the ubuntu logo, fill it with frosted plexi and backlight it with LEDs. Maybe even integrate my pulsing blue griffin powermate into the lid.

Posted at 1:13 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by sylentmode

Idea #1: Ingrave a calander on your fingernail. As the nail grows and gets cut off, so do the weeks and months.

Idea #2 PC Boards! http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=15&m=246412

Posted at 1:16 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by crgwbr

that was went with my iPhone. Please excuse the spelling. I meant “HP” logo the iPhone changed that

Posted at 1:18 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by sylentmode

If I could get hold of a latemodel Firebird hood, I’d find a way of making the 12″x24″ workspace compatible with it and engrave a 1 meter bird, 70’s style, across. It’d be cool because I’d have to hack the laser’s work surface to do it!

In any case, that’s really cool of Epilog and I’m going to check out their site a bit.

Posted at 1:19 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Dotan Cohen

I’d make a sign similar to Mythbusters that said HackBusters.

Posted at 1:20 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by matt

What thickness can it cut?

Posted at 1:25 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by AdamZiegler

I’d probably try to find some clever (stupid) way to engrave the laser cutter :)

Posted at 1:28 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by phillips321

I’d probably make as much robot parts as I can. Hexapods, Humanoids, robotic arms, etc. After that, download the design for a RepRap 3d printer!!! ohh yeah

Posted at 1:31 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Juan Cubillo

best idea I’ve got would be to construct an interlocking box from 1/8″ acrylic.
some of you guys are overestimating the abilities of this machine, it can mark metal (with appropriate chemicals) but no metal cutting of any sort.

Posted at 1:47 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by ridefst

I would go nuts with new accent parts for my charger. Companies charge hundreds of dollars for a little laser engraving and I’d love to be able to make my own pieces just to thumb my nose at “the man”.

I’m thinking door sills, custom petals, custom knobs, faceplates, the whole nine yards. Who wants to see the Hackaday Charger?

Posted at 1:48 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by andrew

1200dpi is too low to make a reflective diffraction grating. If you could have though, I’d have used a diffraction grating + light source as a nonlinear thermometer. Plant outside next to a light bulb for an easy way to spot your house. Classier than just using cut up CDs.

Posted at 1:59 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by M

I’d use it to make paper cut art, like:
http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html

Posted at 2:00 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by geoff

Well, when i had access to a 10W engraver from Universal Laser Systems, i made the biohazard symbol on a piece of 6″ square plexiglass (it was opaque black).

However, i ment to engrave my laptop before i left, but i never got around to it. now im attending the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formally Univeristy of Missouri-Rolla), and i know that somewhere on campus we have several cutters (and one 200MW laser)

Posted at 2:02 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Cris Abbott

“What Can I Do With an Epilog?”: http://epiloglaser.com/laser_industries.htm

There go my crazy ideas. I’d make a custom faceplate for a car pc.

Posted at 2:04 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by M

that was supposed to be a 200megawatt, not milliwatt, as caps are so nicely disabled.
as far as what to do with one… ive always wanted to make circuit boards…almost effortless, but it would require a laser much more powerful than 45w

Posted at 2:06 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Cris Abbott

i second the lockpicking biddness cards!
(yes i know it’s spelled business, lol)

Posted at 2:09 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by chr0n1c

I will do a fine leather or wood cuted display cover for my laptop (replacing the aluminum part on the dell M90.

Or white bussiness card with your name cuted on it.

But you can also do your custom heatsink / radiator for any kind of electronic component/cpu cooling.

custom cuted biscuit, cut the dough before baking it (What about a nice hack a day cookie?)

Etc!

Posted at 2:16 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Crazygreg

I’d burn a few pics into on some 1/2″ hardwood plates, I’m not sure how you’d do it, but if you do it correctly, you can actually blast away some of the wood and get a contoured image.

Or, like most people would do, you could just use it to etch the hackaday logo into anything you can find that will fit in the tray, laptops, ipods, mice, body parts, ect.

Posted at 2:28 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Wolf

Assuming it can cut carbon fiber sheets you could cut some outstanding wet lay up patterns for carbon fiber rotor blades. Left and and right hand propeller patterns. Then if you could cut carbon fiber flat stock, you could cut some servo shaft gears or sprockets at any pitch. The best use would be to cut encoder wheels out of the center spool of a retractable reel id badge holders. Then you could use them as cheap linear encoders.

Posted at 2:36 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Ken Russell

Computer Engraving
A laser cutter would be nicer to work with than my dremmel. Design patterns in 3DS max / Autocad, and cut out the panels on my computer case. Then I’d do my friends cases. After that, sky’s the limit, go into custom casing, wiring’s the easy part, the design needs to look clean and this’d allow for much finer work than a dremmel does.

Posted at 2:40 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Dave

I’d hook it up to something like the milk scanner: http://www.hackaday.com/2007/06/05/milkscanner/ and create a 3d copy machine.

Posted at 2:45 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by mark

If it could be done, and that’s a big if, etched DVD would look pretty cool. I have to imagine that done wrong they could be thrown out of balance or the substrate could be damaged. But they would look mighty fine.

Posted at 2:47 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Spencer Crosby

I would use it to etch PCB boards. of course i would not buy a laser cutter just to do that, but if i had access to one. or, i am not sure about the accuracy of the laser, make little watch parts and build a pocket watch.

Posted at 2:50 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by elliott

I would make a Hexapod skeleton for one of these:

http://www.lynxmotion.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=101

Posted at 3:12 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Shadyman

Start out with some custom aluminum badges for my truck. Not quite sure what the images would be. But getting the stock ford logos off would be a nice change. Then go for a set of transformers emblems on the sides of my desktop’s case seeing how I don’t own a laptop that I can modify.

Posted at 3:20 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Nate

I would engrave the top of my laptop with a whole vinyl album and put it on a turntable and play it.
It would also be cool to put a lathe in the laser cutter to tattoo aluminum baseball bats.

Posted at 3:20 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Kelly

I would love to get my laptop engraved… It’s an X61, and I know that there is titanium under the black coating. I would love to melt off that coating to make a slick design…

Posted at 3:32 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by jonny

I’d decorate my Thinkpad with a trace of the keyboard, so it looked open when it was closed. The colors count for a lot in making the iconic laptop design recognizable, but the three-button arrangement below the spacebar and off-color function & Enter keys should be enough.

I’m a little disappointed you can’t cut serious metal with it. My original thoughts were along the lines of rapid-prototyping: cut out slices of a solid object-to-be, align them, and braise them together.

You could turn a decent profit laser-etching cheap swords. Anime fan favorite katanas are out thanks to the 26″ diagonal, but knives and tantos are game.

1200 DPI’s pretty sharp… maybe take a page from NASA’s book (no pun intended) and sneak some softcore porn-laden glass slides into the nearest convenient laboratory? Most Chem-E’s I know are female, so be sure to choose your images with the right target audience in mind. At this resolution, you could engrave “HACKADAY.COM” on your staples, maybe even paperclips.

Oh, here’s a good one – coins. Technically illegal, but let’s say you’re using Euros or pounds sterling. What can you fit into the flat spaces on either side of a portrait? A QR code for Hackaday, maybe? A skull-and-crosswrenches tattoo for the Queen? Perhaps hand out flat-edged coins with your name & phone number on the rim in place of business cards.

Posted at 3:38 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by mindbleach

Man, you are so lucky. My school’s graphics lab has a full size one 32×20! We have cut so much crap in that thing! The most interesting thing would have to be a banana. You can raster the leather on your shoes, jeans, toast.

Ok for the ideas:

1) Use multiple sheets of stacked acrylic to make a 3d landscape.

2)An easy way to steampunk anything. Buy (or make) sheets of 1/4 inch pine and cut out a case for a laptop, mac mini, phone, whatever. It is great because you can even cut out the letters for the keyboard (just make sure they don’t fall through the grate).

A word of advice to everyone who ever uses one of these: Do a test run on cardboard before you start and check it to make sure it is square. The laser we had would cut things a little longer in the x direction than the y.

Posted at 3:39 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by David Major

i would love to cut out a few pieces of aluminum and bend them to make a laser cut remote control or some custom made laser cut wallet

Posted at 3:44 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by eitan g

use the laser cutter to etch custom logos/designs into the packaging (plastic case) of an integrated circuit (i.e. hack a day logo) to give a finished PCB circuit board a customized look, if the laser cutter is capable of doing so without going through the packaging and damaging the die.

Posted at 3:46 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by CaliRaisin

Hmm maybe a model I have been working on for a long time. Or some wannabe like gift for my girlfriend… ofc you could test what the lazor cutter is made of, by putting on some difficult test.

Posted at 3:54 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by TXX

Yea get some nice optics and try to get the machine to cut itself in half.

Posted at 3:56 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by McCheese

I would cut out an aluminum origami Wall-E completely from sheet aluminum and wire weld the entire project together using only the cutouts from the laser.

Posted at 3:57 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Jawa Lunk

so many ideas, so little time…

first thing *I* would do if I had a laser cutter on loan is to cut all the parts to build my own.

after that of course, is a 3D sculpture of that ferrofluid scuplture doing the rounds at youtube…

Posted at 4:14 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Spoofy

I’d etch a bunch of 1/8″ thick lexan and laminate them together to form a 3D model of something like a ninja. Illuminated with LED’s of course.

Posted at 4:14 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by James S

remember guys, this doesn’t cut metal, just plastic, wood, paper, etc. More powerful lasers are needed for cutting metal (and even then, something like a waterjet is better because metal will always reflect most of the laser’s energy).

I had access to one of these (at techshop in palo alto) and i never did much with it. I have a nice HAAS CNC mill and lathe at work now, so i play with those when i wanna make stuff. :)
-Taylor

Posted at 4:15 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Taylor Alexander

I’d turn down the power and do a tattoo. I think human skin is another form of thermal paper.

Posted at 4:19 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by GinsuGuy585

I’d make beer bottle openers with hackaday logo maybe add a flat head screwdrive to the other side

Posted at 4:20 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by dave c

I’d offer personalized engraving on the back side of iPods
(and other such things) including pictures.

Posted at 4:26 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Toby

I’d burn designs and even labels into my aluminum cased Midibox FM. My home-made, PIC based synthesizer which I built myself. Of course, I’d probably have to think of a name for her first, either way it would be way better than the p-touched labels I have now! My synth uses the smd chips from old PC sound cards.

http://ucapps.de/
http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php/topic,9064.0.html

Posted at 4:48 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Nathan Van Fleet

I would use it to make toys. Something like the old slide-together wooden dinosaur kits, but with moving joints, so they’re posable. I’d probably like to make them out of wood, or perhaps 2.5mm acrylic (tinted and transparent would look awesome!).

Posted at 4:51 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by eain

I would use it to cut a custom foam layout for my Pacemaker (www.pacemaker.net) and Grado SR80 headphones.

It would serve as an insert for my laptop flight-case (http://www.lehigh.edu/~evb209/projects/flightcase/flightcase.html) so I can deejay on-the-go.

Posted at 5:06 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Angelo Brisimitzakis

well, i’d make a bunch of custom buttons and such for projects i’ve been thinking of. etch control panels, PCBs, etc… hell, you could make your own monome pretty easily with an arduino and a laser cutter. that’s what i’d do.

Posted at 5:22 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by subatomic

I would take one part away from the engraver at a time, and engrave onto it, replace it and pull another part, Count the number of engraved parts and put it over the total part count. Kind of shows off how reliable thier laser cutters would be if a part fails. Sort of an Advertisement gimmick.

Posted at 5:29 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Daniel

I would cut vector images out of paper and use them to make spraypaint stencils for posters to hang in my dorm, as well as the cover on my laptop, custom painted PC cases, custom t-shirts or hoodies, etc.

Posted at 5:32 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by k1ngfunk

Well, I would decorate my garage/workshop/hackshop with pictures engraved on steel of XKCD comics. Just line the workshop with comics that are relative to my everyday life. Also I would engrave my iPhone. Probably with a sigature of some sort to personalize it.

Will, would you be willing to engrave my iPhone if, on the off chance, I won?

Posted at 5:51 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Bruno

I would try to find a way for reflexing the laser beam and use it to draw my sing on walls etc from far away…

Posted at 5:52 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by mert

I would etch notebooks (not laptops) and speaker cones! It would also be cool to etch a glass table or a circuit board… oh the possibilities… Is it possible to use a laser etcher in place of chemicals to etch a PCB?

Posted at 5:54 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Dev

Hello,
I would use it for many things but at the moment I would cut out the case and maybe keyboard for the C64 Laptop I am making.

Carbon fiber would be nice but will probably use plastic.

Posted at 5:56 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by David

you should make the ultimate toolbox. (and tools)

Posted at 6:24 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Danny

i’d make a sweet Beer Pong table (multiple boards). Or at least an insert for the middle of it. It would have my school’s logo in the middle for sure, and the cup outlines as well. Then I’d polyurethane it.

for anyone who doesn’t know what beer pong is:
http://www.beerpong.com/beerpong_rules.htm#The%20Rules%20-%20As%20submitted%20by%20a%2013%20Year%20Veteran
and
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=29231968&groupID=104588728&adTopicID=23&Mytoken=85CF0181-CFFF-4BCF-8340C53F7D3603E611286136

Or make inserts for a bar top with with all the bars at college, or better yet all the logos of different beers.

but definitely something with wood, then add a few coats of polyurethane on top to seal the deal.

Posted at 6:24 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by jake

[shameless plug alert]
i’d engrave some spiffy iterated function system plots, like those shown at http://www.teashack.net/viz_ifs.php
[/shameless plug alert]

Posted at 6:27 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by thomas

I’d make something to sell that all the profits would go to charity, probably for AIDS or cancer research. I know someone in my life that currently is going for cancer treatment – my old elementary school art teacher.

Maybe some ribbons with the donator’s name on them, custom made on the spot.

Posted at 6:37 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Dakota

I’d cut out plastic part to make a scale Stargate replica, such that the inner ring turns and th chevrons light up and such. ive had the basic plans in my head for ages!

Posted at 6:45 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Peter Bunyan

i would probably make…… gee…. i’d make a laptop stand for starters. I need a good one, and a solid metal one would lok slick. but for a project and unlimited metal, I’d make some kind of wicked sick coffee table with all kinds of site logos and code inscribed into it. yeah.

Posted at 7:06 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Sean

i think i’d engrave my favourite quotes along with some self designed b/w art on all the small things lying around my desk, usb sticks, watch, wallet, mobile, keys, biros, earphones and so on…

Posted at 7:47 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by h3po

Wow. Lots of ridiculous things. I’m content. =]
I would use it to engrave motorcycle parts that I powdercoat with custom artwork. (Also my Cruzer Titaniums, so people would stop stealing the damned things. It’s like they think they could break through the truecrypt on the drives to get my data.)

Posted at 8:02 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Spork

I would donate it to my high school tech department. They are sort of lacking in the hardware department. No one here wants to take classes like drafting or tech ed so funding isn’t the greatest. It would really be great to give back to the staff the held together our little TSA (they would have to let me engrave some of my art on stuff occasionally though).

Posted at 8:26 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by rowan

I’d use it to make custom etched circuits. A thin coat of copper on top of silicon substrate could be easily be cut away using a laser and a reversed image.

Posted at 8:27 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by MAdMax

i’d etch a map of the stars onto piece of plastic as a grating cover for a desk lamp – creating essentially a mini-planetarium.

Posted at 8:41 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by long

I would use it to create mandelbrot patterns on different materials. I would engrave / cut anything I could get my hands onto into the shape of some mandelbrot pattern (I’m addicted to those patterns! :p ) I would most likely engrave my math text book’s cover with it. The hardest part about doing this would be to get a good solid mandelbrot generator. I probably could even make one myself if I had enough time to code it.

Oh, and if you don’t know what mandelbrot patterns are, look here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Posted at 8:45 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Jordan Horwich

I would just start engraving and cutting stuff I had lying around..

but eventually when I had branded all my tools,
precious stuff and belongings

i would make new precision cut and engraved front
plates and backs, plastic or aluminium depending on the machines ability

for all my existing (and future) lab equipment,
Signal generator, LCR meter, power supplys, frequency counter, IC
programmer, IC Tester, and other projects..

/Kyndal

Posted at 9:02 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by kyndal

I’d use it to cut a whackload of gears – of all shapes and sizes, world gears, oddly shaped gears, etc etc. You can always use gears! (I guess they’ll be plastic, but you can still use them!)
Plus, discovering how they work together would be really cool.

Posted at 9:12 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by euxneks

I would play around with food – probably more on the pastry side than the savory side. For example, you could fill a plate with sauce (say, something clear and sugary) and then scorch a fun design into it (by turning selected parts of the sugar into caramel). You could also create a wicked-looking creme brulee. YUM! Oh, and let’s not forget etching designs into steaks, toast, nacho chips… In the end, I think the most practical applications in the kitchen would be etching perfect divisions onto a pie crust or cake for equal portioning.

Posted at 9:51 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Andy

I’d make a custom grille for my car. However, there are some doubts about cutting vs. etching capabilities, in which case I’d just make some really cool abstract (or not:) art on the backs of old CDs. Maybe even do a mural of combined CDs.

^_^

Posted at 9:53 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Clark Hummell

damn, theres to many things to think of… But its good to hear that something came out of colorado, w00t go us. lol

Posted at 10:01 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by AlexB.

we have one of these at my school, and ive taken advantage of it, if made a case out of wood for a set of portable speakers ive made, along with a mini subwoofer box, and ive engraved my zune, and i already engraved my laptop, its amazing :)

Posted at 10:14 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Tyson

I would put a stack of freezer paper and cut out alot of stencils for shirts, then some metal stencils for the walls :P.

Either that or..

Engrave a peice of metal, with my gf’s name and throw it in her window…

Posted at 10:19 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by No Lead Guerilla

If I had my own laser cutter, Wow. Where do I begin. I would use it for experments. I would use it on woodworking projects I make. I would use it for light shows in my back yard. I would use it at our local high schools to demostrate to the students. I would try to ignite materials with it. I would make a custom computer case. I would use it to see fingerprints etc on materials. I would try to make money with the laser. I would try to cut out materials to make prototype working models for inventers.

Posted at 11:16 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by John Clere

How about etching a simple circuit into a piece of plexiglass, sandwiching it between some more plexi, and filling the resulting channels with a conductive fluid. Bit of a challenge but it’d be neat.

Posted at 11:40 pm on Mar 10th, 2008 by Matt

I’d definitely use the cutter to make an army of 12×24″ cut-out aluminum Barrel-O’-Monkeys monkeys, and try and find a sky-scraper owner who’d be willing to help set a world record hight of barrel-o-monkey monkey chain. Have a million more productive uses for it, but need something to test it out…

Posted at 12:02 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by gicks2000

i’d use it to create a custom case siding out of 1/4″ plexiglass.
i was thinking maybe a generated fractal pattern with varying led backlights or maybe a natural crystal pattern with the same backlights

Posted at 12:11 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Ed B.

i would make the hitman logo and put that on my eee pc :) that would be sweet

Posted at 12:13 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by charles herring

I think i would have to go with a giant image of Totoro on my laptop.
and if you don’t know who Totoro is:
http://apike.ca/images/anime/totoro/totoro-tree.jpg

Hes so cute and fuzzy

Posted at 12:58 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by cameron

if i wanted to start small, and make (exo)skeletons/”bodies” *out of ABS* for my beam bots so they look cooler, but on a big scale i’d want to make myself the iron man suit. i’d cut out flat versions of the pieces in plastic, then using a heat gun *or some sort of heat* i’d form it into the suit. i after seeing the first trailer for the movie i’ve been drooling over the suit.

Posted at 1:32 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Ptr

I would use the Epilog Laser as the first essential piece of the FabLab I am attempting to get built in Australia. It would be the first on this continent. I am aiming to set it up in my local town, Gloucester NSW – about 3.5hrs drive north of Sydney.

The Epilog is the FabLab machine of choice, so I know it would be compatible. With this first item I would leverage off it to drum up funds for the rest of the equipment (“the lab already has an epilog laser cutter, now all we need is…..”)and work up incrementally from this first tool.

Initially I would use it to help fit out the Lab, then I would develop cutting patterns for the student classes. The students would have their own projects using the laser cutter, but I intend sending each home with their own “prototyper/hacker kit”. Since meccano/eretor went out of patent I would base the kit around a killer set of meccano cut from a single sheet of steel. I would also experiment cutting Lego compatible bricks (the thin ones that the laser could cut)that would allow meccano to interface to lego (something with both meccano holes and Lego bumps). The whole set, along with some basic tools and components could all go into a small metal toolbox (built like a briefcase, camera gear style) that folds out to make a small mobile workbench. I also plan for each student to use the laser cutter to fab the toolkit cases. The tool list I will use is loosely based on the previous $600 workbench competition on this site eg multimeter, soldering iron, pliers etc.

Anyone interested in the Australian FabLab initiative is invited to email me or visit the google group (url should be attached to this posting). I plan to set up a website soon and will forward this link when available.

My email address is ozfablab@gmail.com

Posted at 1:55 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Peter McKellar

Extremely detailed information on the side of cylindrical glasses. Volume by depth, estimated calories for various drinks, estimated weights for common dry measure, etc. Dense information presented with clear marks and easy-to-understand notation. These could be quite personalized if you’re picky and exact – for example, choosing Yuengling and Sunkist instead of generic beer and soda.

In a classic nerd move, you could turn anything into a highly accurate ruler.

Posted at 1:58 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by mindbleach

I’m an artist of sorts… I love drawing, I’ve done a couple tattoos for a couple people, and I’ve recently begun filling my sketchbook with Eschers impossible triangles… I would LOVE to decorate my laptop or my dads or even a couple of my friends… Actually, anything I could get my hands on…

Hey, on second thought, wanna just toss it over to Ohio for me? I’ll incorporate some Hackaday logos for sure!
That would be pretty cool too, have all my favorite web icons etched in a line across the palm rest on my laptop; Hackaday, Woot, Whiskeymilitia, Southpark, Piratebay… I have a ton of fun little icons that would look GREAT in shaded etch.
Dammit.
I want one now.

Posted at 2:07 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Nick

see my previous entry (#86)

Having discovered I can’t cut steel sheet with the laser cutter (no matter how deep I set it) I would curse and do the pieces out of a suitable plastic sheet (and probably decide to use the cnc router for thin metal sheets). Then I would concentrate on cutting cheap plastic for cases the students could use for the Fab@home printers.

Posted at 2:50 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Peter McKellar

if you define “access” to mean “owning”, I would modify the device to add a another axis or two of mobility to the cutting head so I could etch on more interesting surfaces. Etching complex patterns onto seashells… cutting sections out of acrylic cylinders for homemade variable focus lenses for my cameras… cutting a cylinder to hold a few hundred LEDs for a continuous-flow algae bioreactor to feed my saltwater aquarium… Lots of stuff, basically.

Posted at 2:51 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Darren

i would stary by using it to prototype my mech (you know mech warrior, battle tech the like) i’ve been working on the design for over 4 years now. come to think of it i would use it for everything mech related probably. get real nitty gritty and make the corn alchohol engine and everything for it. then i might cut out some new rank for my uniform (U.S. Army and all that). finally i would use it to cut out some of that sweet tron/zelda twilight princess design for a new case for my computer. i guess the better question is what wouldn’t i use it for. heck i might even use it to tatoo my arm with a VERY low power setting.

Posted at 3:32 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Freshnessninja

You should make some hack-a-day magnets for the fridge. make some for you, your friends, and some of us lucky people.

Posted at 3:49 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Allen

i would be so overwelmed by this i would engrave evey thing that will fit in the cutter with my name and my leg with the hackaday logo and if 4 some odd reasion i win this i will get a tatto of the hack a day logo that covers up my hole back

Posted at 4:14 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by alex mccown

huh, no metals. prototyping the mad cat is out…. meh i would use it for a plexeglass armor for it…. i know really armoured.

Posted at 4:25 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Freshnessninja

1) Engrave text and logo’s on stainless steel Cocaine Cutter Business Cards.

2) Engrave text and logo’s on the enclosures of my niche market custom electronics and CNC milled pinhole cameras.

Posted at 4:56 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by John

Take 1 Action Man, dress it in a Tux.

Lay it down… on a small block of metal…

Play the DVD of Goldfinger…

Posted at 5:00 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Wonko The Sane

A repgraver (engraver-rap?)… use it to cut out the parts for a tiiiny 2″x3″ laser cutter/engraver that uses a DVD burner laser, which would then cut out the parts for an even tinier laser engraver which you’d have to put together with tweezers and a microscope, until you had an engraver that could cut away individual molecules. Then I’d make one of those tiny statues of a bull the size of a red blood cell and mount it on my mantelpiece so people would ask what the empty stand was for.

This is to cover for the fact that I can’t think of anything practical to do with a laser engraver and just went on a wild flight of fancy along the lines of “mmm lasers”

Posted at 6:15 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by PKM

But how much is it?!

Posted at 6:33 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by TC

1) I would anodize 100 lbs of aluminum sheets (the size of a business card), and etch my business card info onto them

2) I would start etching every computer case/perephrial I could fit in there – mouse, keyboard, etc.

3) I would etch my cell phones

4) I would etch my neighbors dog (oh wait…)

5) I would etch the handles of all my knives

6) I would build a laser 3d scanner, and using only sheets of paper, I would etch out a bust of myself. And anyone else I liked. And then charge people a few grand to do it for them, woot :)

Posted at 6:55 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by srilyk

a big hackaday logo would look cool

Posted at 6:57 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by strider_mt2k

I’d put it to use in the MIDIBOX community!

I read the article on the MB-6582 that Wilba designed http://www.hackaday.com/2007/05/23/mb-6582-diy-c64-based-midi-synth/
and decided that I had to have one. I’m fairly well on with it now and am just waiting for the base-board parts kits to become available. We had some PCB’s made which turned out wonderful. However, the front panels, although accurately cut came through with a poor quality out of line silk screen and there’s no way we can get them re-done in a cost effective way with the same company.
So, if I had a laser cutter I would put it to use for the guys at ucapps cutting front panales and doing a nice job laser engraving them. Any chance I could borrow it for a month or so :D

G

Posted at 7:11 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Goblinz

I would write a little game program like tic-tac-toe or something like that. Each time a player would fill in a spot I would have the laser cutter fill it in on a sheet of metal. At the end of the game, you would have a physical copy of the game board.

Posted at 8:37 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by CT

I’d make an aluminum Portal cube:

http://greg.medding.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/weighted-companion-cube.png

Posted at 8:53 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Emulsifide

BATARANGS!!!!

Posted at 8:55 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by dash

Custom bong, no question.

Posted at 10:26 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by Tachyon

if it were me, i would use it to engrave custom designs on the removable computer tower panels that i use when i can afford to build a nice computer for someone.

Posted at 11:28 am on Mar 11th, 2008 by kevin mcguigan

First of all, I would like to say that the barrel of monkeys idea is really awesome, and so is etching a vinyl onto your laptop!

I am currently using a laser cutter to make a PCB etching tank (to etch the PCBs i made on the laser cutter) … After I finished that project up I would probably use it to etch randomly generated procedural artwork onto things (you never know what your going to get and each cut is unique!)…

Posted at 12:33 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by Brandon Kinman

I would cut small pieces and form them into a suit I could wear like a Mobile Suit Gundam,
or Transformers. It would cut all the pieces for a sweet one of a kind costume.

Posted at 12:59 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by dash

Not sure how the tech would work, but it’d make a handy way to trace out protoboards. I also like the stencil idea someone suggested. Maybe cutouts of vinyl decals too?

A buddy of mine had something similar and he marked a piece of cooked macaroni in addition to almost anything else he could fit in there.

Posted at 1:12 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by drstober

Well, I’m an art student in San Francisco, and would love to make it available to my sculpture club for various plastic components for our models, but personally would do a bunch of Peter Callesen type / Chinese paper cutting art.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_paper_art
http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html
Being able to use the tables 1200dpi setting would let for some Very intricate paper and thing material designs far nicer than you would be able to get with exactoknife use.
Other art projects that immediately come to mind would be custom LEGO mods and ingravings…

Posted at 2:18 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by G. Carter Stokum

I would put everything I could int the thing but after a while I’d get bored and take it apart to make a laser pointer from hell to shoot my best friend’s xmod. I don’t know if the laser would do much damage but the look on his face.
p.s. how do you enter the contest?

Posted at 2:51 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by carsloth

I would love to see what the laser cutter could do to an egg, remove the egg slime first if there’s a concern of exploding eggs in the brand new machine.

Posted at 4:00 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by Aaron

Hello there from Lebanon :-)

American laser machine to make American coffee aluminum filter with thin laser holes.

How about making my own custom shirt buttons, unique power switches and change plastic box shape of my electronic device routers CPU speakers or just rack mount anything like floppy drive :) or write and draw whatever you like on your wrest watch or big one’s but my first trial would be to engrave my girlfriend face on coin

Love you , Labib

Posted at 4:36 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by Labib Baroudi

I’d personally use it to cut intricate mother of pearl inlays.

I guess its not all that exciting, but it would sure the hell beat sawing the stuff with a jewelers saw :/

.. I suppose you could also use it to etch the mother of pearl to. That’d be cool to.

I for-vision a hackaday logo the size of a poster make with perfectly cut mother of pearl jigsaw pieces inlayed into a nice piece of ebony.

of course most think I’m crazy. ?!

Posted at 10:51 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by Scott Llewellyn

I would like to make various plates for the face of my guitars. they are like kids to me and i always wanted to find a decent way to “pimp” them. chrome or brushed aluminum pick gaurds, pickup accents and my band logo on the headstocks would be perfect.

Posted at 11:01 pm on Mar 11th, 2008 by Frost

laser engraved bacon. Could you imagine cookin’ some bacon with a circuit burned in to it? Better yet, Hackaday bologna/ham/turkey. Make some hackaday bread and you’ll have a hackaday sandwich. Ahhh.. The geek rep would go up ten-fold when you break out your sandwich at work.

Posted at 9:32 am on Mar 12th, 2008 by Sp`ange

i would etch my own Flying Spaghetti Monster decals and make my EEE pc touched by His noodly appendage with custom etching. RAmen.

Posted at 2:19 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by shadymilkman

I know what I’d make: MONEY! Now and into the future!!!

Posted at 4:37 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by Peter kissam

The 45W Epilog lasers are incapable of doing anything but etching
metal (pretty much impossible to cut any metal). I have an Epilog
Legend EXT, which I’ve done a lot of neat stuff with.

Obviously engraving is neat. I’ve done iPods, laptops, pens, mugs,
and even glass. If you’re going to engrave metal, you need to use
Laser Dark for the etching to be visible at all. Engraving plexiglass
and glass is definitely the neatest though. The higher the DPI, the
better it’s going to look.

I’ve used it for paper and origami projects before. You can take
manila envelopes, draw something up and then have it lasered out.
It’s best to use vector cuts along the edges, and raster cuts for
folds. Beware though, keep your raster lines horizontal or you’ll be
there for a while. You could also use color-mapping to vector cut the
folds at a much lower intensity. I’ve used this for little paper
folding giveaways (great for promotions) and I’ve cut the parts for
paper bridges on it (engineering class).

The neatest thing to do is definitely making models. You can cut
balsa wood or EPP foam on the laser, which is perfect for making
homebuilt RC planes. You can also cut certain types of plastic, which
you can use for robots and other projects. The hardest part is
planning out how to turn a 2d cutout into 3d, but it’s easy to get
used to. Right now I’m in the process of drafting a UAVP frame on the
laser with balsa wood. If the balsa wood model comes out how I like
it, I’ll be sending it to an aluminum CNC mill.

They’re definitely really cool machines and have a lot of potential.
Remember though, always do a practice run before you run it. The
first time I tried to engrave an iPod, the auto-focus was off and the
air blower on the laser head came down on the iPod, before dragging
itself back up toward the top of the machine. It left a long dent in
the back of the iPod, and severely scratched the front of it (iPod
nano + honycomb aluminum + dragging = not fun)

Posted at 4:56 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by bobby

I would take the ultra-sound of our twin sons (due to be born 8-11-08) and incorporate the image in a Ying-Yang emblem and engrave it into a piece of wood and use it as a cover for a photo album for my wife. We were told 6 years ago we could have children and God blessed us with twins.

Posted at 7:41 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by Landon OBrien

I’d start cutting out the parts I need to make my own laser cutter. Since you said it’s only a temporary installation.

I’d defiantly etch some serious pcb, case modding, popcans, a laser-engraved engagement ring(Assuming you could find a girl who would enjoy such a thing), laminations for a high-voltage transformer… After a few days everything I owned that could fit inside would have some really intricate designs burned into it.

I know, Write a book on .045 aluminum sheets! A copy of the laser’s operating manual perhaps, a copy of Dune, or a shit-load of promotional pamphlets for the laser company and then beg them for sponsorship.

Posted at 9:40 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by jato

Find anything organic (fruit, veggies, wood, some plastics, etc…) and after you’ve done all the cutesy raster art, do vector-mode. If you so happen to have the piece that rotates round objects, i mean this is the most glorified pumpkin (or smaller, apple perhaps) carver. oh.. i did once for a chemistry class get a glass bottle internally silver lined (by-product is explosive, cool….) then etched the chemical equations on the outside (only slightly risky…)

Posted at 11:13 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by Luke

I think it would be awesome to etch a Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 with some cool game art, like Master Chief for the 360, Solid Snake for the PS3 or Link or Mario for the Wii (It has 2 usable sides so one of each would rock). Of course I don’t know how well this thing would work on plastic so it may not be realistic.

Posted at 11:34 pm on Mar 12th, 2008 by Mike Jenkins

Not that it’s all that innovative, but I just got done using one of these to carve heavy cardboard in order to make templates for cutting styrofoam with a hotwire tool. This was all for the Concrete Canoe my university’s chapter of ASCE is making. The laser cutter is really just to do a precise job of cutting those templates, but it’s a really easy way to make big 3D molds for things like canoes, or other shells. You could probably use a similar method to make a fiberglass hull for something.

Anyhow, I’ve been meaning to take some of that extra cardboard and foam to make an airfoil shape and some other templates to construct a foam glider.

Posted at 12:02 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Evan

I would do some awesome guitar body work.

Posted at 1:04 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Johnny Robo

I would laser myself a new face. ;)

Posted at 1:37 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by mod

I’ve got this really cool piece of burled tree root that I plan to cut into cookies and build into a mosaic floor. Since each slice will be different, hundreds of tiles would need to be custom cut to fit the shape of the wood. You could do the same thing with an interesting stone or a big solid piece of scrap metal in an interesting shape. Cutting the cookies seems like it would not be a job for the laser, but the tiles to go around sure would be.

Posted at 1:56 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Benjamin

Are you a fan of fruit? Sure you could sculpt ice and other mediums, but were is the originality in that? Try carving an Apple Iphone clone, I’m talking exact replica, out of a actual Macintosh apple. Even Jobs would get a kick out of that. With the fine point laser print all the default apps that appear on the screen. And then eat it! You could be the first to consume the Iphone. Similar popular feats include throwing it in a blender: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI Besides Engadget is hating on them spontaneous exploding anyway:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/ipod-touch-burns-from-within-with-fiery-passion-and-fire/
It would prove to illustrate the speed of the laser since the apple yellows in a matter of minutes.

Posted at 2:15 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by adamcpennington

Take the material they use for nametags and such(normally a white layer of plastic, covered by a black one…where you can etch off the top layer to show the bottom layer while writing names), or just take plexiglass and paint the upper layer, and use it to burn through the top layer. If you use plexiglass you could put a light behind it, or something of that nature.

Posted at 3:04 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Dev

I’m honestly surprised no one has mentioned slicing pizza with it! How sweet would that be? Have the thing cut perfect pizza slices with out dirtying any knives or cutting wheels (which are annoying to use anyway, and never quite cut all the way though).

It would also be entertaining to turn in a paper with all the letters “punched” through instead of just printed, although I’m not sure how feasible that is, as the paper might combust during the process. But the look on the professors face would be priceless.

I would have to go through and engrave some of my stuff, like my Zune and laptop, and then engrave the hostname of each of my computers into the front of the case or one of the spare drive bay covers.

I had a question though, what wavelength is the laser diode? Is it the standard red ~650nm or something in the infrared spectrum?

Posted at 6:15 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Ken

Make some basic microfluidic circuits on shrinky dink material like that postdoc researcher lady that was on slashdot a little while back.

Start by copying some of the mixing circuits off the web. Then mix in some flow control stuff. Then move up to a tiny factory for making fruit “caviar”:
http://blog.khymos.org/2007/03/30/first-experiments-with-sodium-alginate/

Posted at 10:20 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by M

a laser cutting mill? i’d probably engrave a large number of logos usually found on a laptop (graphics, cpu, wireless logos etc) just to spice up the now generic-looking laptop lids. personally, i have the original backtrack dragon logo enlarged and splayed across the back of my screen, wrapping around the logo and looking just plain intimidating

Posted at 10:37 am on Mar 13th, 2008 by Steve DiRaddo

first off, this post isnt complete without a SP ref somewhere so..

1. Laser cutter
2. ???
3. Profit!

and mad props to the tools idea. Craftsman does that on some of there tools, but doing all of them would be bad ass!

my idea? besides trying to hold still long enough to get a laser tattoo on my leg (i guess lots of rope could be used)

re burn in the letters on my tivo remote? I have used it so much you cant read em all anymore :(

laptop art is pretty obvious.

what about taking a square piece of drywall out of your wall, paint and all, burn in a picture that you would want, you and your GF… whatever, then tape over it with masking tape, re mud it into the wall and paint touch up the edges so you have a laser cut picture in your wall? when you move just paint over it (or leave it to really freak out the new owners lol)

the fingernail art was a cool idea, altho more practical ap would be for acrylic nails for a girl, and not a calender but typical girl crap, butterflys, stars, her name…. etc

how about etching custom logos in your drinking glasses? or mugs? or even your silverware!

(on a side note, what about etching in a bullseye in your reading glasses so you can walk around pretending to be that bulls eye guy in that movie daredevil)

how about cutting in your own family crest into books? or on the edge of books (the paper side not the rib side) you could have your name or something. be good for college kids incase you lose your book, or it gets stolen.

get a cheap silver ring from some random online place and etch some love note thing on it for your anivers with your girl? or something for mom?

do a plate of allum with just text about who you are, what you do, a few personal things you never told anyone in your life about, some general info about current events and hide it inside the walls of your house? or out inside your garage, or under your house. so years and years later when/if someone finds it, it would be a time capsule of sorts.

there was some mention of car related things, i guess you could take the little pop open door thing for your gas tank and etch in a logo, I had batsmaroo airbrushed on when I was 16, just cuz he was bad ass :) but im sure you can think of something better/political to put on there about oil prices.

ya thats all i got for now, I gotta poop… oh! you could piss off your room mate and burn thru all the rolls of toilet paper in the house so when they unroll it all they get is 3 square chunks! lol (ya i know it wouldnt work, the paper would just burn… but still would be funny)

Posted at 12:09 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by jimmythecow

REALLY tiny art/graffitti, kind of the opposite of GRL. More along the lines of the images you can get on the die of an IC. Engrave everyday objects (stick pens, coins, etc) with a miniscule message and release them back into circulation. Perhaps include a website where people can track them, like wheresgeorge.com.

Posted at 12:45 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by Robotguy

I would cut parts for a 6 legged walking robot

Posted at 1:34 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by eda74

Considered adding a 3rd dimension to the thing? The idea of using coherent light to affect a 3 dimensional media intrigues me… Maybe even have it be a sorta 3d printer?

Posted at 3:32 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by rexmo

I had the joy of being able to play with one of these (an older model) a few years back. it works great for etching glass jars, full bottles of champagne and mirrors, but the best thing we did was take an anodized maglight, set it in the roller and create custom logos.

Posted at 4:49 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by ole1kanobe

i would hack up a toast calendar.
every morning my laser cutter would print out the date and basic forecast for the day on a piece of toast.
it would then have a way of spitting the toast out on the counter for me to grab on my way out the door.
(of course i wouldnt eat my toast until i got a chance to show it off to someone at school or work!)

Posted at 9:23 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by Adam Delton

I would try to see if I could turn it into a PCB etch resist Printer. Take a large copper sheet and cover it with a layer of toner in powder form. Then turn the laser on and see if the heat will cause the toner to melt enough to bond to the copper. Since you probably don’t want to damage your laser cutter from all that toner powder or risk fogging up the lens from fumes I would recommend the toner and CU board be housed in a glass box of sorts. That way it is completely isolated from the machine and whatever you use will still be transparent to the laser.

Posted at 10:12 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by dave

I really love the idea of Aluminum (anodized or not) business cards. Stick the hack-a-day logo on them, your contact information, put a small skull-and-wrenches in the middle on the back. Pass them out at FIRST competitions!

Posted at 10:32 pm on Mar 13th, 2008 by Satiagraha

I’d get a laser capable of cutting and deep etching metal.

I’d set up a business making laser etched circuit boards – single side PCBs to start with, then possibly 2 sided.

Using copper on a flexible material like plastic, I’d make flexible circuits (even laser the holes for component leads, mounting screws, etc.)

Then maybe some nice panel layouts to go with them.

Posted at 1:26 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by Aud1073cH

Use the laser cutter to cut hundreds of layers of thin wood or plastic to generate a 3D object. I’d love to ‘mold’ something really cool, like a lifesize R2D2 for use as a casemod or something larger than life that I can keep and display for years to come – you’re returning the laser cutter after a while, so make something really cool that will last for a long time. Perhaps a book shelf with intricate and ornate carvings of all web 2.0 logos burned through the walls of the book shelf or something. Would make for a great conversation piece and I’d guarentee that you’d be the only one in the nation to own one. :)

Posted at 1:34 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by Steve Webb

I saw the laser cut business card idea come by already so I’m out of luck… instead of winning those, can I pay you to make some? :)

Posted at 3:35 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by LoopyMind

I think I’d like to put Wiki-tan on my laptop lid and bits of the glyph-globe on all my keys, using a grating pattern (ca. 200lpi, but this is an image grating rather than mirror or after all) on Wiki-tan and just Bas-cutting the keys. Incompatible materials even with nitrogen cover gas? How about just making some Microsoft Natural thing look more like an exotic fruiting body of fungi (plus of course overkill burning in glyphs on all sides of the keys.)
Cackling Hillary Clinton White Mudflap Appliquês and Avalanche Warning Signs! [ducks]

Add tabs/insets to a split globe-projection and print out globes in farmer’s cheese (using nitrogen cover, spare baffles probably) with one variable-density hatching for population and another (circular) for per capita income? Then try to find Denver or cut people pieces? Maybe just make ‘Planet Colorado’ to make it easier to grab those stats…. Wha…better to make an acrylic mold of it and pour globes at liberty, you say?

1200lpi and 40W is really good. What power and speeds did you burn/ablate the logo in?

You should try complementary patterns on natural stuff like wood to try and produce superoleophobic surfaces…like lotus leaves with water, only -everything- beads when it touches them. In Science recently (the AAAS pub.) they made ..dammit all my caps are gonna be lost aren’t they…. some of those with old litho. equipment, I think. Just another contrast method for your toolbox, even if you have to intaglio the finish on a top layer.

Posted at 5:13 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by paints like a Biro

Why not laser engrave a second language on a keyboard? With a laptop like the macbook pro, you could even make the 2nd set of keys illuminate witht he backlight possibly?

Posted at 8:30 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by Alexander Bons

I’d hack currency. Modify the faces of coins. Ya know…put sunglasses on George Washington on the quarter, put a burger in front of his mouth, and then spend it in a vending machine.

Posted at 11:36 am on Mar 14th, 2008 by Mike

Explosives…

Posted at 3:32 pm on Mar 14th, 2008 by A_Blind_Man

Come on! The best use would be to engrave (aka cook) the customers’ name on their pizzas. Especially aprops for birthday parties, superbowl parties, and weddings.

Though i did wonder how it would work with an ant farm…

Posted at 6:23 pm on Mar 14th, 2008 by stew

I would go along the lines of tools building tools.

Using the laser cutter to cut out the pieces to build a CNC router.

like this one

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/

it has the plans as a dxf file.

Posted at 1:09 am on Mar 16th, 2008 by clement.fletcher

I’ve wanted to get my thinkpad engraved for a long time, but still haven’t come up with exactly what I want yet. I did quite a bit of illustrator work a few years back, maybe that’d be something worth while.

I do have a few ideas though:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/GPN-2000-001978.jpg
Or maybe another iconic scientific drawing, maybe the golden ratio – maybe something like a cuttlefish would be nice. Or perhaps Pi to some ridiculous number of digits. In a similar vein a copy of the constitution would be nice as well.

Or engrave the text of one of my favorite books. DeCss code would be another good option, or something else equally “hackaday” worthy.

I think the best thing to do would be to get an M.C. Esher drawing or find an optical illusion.

So many ideas

Posted at 11:01 am on Mar 16th, 2008 by politicorific

I would dissemble it of course. Then i would code a Nethack clone that uses the laser cutter as live graphical output instead of the monitor.

And later you could rescale the x/y onto a wall in your room and etch your very own XXL wallpaper!
Hmmm that’s sounds like a new project…

Posted at 4:23 pm on Mar 16th, 2008 by N3trunn3r

Since I am working in Antarcitca, I would have to put a giant USAP (united states antarctic program) logo on my Mac Pro.

Posted at 7:51 pm on Mar 16th, 2008 by Ken

I would sand my guitar body, laser etch an awesome design on it like this gibson: http://www.productappeal.com/photos/uncategorized/gibson_custom_shop_les_paul_engraved_ele.jpg
Then clear varnish it so it lasted for ever!

It would look amazing!

Posted at 7:59 pm on Mar 16th, 2008 by MashupMark.com

We use a 10w laser at my work and im allways trying to figure out new things to do with it.

one of the fun things to do was to take a block of chocolate(the back of a Hershey’s bar works well) and etch a photo into it with the laser.

Glass comes out well, and so does acrillic. so far ive been able to cut 1 inch thick acrylic with one pass with the laser, but it has to be on the slowest setting. It cuts vinyl better than out vinyl cutter, just make sure the air pump doesnt suck the vinyl out. ive lasered patterns in my phone, psp, pda, and even some food!

oh yeah stamps are fun too!! hackaday stamps would be cool.

Posted at 11:33 pm on Mar 17th, 2008 by Chris P

I am not sure of the power requirement, but using a laser engraver to laser-etch PBC boards would be sweet. Advantages are:

- No transfer of toner to copper-clad PCB

- No Chemicals !!!!

- 1200 DPI would make this SO precise you could really have tight traces.

- No damage to a favorite shirt because you didn’t take it off while you were etching even though your wife told you you should… I’m just sayin’.

Paul H

Posted at 2:33 pm on Apr 2nd, 2008 by paul hubner

If I had a chance with this laser cutter, I would craft replica aircraft panels, such as overhead and also MIP, pedestal panels, This in fact has a demanding market for this type of work. Also the panels would have to be back lit too, which I’m sure would be no problem. If this can be done on a mass scale along with proper marketing and getting to know the sim world, you would shape a nice future for your self, if you can mass produce. And no I dont want a laptop engraved thing.

Posted at 6:38 pm on May 3rd, 2008 by Padraig Woodlock

so many great ideas here i love it

Posted at 2:47 pm on Sep 26th, 2008 by TeXanaville

cut and etch me some real stylish business cards!!!

Posted at 4:44 am on Mar 19th, 2009 by john

The company I worked for basically fired me for actually using my mind in my daily job. I was trying to implement too many things to imnprove production and the bottom line! I have been researching laser cutters and if I had one I would start my own company and take the little business they have left (laser cutting mylar).

Posted at 8:41 am on Apr 24th, 2009 by LoganSixx

seriously, this blog is awesome . I think im gonna stick around and read about 5 of your posts. Truly yours

Posted at 11:00 pm on Nov 19th, 2009 by myspace 2.0 layouts