So if you see me at a conference repping Infinite Red, hopefully, I’ll have my new business cards on me. I can really only fit one in my wallet 🤣

After some practice and quite a few mistakes, I felt confident enough to start etching on more expensive items for holiday presents.

It’s quite addictive, and dare I say, much easier than any 3D printer. It also costs nothing but electricity and putting up with a burning smell.

What I learned

As a person who enjoys creating, I really got a kick out of adding to my mad scientist lab in a physical way. My big takeaways:

Practicality

Always focus your laser

You can’t print on a curved surface —stop trying

Knowing a little photoshop goes a long way in image prep

Ventilate well ☁

Anything Wood/Plastic/Leather/Paper is game

The hardest part is framing/positioning your target

Get a curved flashlight to check on your progress behind the laser screen

Inverse printing

You can also use painters tape to create a safe surface for staining or in this case, applying a little gold leaf!

BONUS: The peeled off part was like a free blue sticker. I immediately put it in my notebook and it looked cool! But I should have put it on anothe piece of wood for staining. I’ll try that soon 👍

If you’re familiar with gold-leaf you know that even if the adhesive is carefully placed, wood has a bad habit of getting pieces stuck in grain, but not this time!

I even sealed the design with the tape still on. It worked like a charm. Now I just need to think of what I’m going to fancy up!

Impracticality

Finally, the best part of this whole thing is the impracticality of it. Or what the kids might call “fun”.

I’ve shipped gifts, crazy doubloons, and customized jokes to friends around the country. Remember that surgery thing at the top of the article? I don’t. I’m thinking of what to etch next.