MSRaynsford

I needed a gift for mums birthday, a quick bit of googling for inspiration and I saw some photo frame trees that I liked the idea of. Here is my variation of the design, made in 6mm laser ply for the tree, 3mm spruce for the frames and 1.5mm walnut for the leaves. ( svg here ) 30 Projects/35 Weeks

I cut myself a set of laser hinges to go in the wooden box and got round to closing up the hole that was left by the removal of the other hinge. It was never going to be perfect considering it was the third time something had been cut out of the hole but I think it came up pretty well. The box now opens and closes smoothly and perfectly and the lid can't flap open by accident.

People know what they like and the laser cutter can do it consistently and repeatably well. So here are some more group tags, done on lovely spruce wood, small but perfectly formed. Below I tried to see if there was much difference between engraving the text and outlining it (beyond the time taken) and it appears that engraving has the edge slightly, although this text is about as small as it can do sensible with a wood grain.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the internet I present to you 'The internet'. Inspired by a great episode of the IT Crowd , I thought it would be a nice little kit to take to Elephant and Castle Maker Faire with me. A slightly more manageable size than the one in the clip, this box measure in at 40x75x100mm. A single red flashing LED on the top indicates that 'The internet' is on and a slide switch on the side allows you full control over 'The internet'. The internet is available for purchase through my store 

I've tried to make some hinges   before  but with varying degrees of success. I needed something larger and load bearing to redo the Large Wooden Box . I came up with this little design. It builds upon the other hinges in that the overlapping circle is etched to allow each layer to move freely over each other. The bolt is hidden inside the hinge with some end caps and 2 of the inner layers are constructed in such a way that it prevents the hinge from opening beyond 120 degrees which means the lid can fall back and snap off. ( svg here )

Empire continues to provide a wealth of inspiration and material to work with. The game features an entire star system with recognisable constellations for anybody wishing to perform their 'magic rituals' through the concept of astronomancy . So I made this star chart which shows all the Tulpas in their relative positions in the heavens, the names, the attributes and the law associated with each one, another handy reference. Holding the board up to the light reveals all the stars that make up the constellations. ( svg here ) 29 Projects/ 34 Weeks

The standard light source in the 3060 leaves the machine looking a bit dingy. So I decided it was time for an upgrade. I installed 2 light strips into the lid of the machine to provide even illumination. They both run off 12V so a little power brick supplies the power for that. I also wired in a micro switch to detect when the lid is open, no point having the LED's on when the lid is open. The new illumination is on the left and the old one on the right, quite a large improvement and the LED's take less power than the old fluorescent tube.