The holiday season is here, and so are the laser engraving deals. Whether you’re upgrading your shop, starting your side hustle, or hunting for the perfect maker gift, we rounded up 35 laser engravers, accessories, materials, and tools worth checking out this year.

FULL BLACK FRIDAY LIST WITH NOTES: https://cloud.makearmy.io/s/HJrKf5MjnR9NSem

This week’s episode drifts through the realities of year-end laser work — juggling ornament season, balancing what your time is worth, and knowing when to say no. The guys catch up on the November Coin Challenge, talk through design quirks like eyeballs and portal concepts, and debate community expectations versus personal bandwidth. Things shift into industry news as they unpack the Glowforge situation, the risks of cloud-locked machines, and how consumer tolerance has changed now that the market is crowded with alternatives. Mixed in are jokes, tech speculation, and some honest shop-talk about evolving the podcast format for Season 5.

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Episode 190 centers on the new Aeon Mira 5S landing in the shop and the crew digging into what makes the machine different. The conversation hits the build quality, the RF tube, why the form factor matters, and the engineering decisions Aeon got right. From there they branch into practical business thoughts about timing big purchases at the end of the year, sponsorship perks finally figured out, and getting the podcast’s audio backlog fully caught up. The Mira’s early quirks, a possible coil-whine mystery, and some fun community chatter round it out.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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The guys talk through a wave of long-delayed laser reviews, what’s surprising them this season, and why some budget machines are genuinely excellent while others belong in a landfill. They drift into fourth-quarter production habits, rotary headaches, tumbler tricks, pattern-making wizardry, and the realities of prepping for holiday stock before everything goes out of stock. There’s plenty of joking, gear talk, shared failures and wins, and a ton of practical advice hidden behind the chaos.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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Alex, Kyle, and Anthony get brutally honest about the future of Laser Everything and what it means to run a deep-dive, education-first channel in a shorts-driven, review-obsessed YouTube world. They talk about the constant pressure to “sell out” with surface-level reviews, the financial reality of depending on the LMA and community support, and how soul-filling projects (like slow-mo fiber footage and passion builds) often flop with the algorithm. Along the way they wrestle with burnout, gating content behind memberships, whether to narrow or expand the niche, how to use shorts without becoming a shorts channel, and how to reach new laser owners without abandoning the die-hard learners. It’s a raw, vulnerable episode that doubles as an open brainstorming session with the community about what Laser Everything should be in 2025 and beyond.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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The crew digs into a wave of new updates in the laser world, including Johnson Plastics Plus buying LBT and what that means for titanium-dioxide marking supplies. Alex walks through a day of CO₂ testing hell with tumblers that refuse to bond, pint glasses that behave better, and how small coatings can derail a whole project. The discussion circles around metal marking fundamentals, why delivery method matters, and how easy it is to overpower TO₂ before it even activates. There’s also talk about diode vs IR modules, first-show lessons from the community, and whether some of these hybrid CO₂/diode/galvo machines are worth the hype.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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This episode drifts between Halloween energy and hardware frustration as Alex unpacks the chaotic reality of the Ortur R2’s repeatability issues, mis-homing behavior, and undercooked software ecosystem. From talk of ghosts and “Jesus Chicken” to real-world testing pain, the crew breaks down why great diode modules are wasted when the supporting hardware can’t keep up. They contrast that with a genuinely impressive update to the WeCreat Lumos, swap war stories about engraving expensive mugs, and share business-season advice as the holiday rush kicks in. The show ends with a candid discussion about YouTube’s recent algorithm shift and how creators are struggling to adapt.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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The crew bounces between business wins, new opportunities, and absolute nonsense. Matt shares a potential high value school job and recurring sports team contracts, which kicks off a broader talk about outreach, steady clients, and using the slow season wisely. From there the conversation spirals into seasonal gifting panic, merch nostalgia, Discord memes that cannot be unseen, and a quick look at Amazon deal traps. It is equal parts laser talk, community updates, and chaotic friendship energy.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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The trio digs into a bigger question behind the week’s chaos: when does “affordable” turn into “too cheap?” Alex’s hands-on with a $200 Ortur R1 sparks a real conversation about safety, false confidence, race-to-the-bottom engineering, and where the hobby line crosses into becoming a liability. They compare the R1 to sturdier entry-level machines, talk about modules, ecosystems, software limitations, and why some companies listen and others don’t. Along the way the guys hit vendor ecosystems, Xtool debates, business planning for Q4, school orders, and the fast-growing MakeArmy app overhaul. It’s part gear talk, part business talk, part existential “what even is a laser anymore?” discussion.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

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The team unveils the brand-new Laser Finder tool on MakeArmy.io — a guided quiz that helps beginners figure out which type of laser suits their work without sales fluff or brand bias. They walk through how it works, how it connects to the growing community settings database, and what’s next for expanding it. The conversation drifts into real shop talk: adding UV and diode options, fixing bugs, and the chaos of community feedback. From there, they preview the new “Ultimate Guide to Laser Processing” series, talk about upcoming projects (golf balls, hat patches, and unboxing the Ortur R1), and riff on new machines and the eternal challenge of making shorter, more watchable videos.

Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episodes of the Laser Source Podcast EVERY WEEK. We cover laser parameters, settings, techniques and more for CO2, Fiber, Diode and UV Lasers! We believe in free and open maker resources. Check out some of ours below:

Check out the NEW MakeArmy Maker Dashboard!

The Laser Database: https://makearmy.io

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