Laser Source

In this episode, we sit down with Blake Sanborn from Great Lakes Laser Supply to talk about his business, their community, and the awesome laser engraving products they offer. We cover everything from hat clips, expert advice, and how their group supports laser makers of all levels. If you’re looking for new blanks or just want to connect with a great laser community, this episode is a must-watch!

In this episode, we’re answering a bunch of questions and covering everything from holographic tumblers from Johnson Plastics Plus to huffing cedar wood since it just smells that good. We also check out Potracify, a WordPress plugin from Sam at the Laser Master Academy that helps convert photos to SVGs. Plus, a serious chat on laser safety—if you’re thinking about engraving dangerous materials, wear the right gear (or better yet, just don’t). If you care about your health (unlike me) do NOT ablate ABS with a UV laser! Just because a UV can do something safely doesn’t mean you can’t hurt yourself. I found out the hard way. Also - USB hubs, going live, Anthony has a YouTube channel and acrylic appliques! All of this and more this week on the Laser Source Podcast!

In this episode, we’re answering questions and diving into some fun topics! We talk about the Community Coin Challenge on Discord, Matt shows off a sleek engraving on black acrylic, and we chat about whether Emergency Stop episodes might make a comeback. Participate in the great COIN CHALLENGE! See all the amazing work people have contributed over the last year and learn how to submit your own and claim the title. PLUS - Acrylic trophies, the MakeArmy wiki, engraving epoxy - plus, a little laser maintenance talk—Peng Sheng and other lubricants—because keeping your machine running smoothly is just as important as keeping your Pengus running smoothly.

In this episode, we sit down with Len and Stan from LensDigital to talk all things PiBurn! We dive into what makes their rotaries stand out, how they handle tricky engravings like items with handles and fragile pieces, and more. Plus, we chat about the awesome community they’ve built to help laser owners succeed. If you’re into rotary engraving, you won’t want to miss this one! They’ve got a brand spanking new set, brand spanking new rotaries, brand spanking new capabilities. Stay on top of the cutting edge from creators of the PiBurn on this episode of the Laser Source podcast.

A MASSIVE crew of Laser Source Alumni awaits you on this brand new episode of the podcast! Matt’s back to being Mr. Boddiford, so get ready for some lectures about literature. Bleh. Kyle’s tearing apart lasers. Michael wishes he HAD a Kyle. Bronson and Anthony are having a sleep over. Also - this episode turned into a full-on leather deep dive—whether we meant to or not! Michael, Anthony, Bronson (aka Cubing Cracked), and Jason cover a range of topics, but we kept circling back to leather engraving, cutting, crafting, and of course, the terrible smell. If you work with leather (or just want to hear us complain about it), this one’s for you! Get updates from the whole crew this week, plus a bunch more!

Opening up a shop is exciting—but also a huge project. Alex talks about setting up the space, furnishing it, and getting Square up and running for sales… which led to buying some creepy mannequins for the shop. In this Q&A episode, the team also tackles power supply issues and the real challenge of promoting yourself as a small business owner—without feeling like a sleazy salesman. Where’s the balance between making money and keeping it genuine? Seamless designs. Acrylic signs. Creepy mannequin? If we weren’t all over the place, this wouldn’t be a brand new episode of the Laser Source Podcast! Coming straight to your ears with the latest on power supply failures and some serious discussion about how to best promote yourself without being a turn off to potential customers. All this and more today on the Laser Source Podcast!

Marking leather can create some incredible results—but let’s be real, it stinks. If you’re wondering how to deal with your leather ash… well… this is the episode for you? Anthony dishes out some leather knowledge and it’s stuff I honestly didn’t know. Also tune in for a 5w to 10w UV laser comparison, ionized stainless, and a lesson from Matt on cleaning up vectors! Kyle’s been busy developing new digital files for engravable designs, and we touch on some good machines for engraving on the go. Also, ever struggled with editing a stubborn PDF for your laser projects? We’ve got tips for fixing those headaches fast. Join us for Q&A, team updates, and the usual mix of laser wisdom and chaos!

Why do JDS tumblers have those ugly ribs? How do you get over a creative block? And do you ever run into inconsistent blanks from the same supplier? We’re tackling all these laser engraving struggles and more in today’s episode of the Laser Source Podcast! PLUS: Matt took on the challenge of full wrap engravings on those horrific JDS tumblers—was it a masterpiece or a meltdown? Tune in for another round of laser chaos, questionable advice, and maybe (just maybe) a few actually helpful tips!

How are babies made? What’s the deal with depth-map engraving? How do you handle warp on plywood? Also, Kyle is making AMAZING spinning animations for his tumbler patterns on his Etsy shop, get the inside peek on how he’s doing it PLUS: Learn about our special presentation for Laser Maker Con (now available for free on our channel) - it’s a great lesson in managing your time effectively in relation to holiday events throughout the year! All of this and more on today’s episode of the Laser Source Podcast!

In this episode of the Laser Source Podcast: I somehow managed to get Ezcad running on MacOS (Apple Silicon) and well… it’s not great but it works. Also, our top Prime Day picks this season and so much more!