Wood & laser projects at Maker Nexus

I’m having so much fun at the makerspace but it’s completely derailed my art making! Here are a few of my recent projects.

First up – and maybe most impressive – is a step stool. Pattern is from the Complete Book of Woodworking, found at my local library.

My partner installed a sink in our garage so I don’t have to carry scour buckets into the house to dispose of them. Yay! It’s a little high, hence the stool.

For this project, I had to use the table saw, miter saw, bandsaw, and downdraft table. I don’t have many in progress pictures because power tools take both hands, but here’s a shot of me in full-on safety regalia and the frame clamped together in our garage.

I learned that the bandsaw is super fun, pilot holes are important, and painting is harder than it looks.

Next up is a mini-printing press which I made using both the woodshop and the laser cutter. I found free plans at the Provisional Press website. It just barely fits in my lightbox!

Instead of lasering all the files, I used leftover 3/4” plywood from the stool to make some of the pieces. Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that 3/4” plywood is not the same as 3 sheets of 1/4” plywood glued together, which necessitated some adjustments to make everything fit.

The laser is super fun to use, and the inside of the roller looks amazing as-is!

I’ve been lasering plexiglass as well. There are so many helpful tools I can fashion myself now. Like quilt block templates! I made a set for creating log cabin blocks.