Makerspace & AI · 2026
Laser tools and builds
Two tools I made for laser work, a settings estimator and an image generator, and what I built with them, from a compass table to the centerpieces for my wedding.
Laser work goes better when you start from good settings and good art. I made a tool for each, and then used them on my own builds.
The Laser Settings Estimator
Pick the laser, the material and the job, and get a starting power, speed and number of passes. It also builds a 5 × 5 test grid to download for LightBurn, so a maker can check the settings on scrap before the real piece. It’s a web app built in HTML, JavaScript and SVG, and it runs free on GitHub Pages. About 50 makers have trained on it.
The Laser Image Generator
A Gemini Gem that turns an idea or a photo into high-contrast black-and-white art a laser can engrave. Style reference charts show what each style looks like, so a maker can pick one by name.
The compass table
A compass rose over a street map of my neighborhood, with degree markings around the edge, cut as a round topper for the backyard fire pit. I drew the map and the compass as separate layers, tried the look with AI mockups first, and cut it in layers in LightBurn on the Makerspace laser. The first version went on the fire pit in September 2026; a second, stained version followed in October.
Wedding centerpieces
Every table at our wedding in May 2026 had its own engraved centerpiece, each one a theme: the sea, bees, blacksmithing, mountains, classic cars, the savannah, flight and the wonders of the world, among others. Each ring was drawn as engraving-ready black-and-white art, then engraved on the laser. On the day, each ring framed a mirror, a vase of flowers and gold votive candles; the photos come first below, then the making of them, from the first test ring in April to the finished stack in May, then the designs.
A 7 × 7 mm Data Matrix code
A test for Yazaki in October 2026, to make a check step on automakers’ assembly lines easy to clear. The idea: a connector carries an engraved code that can only be scanned when the part is in its locked position, so one scan confirms it’s seated. I set up a Data Matrix code just 7 mm square in LightBurn, engraved it on the laser at 20% power and photographed it up close under the Makerspace microscope.