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There are machines that focus a laser beam to burn into wood based on input from the user. They were once expensive and innefficient but nowadays they are more affordable and very powerful. The laser in this video is an old kit build that was sophisticated at the time but is now quite obsolete. The laser in our newer videos is called the xTool M1. It is miles ahead of the one from this video but now arguably outdated. That's the way it goes..Anyhow just search the web for laser cutter/engraver and try to learn what is out there

Thanks for watching, I'm glad it helped! Yeah, a new pair of handles near me was more than half the cost of a brand new wheelbarrow so I was very motivated to make them. Ideally I would store mine inside but I do not have a space for it right now. This is our first and now "beater" wheelbarrow hah. The cedar (while weaker than most woods) should prove very rot resistant and may end up giving a longer life than the previous pine handles that it came with. If you plan to store yours inside anyway you could use a stronger wood. That said, the cedar handles I made are still working well through high use. I like having a thicker handle more than I thought I would and they are super smooth with the linseed oil on them. Let me know if you have any trouble with the build =)

Lasers have come so far in just the 8 or so years since we got our first one! I'd definitely recommend one to anyone. If you have a little woodworking skill and some tools, you can prepare material for yourself and become a miniature factory.

Hello there, thanks so much for watching and for the kind words. So before getting into anything else I will say that plywood is tricky. Most people think it will cut easier than hardwood but the opposite is actually true, at least for diode lasers. The problem is the layers of glue between the wood layers. I'd wager that you could get through the same thickness hardwood much easier/cleaner than plywood. Basswood should be super easy to get through. Anyhow, my default settings are speed 5, 2-3 passes and 100% power. This is for a hardwood thickness of 6-8mm and depends on the species. Some wood species will naturally cut cleaner than others. BTW we run the 10w version of this machine and use the air assist kit for cleaner cuts on thicker stock.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods well thank you so so much! I really appreciate the time you took to give me such a knowledge filled and awesome response. From my basic knowledge, you have confirmed some thoughts. I need to look into better resources for my projects other than big box stores. Yes basswood is a breeze. I’m so glad I found your content. Now let me go make sure I’m subscribed

@@tiffanywilliams7700 No problem at all! Thank you for the support =) I have recently become aware (thanks to a subscriber) that Etsy is a good place to find shops that sell stock material for laser cutters and engravers. I have seen some mix packs of wood on there so that could be a good way to learn about which hardwoods work best with the laser. I think the ultimate freedom is in having a bandsaw so that you can prep your own stock to whatever thickness.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods you rock!! would you be willing to do a video specifically addressing wood for projects for the M1? just curious.thanks again

@@tiffanywilliams7700 Of course, what did you have in mind? We have done a few already but always open to ideas for new projects. I'll link them below. Xmas Ornaments - ua-cam.com/video/lOXPpkEOREQ/v-deo.html Magnet Puzzle - ua-cam.com/video/qQNnMNkm7Dc/v-deo.html Lasered Clock - ua-cam.com/video/L0CJXB05kgs/v-deo.html

Best of luck! The first time I did it I thought I had the white marks in the right spot but I was off by one. There should be this sort of slack loop between the bracket on the laser head and where the nozzle clicks onto the laser head.

If the brackets are all where they should be and the tube is positioned within them correctly, the laser head should be able to freely move to all four corners when the machine is powered off. So that is a good test that things are positioned correctly. The tube needs to be positioned within the brackets so that there is some slack toward the laser module. On one end of the tubing there should be some white markers that show you where the tube should rest. As far as the tube rubbing against the lid, mine does slightly and it does not cause any problems. I hope this helps, best of luck!

No problem, thanks for watching! Both cutting boards and charcuterie boards are considered indirect contact because the food does not interact with a surface which contains dried glue. If one were to use a putty made from glue and sawdust to fill a void in the surface of the wood, that would be direct contact since the food can touch the dried glue.

@ArtisansAndArthropods thanks for the clarification. Very helpful!

Thanks for watching and for the kind words! Glad you found it helpful.

Hey Norman, thanks for watching. We may be able to take that on depending on what exactly you had in mind. If you'd like to chat further about it, please get in touch with our shop through Etsy. artisansarthropods.etsy.com

@@ArtisansAndArthropods Ok Sir i’ll message you thru that link on Etsy.

If you store it inside, Ash and Hickory will be probably the best choices. Same build process but you may need to start with a glue up to get the Ash/Hickory thick enough. This wheelbarrow is for lighter work and lives outside. The cedar has held up to loads of logs pretty well so far but yeah I am cautious with the heavier loads.

Hey there, so this video is of our older laser. It was built from a kit and I cannot remember what settings this ran at. If I were to run this engraving on our xTool M1,I would engrave at power 100, speed 200-250 depending on the wood type and one pass. Usually mahogany engraves well and I can run max speed/power for one pass.

I will check it out thanks! The one in this video is quite sturdy and very accurate. My only problem is that my table saw surface is too small for it,so an extending style one would be better.

Not a silly question at all and you could totally cut it with the laser. I'm in the habit of drilling holes myself when possible rather than leaving it to the laser because it is the one scenario where I'm actually faster =). I thought it would be less time to use the drill rather than run a few test cuts to dial in the size hole to cut. If I were to run this file repeatedly I would probably take the time to dial in the right sized hole with the laser and have it do that part for me too. Thanks for watching!

@@ArtisansAndArthropods thanks for the answer I am just got a laser and was going to make a clock and wanted to make sure it wouldn't cause a structural issue.

The only problem I can think of is if you size the hole really close to the size of the spindle on the mechanism and it's a tight fit, you'll need to have the pieces of the clock lined up perfectly for the glue up. Otherwise if they are shifted just a little bit the hole may not be big enough anymore for the mechanism. Of course that only matters if you are cutting your clock from two pieces placed next to one another like I did. It wouldn't be a problem if you cut it from one big sheet. Best of luck and let us know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment! Once you get set up it's easy to crank out a ton of these.

I genuinely appreciate the concern but it can be very cold in my shop. It is not ideal but I will take gloved hands over numb hands every time.

Yeah it's definitely best to minimize the knots. I chose a 2 * 4 that had relatively few, but you don't always know until you rip it down the middle. The handles are generally thick enough that small knots are no big deal. 1.5" x 3" sounds like overkill to me but should work fine as long as your bolts are long enough. It would be strongest if the edge grain is on the top/bottom of the handle when fastened in place. Pressure treated wood would work fine. I personally don't like throwing dust from it in my shop because then I have to worry about it contaminating my dust collector and making it so I can't compost the sawdust. If you use a softer wood you'll probably be fine shaping the handles with sandpaper, though you could save some time nibbling first with a jig saw. Anyhow, thanks for watching!

I think it would probably still be a noticeable boost in sound but not quite as nice as using a more solid material. After all, a plastic party cup will work to some extent. One thing to maybe think about is whether the sunboard or cardboard would be heavy enough for the phone to sit in there and not tip the amplifier over. Let us know how it works out if you give it a shot!

Thank you, that's very kind. It's a little intimidating looking at the handles and seeing how many spots you'll have to drill and line things up. Luckily the brackets on mine and probably most models have a lot of leeway in them for where you place the bolts, allowing for tons of error in the hole placement.

Thanks for watching! In hindsight I'd have made the hole smaller for aesthetic reasons. I gotta admit though that the one made in the video is quite loud! I use it in the shop all the time for audio books and music. Have a great one!

I don't have any specific suggestions but there are a lot of options better than this drill press available in that price range, at least in the U.S. This one is very basic but the motor and chuck have been great for years. Apologies but I'm not sure what to suggest as far as brands go that are available in Europe. Something I wish I'd prioritized though is a table that's easy to adjust. Many have cranks that let you easily dial in the drilling depth but this one has no such mechanism.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods After a lot of lurking I came to a conclusion that apart from mass of the castings it's all the same scrap and it's more of a lottery, up to the price point 5 times higher. Some companies are even using the very same design and parts but racking up prices going for the "it has to be better, isn't it?!" effect in potential buyers. So I bought one that is a rough equivalent of the WEN cheapest model and I'm going to evaluate my lottery next week. I also assigned a budget for the replacement of the chuck and the motor if needed. So in my evaluation what has to be spot on is the spindle (including the feeding gearing), the pulley axle at the spindle and the pulley at the motor. Not much more is needed. Obviously I hope it doesn't come to motor replacement as it's going to be a costly project, even going for a second-hand one (obviously more powerful while we're at it). With chucks it's difficult in Poland as there are no established "good enough" brands. You either pay $100 for a branded one or you face a flood of results with Chinese knockoffs. Same as with drill presses I would appreciate any information on solid brands with reasonably priced products available for purchase globally.

Thanks for watching! This machine has impressed me in terms of power. I think a lot of people get bummed out when trying to cut plywood, but hardwood is easier for it to get through. Let us know if you have any questions about your M1!

Hello there,thanks for watching. Your question could be taken a few different ways. If you mean beeswax rather than polyurethane, it depends on how the item will be used and personal preference. If you're wondering if this finish can be applied over an urethane, I'd say that it would be better to stick to a paste wax for that. This one has linseed oil blended in so it won't really tack up and form layers over an urethane. It is intended to be absorbed by the workpiece. You can however, apply this finish, let cure and put an urethane over it.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods thank you for your prompt reply! I keep seeing the Beeswax commercial on the beautiful floor... l will return the Beeswax immediately! Will be putting coats of Tung Oil topped with polyurethane. Will that be OK?

That's a winning method for getting both beauty and durability. The oil will need to be nice and dry before putting the polyurethane over it.

Hey, thanks for watching. We do have a video shows the the build process for amplifiers like these ua-cam.com/video/vE5opImYEJo/v-deo.html . Let us know if you have any questions. The design in this video is a little more complicated but just features additional router work and the holes are small enough to do on a drill press.

Hey there, thanks for watching. So plywood is actually tougher to cut with a diode laser than many people think. It has to do with the glue in between the layers. I would not be able to cut plywood of the same thickness as the cherry hardwood in the video. I typically cut hardwoods of this thickness at power 100, speed 5, 2 or 3 passes. I should mention that different wood species will require different settings and that some leave a much cleaner edge than others when cut. For example, cherry and maple will have a nice clean black edge while mahogany will have char that needs to be knocked off. One last thing - I have the 10w version of the xTool M1. The 5w version will not be able to cut as thick/quickly. Hope that helps!

I kinda figured that it had something to do with the glue in the plywood, I’m gonna try some pine board later and see what happens. I also have the 10W with air assist and the smoke purifier, pretty cool set up all in all. Thanks for the reply! 😎👍🏻

No problem! Best of luck, I have really been enjoying my machine as well. One thing I forgot to mention - don't trust the auto-measure that the machine does. I'd recommend measuring everything yourself when entering the material thickness. Maybe it's just my machine but I find it to be very unreliable.

Thank you! We were going for a "retro" look.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and for watching. You are completely right about the process to getting boards 4S. Lucky for me the material was flat enough on both faces it could go right to the planer. There was actually no need to hit it on the jointer at all. I chose to out of habit so that it would ride my table saw's fence even tighter for a safer cut. In reality the edge was close enough already that running the edge through the table saw, then putting that edge up to the fence and sending it through the saw again would have been more than enough accuracy for this project because the faces were flat. I'm not sending anything other than perfectly flat over my router.

I'm glad it was helpful, thank you for watching!

To balance out the watch time? Lol I've always wanted to make a fireplace video

@@ArtisansAndArthropods also to heat up your shop

Haha, for some reason I thought "solar cooker" and imagined a solar cooker time lapse video. Those are probably a thing right?​@@JetpackSuperheroes

Thanks for watching!

Possibly, but it is unlikely you would end up with blocks all the same size that way. If you set a stop block precisely enough, it would probably work out just fine. If you cut first with a stop block then use a jig to center with your laser, you guarantee all blocks are exactly the same size. If you instead scribe lines with your laser and try to cut on them to separate the blocks, they will likely end up slightly different sizes due to human error and I he images will not be centered either.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods good point

I think maybe u can do the same image over and over, so one day you do cutting and the next day it Q is for quail lol

Yeah I think for the fastest and most accurate workflow you would want to use a stop block to cut a bunch of the exact same sized pieces, which is key to perfect cubes. Then ideally you'd have some way to center it perfect with the laser. Our new one has an on-board camera that saves us a lot of time. With a laser like the one in this video, you could set up a square or two blocks in the spot where 0X,0Y is for your laser. Then you just butt up each block and hit play.

Thanks! This one has good weight to it and really rolls far.

Yikes! Glad it's all fixed now. So MDF and plywood both have significant amounts of glue and will not cut as easily as hardwood if the same thickness. Be careful with the fumes coming off of either but particularly MDF. I've read that the MDF fumes are bad to breathe in due to all of glue within it. We typically prepare material with the band saw/planer and cut pieces of hardwood. Cherry is a favorite for sure.

@@ArtisansAndArthropodsHey there! You mentioned you liked cutting cherry wood the most. I recently bought some pre-cut wood through Etsy…it was Birch and (being that I don’t know my wood densities obviously but was just looking for 1/8 inch at a good price for a large amount😉) I find it very difficult to cut. The best settings I’ve found are speed of 5 and 2 passes, but when you have small items to cut and it takes 2 passes…yikes. I’ll use the wood up for larger things that can take 2 passes…but what settings do you cut the cherry wood on and is there other would that you have used that easily cuts through with 1 pass? Thanks so much for your help. I’ve looked online trying to find some knowledge but hoping you might have some. Also, thanks for you help with the air assist process. ~Linda

Hey! Thanks for watching and we are glad to have helped! That's interesting that people are selling materials meant for lasers on Etsy..maybe we should get into that game. I also find that for my 10w xTool, I typically cut at a speed of 5 for 2-3 passes. That's for a thickness of 6-8 mm. I think how tight the grain is can be a factor when it comes to punching through something with the laser. I'm often surprised how easily I can get through maple. That said, some woods that I find easy to cut will require more power for a nice dark engraving, again thinking of maple here. To answer your question about getting through in one pass, I've managed to get through cedar in one pass at greater thicknesses than I would expect. The problem is that the wood is relatively weak and it may not be a good choice for smaller cutouts.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods well, I think you should get in the game! There’s lots of sellers on Etsy with wood for our lasers! 😀 Thanks for your info on the wood. It helps a lot! I thought maybe it was just because of the type of wood I got. Overall, I’m pleased with the M1…a little slower than I’d like, but I just put something in to cut while filming for another diy. P.S. I did hit that subscribe button…gotta keep helping us YT diy’ers out…plus, being very helpful to me, deserves the ‘ol press of a finger! 😄 Many blessings!

Thank you! If you have any questions, let me know : )

Thanks for watching, I'm glad to hear it helped! There are so many ways to make cars like this and lots of ways to shape them in case you don't have all the tools shown.

Thanks for watching and for the tip! I will look into that for sure.

Thanks for watching!

Hi there, it's the Wen oscillating spindle/edge belt sander. I leave the edge belt on there most of the time.

​@ArtisansAndArthropods thank you!!

@@kdsrbaldwin4621 No problem, it has saved me a lot of time. Happy sanding!

Glad it helped and thanks for watching! You can get away with a lot of different designs.

Thanks for watching and for the kind words. We're glad you found it helpful! I love this technique for cutting/serving boards in particular because edge grain boards are a step up in quality and can grab a higher price point. Also if there is maple or anything else with nice ray flecking, that gets put on display. As far the the size of these goes, they vary because I chose to freehand them instead of use a template. Most are somewhere around 16" x 5.5"

Hi there! Thanks for watching. My air assist only has a toggle switch similar to what one would see on a computer tower. I'll have a look at the website, maybe they sell a different model now? I got mine at the same time I ordered the xTool M1, about a year ago.

@@ArtisansAndArthropods That is OK, I will look it up. I was trying to take a shortcut by asking you LOL. Thanks for the very helpful video.

Please always feel free to throw questions like that at me! Sometimes I will have the answer off hand and other times it's a great reason to learn or someone else with knowledge will chime in =)

Ah man, sorry to hear that. So far I have their drill press, hanging air filter, and oscillating spindle sander. They've all been great for me for the price point. I've had no issues with either the air filter or the sander and just the spindle spring broke on the drill press but they sent a new one at no cost. Hopefully they all continue to work for me 🤞

Thanks for watching and sharing your story. My own experience with WEN customer service was positive luckily. The spindle return spring on my drill press broke and they sent a free replacement with no hassle. I bought the drill press through Amazon but they didn't seem to care. Which Wen tool did you have the warranty issue with?