What can one create with a laser cutter? The only limit is your imagination. Last year, Ani and I wrote a list of everything we could possibly think of to craft on a laser cutter. That list has about 100 items on it, and grows daily with every new idea born from a mistake. From games and toys, to puzzles and bookmarks, furniture, light fixtures and beyond: Everything is possible! The better question is: What can’t you make? The obvious answer would be 3D shapes… but our cubes, cylinders, and spheres would say otherwise.
This story starts in architecture school with foam-core models, the bane of freshman year and a notoriously difficult material (teachers in later years ban its use altogether). Cutting straight is not the issue, because straight edges and t-squares exist. The problem is cutting perfectly perpendicular through a quarter inch, or more, of foam. Any angle in your cut results in a model with gaps in it’s seams and walls that don’t quite meet at a 90 degree angle. The first few years of school, my models were described “sloppy” at best and often derided by the visiting critics.
Some of my better examples… definitely not foam-core
Then one day something magical happened, it was announced that our studio would be receiving a laser-cutter to assist in our model making process. No longer would my designs suffer from poor models. One could simply send a file to the cutter, and 30 or so minutes later, have all the pieces required to assemble a precise and intricate design. As I glued together my first piece created in this manner, I knew this was a powerful tool and hoped to own one someday. Recently a generous patron made this a reality, for which we are extremely grateful.
In many ways, I would not have succeeded in a traditional architecture education only 30 years ago. Drawing by hand has never been something I could do and as previously mentioned my physical models appeared to have been assembled by a precocious 12 year old. I am grateful for autocad and laser-cutters becoming norm in design schools.
Our new studio setup with laser-cutter
This winter we are focusing our attention on our first few products. Birb Balls are pleasing spheres stuffed with wool and string to be used by birds to build their nests in spring. Biodegradable and sealed with animal friendly tung oil, these are a great present for any bird enthusiast. Birb Balls are available at The Snow Goose in Tulsa, OK The Bird Watchers General Store in Orleans, MA and our online store. Also on the docket are custom bookmarks. Whether you want to represent your favorite book, podcast, animal, etc. we can help you create a design worth remembering. Highly decorated or plain, flexible or rigid, standard or page holding, we are sure to have one that your favorite book lover will enjoy.
We at An-John are extremely excited to begin this new venture. We are constantly trying out new designs and prototypes, so much so that at just under one month old our unit already requires a good cleaning from all the use. We plan on creating at least one prototype for every one of those 100 ideas, so please follow our journey of discovery to see everything on the way. If you have an idea for a product, or want to stump us with an intricate design, please be sure to contact us through our Facebook Page or email us at: info.anjohn@gmail.com
