{"id":33990,"date":"2012-01-23T17:53:13","date_gmt":"2012-01-24T00:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/?p=33990"},"modified":"2012-01-24T11:18:23","modified_gmt":"2012-01-24T18:18:23","slug":"the-ten-coolest-laser-cutter-stories-of-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/ponoko\/the-ten-coolest-laser-cutter-stories-of-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"The ten coolest things done with laser-cutting in 2011!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Best of the Blog 2011 \u2013 Laser Cutting<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I knew it was going to be tough when I picked the Laser Cutting category<\/a> to pick the best posts from, but wow – there really were a lot of amazing stories in 2011 to choose from.<\/p>\n

These are my favourites from last year, but if you think that I’ve missed a critical project, please mention it in the comments below!<\/p>\n

1. The most advanced peanut butter and jelly sandwich yet<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

This is also #1 in my “favourite headlines of 2011” category. Dr. Thomas Modeen used a laser cutter to engineer a perfect food experience, distributing pockets of PB & J into even, calculated bites.<\/p>\n

If I am ever a wealthy man, there will be a laser cutter in my kitchen. Be sure to read through to the source for a video of the laser in action!<\/p>\n

Read: The most advanced peanut butter and jelly sandwich yet<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. The incredible Folding Ukulele from \u2018maker of anything\u2019 Brian Chan<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

I love it when people make digitally fabbed instruments. This ukulele design by Brian Chan doesn’t just approximate a traditional uke, but improves on the basic shape by being foldable for portability.<\/p>\n

The soprano and supermini sizes are available right here on Ponoko<\/a>, in both finished and kit form.<\/p>\n

Read: The incredible Folding Ukulele from \u2018maker of anything\u2019 Brian Chan<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Design by Code<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

Mmm, algorithms. Designer Paul Krix creates intricate works based on patterns in nature that are manipulated in software to generate final designs.<\/p>\n

His work is mainly laser cut, but he’s looking into generative 3D printed designs, which are a favourite subject of mine.<\/p>\n

Read: Design by Code<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Robotic claw business card<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

Another top headline contender. My old favourite laser business card project was of course Meat Cards<\/a>, but robot claws definitely outclass contact info jerky.<\/p>\n

There’s a whole Instructable of how to make a set yourself, along with downloadable design templates in EPS and SVG formats.<\/p>\n

Read: Robotic claw business card<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Generative laser cut puzzle<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

Nervous System<\/a> makes a whole bunch of generative art, and even shares the source code<\/a> to some of their tools for everyone to try out.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t look like this unique puzzle-creating system ever became a product, but it’s still really interesting.<\/p>\n

Read: Generative laser cut puzzle<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Ornamental laser cutting<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a roundup post of some breathtaking ornamental laser cut designs covered at The Laser Cutter<\/a>. My favourite of the bunch is a laser cut topographic model of a chunk of Mars. It’s the sort of thing you can see in data or photographic form from NASA, but only digital fabrication can make it tangible.<\/p>\n

Read: Ornamental laser cutting<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Second Generation Open Source Laser Cutter<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

The idea of a laser cutter design that one can source and build at home just blows me away. I mean, there are of course all sorts of 3D printer designs like that, but the involvement of LASERS just makes it a tiny bit more impressive in my eyes. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

What’s great is that this is not even the only hobbyist laser cutter out there – you’ve got Lasersaur<\/a>, LAOS<\/a>, and more, just waiting to show up in anyone’s workroom.<\/p>\n

Read: Second Generation Open Source Laser Cutter<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Laser cut camera<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

Functional, physical, downloadable. This is what digital fabrication is all about. You can easily fashion your own from the design provided, or customize it to make a completely unique camera.<\/p>\n

It’s sort of weird, but I think at this point a laser cutter is more easily and reliably accessed than the photographic film (and development services) necessary to the project.<\/p>\n

Read: Laser cut camera<\/a><\/p>\n

9. Intricate laser cut Eiffel Tower sculpture<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

This Kickstarter project<\/a> never came to fruition, but I just love the super-tiny details on this paper sculpture. Even though funding was unsuccessful, two of the planned sizes are available to purchase directly from Artifacture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read: Intricate laser cut Eiffel Tower sculpture<\/a><\/p>\n

10. Record Monsters<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"LASER<\/a><\/p>\n

Another Kickstart project. I imagine that some people must be horrified at the thought of records being lasered into dinosaurs, but the degree to which Record Monsters was overfunded suggests that a majority are instead delighted.<\/p>\n

Read: Record Monsters<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Derek Quenneville is a 3D printing evangelist who posts weekly on the Ponoko blog. Follow him on Twitter @techknight<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Best of the Blog 2011 \u2013 Laser Cutting<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

I knew it was going to be tough when I picked the Laser Cutting category to pick the best posts from, but wow – there really were a lot of amazing stories in 2011 to choose from.<\/p>\n

These are my favourites from last year, but if you think that I’ve missed a critical project, please mention it in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nThe ten coolest things done with laser-cutting in 2011!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/ponoko\/the-ten-coolest-laser-cutter-stories-of-2011\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The ten coolest things done with laser-cutting in 2011!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Best of the Blog 2011 \u2013 Laser Cutting I knew it was going to be tough when I picked the Laser Cutting category to pick the best posts from, but wow – there really were a lot of amazing stories in 2011 to choose from. 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