Laser Source

The holiday season is here, and so are the laser engraving deals. Whether you’re upgrading your shop, starting your side hustle, or hunting for the perfect maker gift, we rounded up 35 laser engravers, accessories, materials, and tools worth checking out this year. FULL BLACK FRIDAY LIST WITH NOTES: https://cloud.makearmy.io/s/HJrKf5MjnR9NSem

This week’s episode drifts through the realities of year-end laser work — juggling ornament season, balancing what your time is worth, and knowing when to say no. The guys catch up on the November Coin Challenge, talk through design quirks like eyeballs and portal concepts, and debate community expectations versus personal bandwidth. Things shift into industry news as they unpack the Glowforge sit...

Episode 190 centers on the new Aeon Mira 5S landing in the shop and the crew digging into what makes the machine different. The conversation hits the build quality, the RF tube, why the form factor matters, and the engineering decisions Aeon got right. From there they branch into practical business thoughts about timing big purchases at the end of the year, sponsorship perks finally figured out, a...

The guys talk through a wave of long-delayed laser reviews, what’s surprising them this season, and why some budget machines are genuinely excellent while others belong in a landfill. They drift into fourth-quarter production habits, rotary headaches, tumbler tricks, pattern-making wizardry, and the realities of prepping for holiday stock before everything goes out of stock. There’s plenty of joki...

Alex, Kyle, and Anthony get brutally honest about the future of Laser Everything and what it means to run a deep-dive, education-first channel in a shorts-driven, review-obsessed YouTube world. They talk about the constant pressure to “sell out” with surface-level reviews, the financial reality of depending on the LMA and community support, and how soul-filling projects (like slow-mo fiber footage...

The crew digs into a wave of new updates in the laser world, including Johnson Plastics Plus buying LBT and what that means for titanium-dioxide marking supplies. Alex walks through a day of CO₂ testing hell with tumblers that refuse to bond, pint glasses that behave better, and how small coatings can derail a whole project. The discussion circles around metal marking fundamentals, why delivery me...

This episode drifts between Halloween energy and hardware frustration as Alex unpacks the chaotic reality of the Ortur R2’s repeatability issues, mis-homing behavior, and undercooked software ecosystem. From talk of ghosts and “Jesus Chicken” to real-world testing pain, the crew breaks down why great diode modules are wasted when the supporting hardware can’t keep up. They contrast that with a gen...

The crew bounces between business wins, new opportunities, and absolute nonsense. Matt shares a potential high value school job and recurring sports team contracts, which kicks off a broader talk about outreach, steady clients, and using the slow season wisely. From there the conversation spirals into seasonal gifting panic, merch nostalgia, Discord memes that cannot be unseen, and a quick look at...

The trio digs into a bigger question behind the week’s chaos: when does “affordable” turn into “too cheap?” Alex’s hands-on with a $200 Ortur R1 sparks a real conversation about safety, false confidence, race-to-the-bottom engineering, and where the hobby line crosses into becoming a liability. They compare the R1 to sturdier entry-level machines, talk about modules, ecosystems, software limitatio...

The team unveils the brand-new Laser Finder tool on MakeArmy.io — a guided quiz that helps beginners figure out which type of laser suits their work without sales fluff or brand bias. They walk through how it works, how it connects to the growing community settings database, and what’s next for expanding it. The conversation drifts into real shop talk: adding UV and diode options, fixing bugs, and...

The crew celebrates Matt’s birthday with a mix of good-natured chaos and real laser talk. Alex breaks news that WeCreat finally pushed a long-overdue software update adding bidirectional scanning to the Lumos — prompting rants, rewrites, and a little redemption. From there, conversation swings through teardown photos for the Ultimate Guide to Laser Processing, building a universal laser test bench...

The crew digs into the messy truth about material safety—how to really research what’s safe to laser and what can gas you (or your machine). Alex walks through the process step-by-step: using CAS registry numbers, reading modern SDS sheets, and understanding decomposition products instead of online hearsay. They talk about why “no data available” isn’t the same as “safe,” how to tell when a materi...

Alex and Kyle reveal the next evolution of Laser Everything’s educational content: the Ultimate Laser Processing Guide. They discuss why it’s replacing the original LightBurn Crash Course, what new topics it covers—from safety and workspace prep to identifying your laser source—and how they’re rebuilding it into 126 short, focused lessons. The conversation expands into practical talk about beam al...

Between sickness, chaos, and way too many lasers on the way, Alex, Kyle, and Rheannon hold down the fort for a laid-back but productive episode. Rhiannon teases her new travel-accessory video featuring Johnson Plastics Plus leatherette gear (with a Dragonite passport cover for Japan), Alex previews his upcoming community-building talk for JP+ Fest, and the crew outlines their next major project: L...

The guys kick back for a fun, tool-packed episode full of maker updates and new toys. Between sick kids, glass jobs, and holiday prep chaos, they dive into easy-win UV products, quick-selling ornaments, and the classic “make something for the school principal” marketing trick. Alex shows off the all-new Laser Toolkit—a collection of shop calculators for overlap, pulse width, and job timing—plus th...

The guys dive into one of the wildest “why does this even exist?” releases yet — a massive 4×8-foot hybrid diode/CNC machine from ER that’s equal parts intriguing and absurd. They break down why multi-purpose machines rarely excel at any one task, how scale turns convenience into chaos, and what kind of maker could actually use something that big. That leads into a grounded comparison with the new...

Alex spends the week wrestling with an impossible rotary setup—wrong pins, hot glue, and a $700 lesson in EasyCAD board compatibility—while the crew swaps their own horror stories about problem clients, endless revisions, and knowing when to walk away. Between broken boards and champagne-flute drama, they talk deposits, boundaries, and time management as small shop owners. Things lighten up with a...

The guys catch up after travel, cat rescues, and kid chaos before diving into a deep (and sometimes teeth-on-wire) discussion about WeCreate’s new Lumos laser. It’s gorgeous, powerful, and loaded with features - but hamstrung by missing bi-directional scanning. What follows is equal parts love letter and intervention as Alex and Kyle break down why half-speed engraving matters, how galvo timing re...

Alex and Kyle go deep on the unglamorous but essential side of running lasers: keeping them clean and cool. From the brand-new Laser Everything Buying Guide launch to the split of the Laser Source YouTube channel, they roll into a hands-on chat about airflow, dust, humidity, condensation, and why every laser deserves maintenance love. The conversation ranges from practical shop tips to UV and CO₂...

This week is all about two things: a practical invite to the Maker’s Momentum Summit and a clear plan for the Laser Source podcast edits moving to their own YouTube channel. We explain why the split helps your feed make sense again, what you get for nine dollars, when VIP access is worth it, and how our community talk fits into the summit’s bigger lineup. Learn to Laser Everything™ with new episod...

This week’s show jumps between chaos and good shop talk in true Laser Source fashion. The crew starts joking about AI monkey photos and cats pulling lasers, then moves into serious ground—why “leather” basketballs are dangerously toxic to engrave, when not to trust “genuine” labels, and why safety beats experimentation. From there, the conversation widens to deal-hunting, from Amazon Prime Day ste...

Anthony’s back, and with big life changes. The crew dives into what happens when family priorities collide with small-business grind: closing a shop, moving back home, and finding new balance without losing momentum. They talk about working from a garage, rebuilding client trust, and rediscovering purpose through family and community. Matt’s kids get their first taste of entrepreneurship with a su...

The crew takes an unexpectedly deep dive into AI, creativity, and the shifting maker landscape. What starts as banter about bamboo projects, new glasses, and 3D scanning coins turns into a full-blown discussion about Etsy’s new design policies, AI art legality, and whether “real art” still matters when anyone can prompt an image. Between laughs, they touch on using AI as a tool vs. a crutch, small...

Michael Mullins (Laser Engraving 911) joins the crew to break down the new ACCELaser - a hybrid fiber/diode system that’s got the maker world buzzing. They dig into how it blends fiber-laser speed with gantry precision, what makes its “no-stitch” flying-galvo tech different, and how its partnership with LightBurn could redefine usability for complex jobs. The talk expands into production realities...

Between new gear, half-finished edits, and a six-foot plywood Bigfoot, the team juggles a busy week in the shop. Alex talks about carving the massive Yeti stencil in sections on the Mira 9, testing a 3D scanner for an upcoming review, and helping Rheannon film the Ultimate Guide to Engraving Bamboo—including a gorgeous 55-minute UV run no one will ever replicate for profit. They trade lessons abou...