Laser Thursday — Acrylic Laptop Stand

Hello, folks! I’m Luz, the newest addition to the Glowforge team. I’m an interactive designer and am pleased to meet you all. Looking forward to making beautiful software for your amazing projects!

Tonight, I had my inaugural Glowforge session. When I start a new job, I always make one of these fantastic DIY Laptop Stands, designed by my friend, Tomas. It’s kind of like getting a library card when you move to a new city—doesn’t quite feel like home until I’ve got one. That and being particularly clumsy, I wanted to safeguard my laptop from wayward coffee cups.

Typically, I hand-cut these out of cardboard, but have always fancied having one made out of acrylic. While the cardboard version is pretty sturdy, it was recommended that I give it a try in acrylic. I adore the look of etched acrylic, so I started looking around for a pattern. I found this one and added to the side pieces in Illustrator after vectorizing the lines.

One thing I didn’t account for was the nature of the crossbeams behaving differently in acrylic, so when I went to put them together, my slots didn’t line up at all. Fortunately, under much trial and error, I had managed to make my slots pretty tight, so I just laid the pieces across instead of diagonally, which ended up working out just fine.

Future adjustments under consideration:

  • Make the crossbeams wider to accommodate my larger laptop.
  • Figure out a way to attach LED lights to the bottom to light up the engraving.
  • Fill the lines with acrylic paint
  • Any other suggestions?



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Oh that is epic! And ooohhh, I just had an idea for subliminal messaging…

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Welcome @Luz! Neat stuff right out of the gate. Step right up and get yourself a staff handle so we can give due respect where it is owed! And I definitely need something to keep my keyboard and coffee away from each other. So many sticky keys.

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Hey, @dan, that sounds like a pretty good idea! :wink:

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Gorgeous! Now of course I want to know how you ever did that in cardboard…but that’s hardly necessary now that you can do acrylic. Or wood. Or, or, or…

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Looks great, @Luz ! And thanks for the link to some great artwork for other projects!

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Fixed that for you, @luz! As the guy holding the LED bar in that picture I can say this looks even more awesome in person. It’s a super cool idea and just really makes the desk pop!

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thats pretty sweet. also I like your dslr lens coffee mug =)

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Hi @Luz ! Great kick-off project- I love the idea of making a new stand for each new job!! Can’t wait to see more projects. :grin: Also- I have that same lens coffee mug!

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Luz this is real a good looking product. The use of the GF provides endless potential for custom illustrations on the side panels, especially if you use tools like PhotoGrav or Photoshop add landscapes or pictures to personalize the laptop stand. GF is a great alternative to having to use an exacto knife to cut models, mock ups, etc. Keep up the great work!

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I’m looking forward to seeing how you add the LED lights, other than having Dan hold it :slightly_smiling:

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Where’d you all get those nice wood table tops?!

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Hello @luz! Nice stand.
Looking forward to the results of your software efforts!

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Hey! I wonder if you could make one of those calendars where the day/date lights up, using this technique along with a Raspberry pi?

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This is gorgeous! Welcome to the community!

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Ikea :slightly_smiling:

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Welcome! Already making waves, way to go.

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Hi Luz, I’m happy for you to be able to use the Glowfrog. However, how long is the Glowforg company going to keep dangling the proverbial carrot in front of us? As I keep hearing about new people like you to be able to enjoy it. My hopes of actual getting a Glowforg keeps dwindling away. I have not as of late heard of any shipments or near future shipments. Do you know any new updates? I’m sure there are a few more owners feeling the same and not saying anything.

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This thread has a lot of information on shipping and recent activity. Click this link and keep reading down. That should hopefully answer your questions. @Dan says they are still on target for ship date.

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No production units have been shipped as yet. This is per the original schedule… Orders are filled in the order they are placed. See the main website FAQ http://faq.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/articles/210277688-When-will-my-Glowforge-ship-

Heard a couple days ago from Dan that they are still on schedule.

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