Retirement Gift

Wanted to send a friend and shift mate off into retirement knowing how much we enjoyed working with him over the years so I made this plaque which hopefully adequately expresses our appreciation and gratitude. The overall design is our station patch with some alterations to the center. The dog in the middle is the MACK hood ornament on the tanker he drove for the last 7 years of his career. It is made with many different species of hardwood. As is probably obvious by looking at it, some parts are inset and others layered - trying to do kerf adjustments for all those pieces was a little more than I felt like taking on in the time I had. I kind of like the depth the layering added to the overall look anyway. The frame is made out of 1 1/4" cherry. I engraved the signatures of everyone on the shift around the perimeter. It’s a shame I had to pixelate those because they turned out really nicely and add significantly to the personalized/custom look of the piece, but, alas, this is the world we live in.

This was yet another project in which I experienced major “pass through” envy. Maybe someday I will finally upgrade to the Pro…

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A very nice piece! If the signatures are sufficiently high rez they will do fine. I am sure it will be a family treasure for generations :heart_eyes:

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I completely understand. I wish I had gotten the Pro. Maybe someday.

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That was exactly my reasoning when I gulped and bought the pro. Knowing how I would I would look back on the decision.

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Yeah, I didn’t know that I would love it so much. I had never created things that I had imagined before. Now I know better…

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The laser work is truly impressive, but what really catches my eye is the frame – seamless miters and the long sides also have a curve to them.

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very nice piece of art here

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I actually used the laser indirectly for the frame as well. I lasered templates out of 1/4 plywood and used those in conjunction with a flush cut bit on the router table to make all the frame pieces. The laser even improves the accuracy of my conventional woodworking!!!

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Indeed! The laser can do detail that even a CNC would have trouble. I in no way have the room for a decent wood shop but I am frequently thinking up ideas, especially for furniture, that a decent wood shop would be an excellent addition to my Glowforge.

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I was sold by the extra cooling, since it seemed to be a working life extender.
The pass through and larger wattage was just sort of a bonus.

I really like that gift you made, @bdandreson . I am sure they will be happy with it.

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I originally thought the Plus had the higher wattage too, but apparently that was just old marketing. Otherwise, I might have gotten the Pro. But that was a lot of money for something that I didn’t know if I would use at the time.

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the original plus was 45w, but i think that was just the first year or so, then they were downgraded to the 40w of the basic.

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I think this limitation has turned into a design advantage. Someday you will have a Pro, but in the meantime you are creating amazing things with your “not-Pro”.

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This is beautiful, @bdandreson! I’m sure your shift mate will treasure this. He’s lucky to have such a thoughtful friend.

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I bought my plus when it had the 45w laser and “upgraded optics” (whatever that means), so I do have that. What makes me so annoyed at “past me” is the inability to work with anything larger than 11x19.

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That was the biggest thing I was thinking, though the ability to get a few precious degrees warmer and have the machine still work was a close second. I only wish “past me” had thought out my air fryer purchase as thoroughly. Not wanting to spend the extra money on a consumable may bring regret for a meal, but even when we are talking a lot more money for something you will live with for a long time the :mantelpiece_clock: / $ = regret is much greater.

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That’s beautiful - the inset to make the axe blade is especially well done!

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Astonishingly gorgeous! I bet your co-worker was blown away by such a thoughtful, personalized, and so beautifully finished a gift. Instant family heirloom piece – “This was from Great Grandad’s buddy for when he retired, and we shall never ever get rid of this beautiful piece of art!” :smile_cat::smile_cat::smile_cat:

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Oooh, that is really nice! What a beautiful gift!

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That turned out amazing!

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