Today I really needed a glowforge

While doing a job today I let my mind wander a bit and realized how easy this would have been with my glowforge. I could have cut 2 hours minimum off the build time. Saved some materials and not had to make sawdust that I would then have to carefully clean off the new vehicle… can’t wait for my tool.

A little about the project.
There’s a device called no photo. What it does is over expose the picture from red light cameras and photo radar so you don’t get a ticket. It’s a great device but it is big and ugly and does not integrate well into higher end vehicles.


This is the unit. When installed on a vehicle with the hardware provided it leaves a huge gap between the plate and the vehicle. It also just looks kinda derpy. so I started shaping and cutting. Finding a good shape that blends with the vehicle lines and hides the unit a bit better. I then had to take all the wood templates and transfer them to acrylic because wood and water do not mix… the process of machining acrylic is quite lengthy. You have to rough cut with a jig saw and then use the wood template as a guide on the router to get an exact copy. After that there are machining marks from the cutting bit that are needed to be sanded off. To get a nice finish you need to wet sand to 800 grit.

This is about the point where I started feeling sorry for myself that I didn’t have my glowforge yet but I muddled on and completed the job.

This would have been so much easier and time efficient with a glowforge. I can’t wait until mine comes…

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Check your local laws. Some areas have laws against obfuscating your license plate from electronic (as well as physical, of course) view.

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We’re good here. In alberta canada. We don’t even really have emissions laws that are governed or enforced.

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I’m not really into sports cars, being a truck and jeep guy, but…

That is a beautiful looking vehicle.

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Actually, in the US it’s illegal to sell anything if it’s suspected to be used for illegal purposes. If somebody tries to buy a pencil and says “I can’t wait to put this through my husband’s eyeball.”, joking or not, the store is obligated to not sell the pencil or they are legally complicit in the illegal act.

The pencil was an exaggeration, but seriously the components for bombs, etc are available at Home Depot and RadioShack. If you buy a bunch of them and the cashier asks “Whatcha buildin’?” and they say “A bomb.” it’s game over.

Not sure if Glowforge has any legal obligations in this case since he’s in Canada.

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You can buy all sorts of vehicle accessories and modifications - even here in California - that would make your car illegal to operate on public roadways. Buying said parts and installing them is still legal. Using them on a public roadway is illegal. Huge difference. Otherwise the OHVs and the track cars would not exist.

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Right. My only point was that if you stated your illegal intention before buying them, it becomes illegal to even buy them at that point.

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This is my job… not my car thank you very much.

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Besides all the legal/moral stuff… Cool design and :drooling: Cool car!

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This device or other similar and radar devices are not illegal here. Technically all that (if I had my tool) it would have helped create would have been a licence plate bracket which come standard on all vehicles purchased at a dealer. Lol

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I was going out of my way to ignore the car! It’s enough to make me cry it’s so damn beautiful!

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Oh, sure. I don’t care. Just warning you if you didn’t know. I’m no angel! Heck, I don’t even know if I’m technically a good person! :slight_smile:

Ahh, the beauty of speed and style. Had one similar (I think) slow down and take a look at what I was driving the other day – which believe me is odd – but I was in my deceased brother’s 69 Dodge Charger RT. Still has a few bugs to work out but looking very good :smile: The shop it is in was also working on a Model A, a 69 Camero SS Convertable, a 50’s model Chevy and an old chopped Mercury. I could have stayed there all day, but then I’d take one of those in the OP too :smile:

Edit: these aren’t up to date, but I can’t help showing it off. The 20th anniversary of my brother’s passing is in a week and a half and my mother has spent a good deal trying to make it the way he always intended it to be but never got the chance.

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Probably won’t be doing that nor will I be looking for a new career. I love what I do and not many people get to say that. I get to be around vehicles I’ll never own and design/fabricate stuff on a daily basis. This is just one example of what I have done. I operate within the confines of MY local and provincial laws so next time you have an opinion about something it would be appreciated by all parties involved that you educate yourself about the person or content before you come to a conclusion and spew a bunch of I’ll informed, negative opinions . The world is a negative enough place already.

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Love the RT charger. One of my favorites. Beautiful car.

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My neighbor’s got a similar black and yellow Charger. Sounds like such a joy to ride around in. I love just hearing that sucker start up.

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Great work, glad you have work that you enjoy. If we had light cameras around here I’d definitely put something like this on my cars because everywhere I’ve been that uses them the people that get the tickets are people like me that try to follow the law but get snagged by an “orange” traffic light.

And yes, a Glowforge would have been a great time saver on this.

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In many places, those tickets would be illegal if the locale requires that a summons be delivered in person.

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The bigger issue, forgetting legality, is you wouldn’t be able to drive it on any road that has a newer EZ-Pass system, as they need to compare your license plate to your transponder (and if they don’t match you get a fine - I speak from experience, but I was in a dealer loaner so able to get it reversed). On the MA turnpike you’d get nailed definitely by one of our handy state troopers who sit near the imaging gantries. It also turns out they were worried enough by natural obscuring (salt, snow, etc) that they do multispectral imaging supposedly which would be super hard to block (although this may also simply be a rumor promulgated by them to prevent such things being used?)

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The city I live in spent millions of dollars to install red light cameras to stop people from running them when no other traffic was present (a ton of people do it in small cities like mine). After they sent out the first ticket they found out it is illegal in our area to electronically determine someone is breaking the law and not confront them about it. For example if a cop uses a radar gun to determine you are speeding he HAS to pull you over and inform you of that and allow you to dispute it. That being said if it was allowed then I would bring my car to @autumleedavis and get something worked out lol

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