Wow, Lasers Are Still Pretty Cool

Made on a Glowforge
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I cannot believe that it’s been nearly a year since the last time I was able to use one of my lasers; time truly does fly. For those who don’t know anything about me, I used to frequent the forum regularly, but life has drastically changed causing me to not be here as often. Last July we packed/sold all of our belongings and had them shipped to us in Utah from Hawaii, where they were to be put in a storage unit while we moved to Thailand. The moving company had issues and took much longer than we anticipated to deliver our things, and as fate would have it, delivered our boxes the day we landed in Bangkok.

We were lucky enough to have friends that were able to meet the movers and load our unit, but it meant that I was unable to use my lasers again like I had planned on doing. After coming home for the summer to visit, we arrived today and I was able to setup one of the lasers (not a fan of having to now download a program to setup the Glowforge, previous way was better in my opinion) and I was able to burn a tray we picked up for my father in law for Father’s Day. I’m actually not sure what type of wood it is, I hadn’t asked the merchant I picked it up from, but after doing this one, when I get back I’ll definitely have to buy more of these trays, they’re beautiful and quite inexpensive!

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This doesn’t mean I will be back consistently, sorry(!) but I thought I’d come back to post something for the first time in a while. I had bought myself a piece of wood to engrave, but I apparently left it back in Thailand, oops! I don’t anticipate using the laser much while I’m here but when I do, I’ll try and post the projects just to engage with some fellow enthusiasts :slightly_smiling_face:

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It’s great to see your post. I was thinking of you the other day, wondering where and what. Glad your glowforge was still working too after all that traveling.

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That’s black palm and it’s generally resin-stabilized. It cuts terribly and some resins aren’t laser safe. Ymmv.

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Hanging out can help make your laser drought easier and we would love to hear from you as well. Just the amazing wood in the Thai area is something I for one would love to see more about.

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So good to see you again, even if it’s only briefly. It sounds like you’re on one hell of an adventure!

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Welcome back. I hope you have a great summer.

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He’s back! Cheeeeee hooooooo.
Bring this :glowforge: back with you! You need the honey I shrunk the kids beam.
On that note I would reverse it and my :glowforge: larger.
Do you have a timeline when you are returning to Hawaii?

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Good to see you back, even if only briefly. Glad your GF arrived safely and unharmed. At least you get to use it while you’re here. And how are things going over in Thailand?

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It is really good to hear from you and know you are doing well. Even if you don’t have your GF with you we would still love to have you join us here.

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I knew someone here, probably you, would have an answer to the wood.

Tell me about it :sweat_smile: I FaceTimed a friend and had him show me that there wasn’t glass all over the place. The condition of some of our boxes are surprisingly bad, but the GFs both look exactly how they looked when I last saw them so cheers for that!

It does and doesn’t. It was such a sudden decision to leave all of the stuff I’d been acquiring behind that when I saw it again, I realized how much I miss that part of my life. I lurk now and again, but the forum has a different vibe than it once did, wether that has to do with not being able to use my own machines or something else, I don’t feel as obligated to check in every day anymore. That isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy the posts and projects that are being shared, though!

Especially with a 3.5 year old! Life has been really fun, and I’m always glad to pop in here and see some familiar names pop up!

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I hope you have a great summer.
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Me too :slightly_smiling_face:

:sob: No, I recently saw that one of the most difficult things about traveling and living in far off destinations is that every place feels like home and leaving it behind is like leaving a piece of yourself there. Hawaii will always be home, but with the massive housing price increases, it just seems like a long-term goal. Aside from that, the international teaching gig is actually really nice and an easy way to travel to the places we’d love to get to. So when we’re done in Thailand it’s bhard to say where we’ll go to next.

They’re going well! After we adjusted our american diets to a more Thai one, things got a little smoother. My wife gets a decent amount of holidays off so we’ve been able to travel the country a little bit and hang out with the other international people while there. Many of the teachers have been there for a few years so they know all the fun things to do. I’ve also found that I don’t mind living in a large city as much as I thought I would. There’s something nice about being able to live in a way that nobody is concerned with your business and are only worried about themselves, but different than anywhere else we’ve lived.

I know, I know. Like I mentioned earlier in this comment, I do lurk from time to time, and I do enjoy seeing the projects, but my attachment to the forum has weakened. I’ve been in a weird limbo while in Thailand, where I haven’t been able to express my creativity in ways that I’d like to since I’d gotten so used to lasers. When we get back to Bangkok I intend to take up tufting and try my hand at making rugs, that way I develop a new skill and don’t have to worry about buying stuff I already have thousands of miles away or shipping them.

Anyway, great to hear from all of you, I always enjoyed the company here, forever grateful to the makers here and the pioneering that has been done as well as to Glowforge for creating such an awesome product and community :+1:t4:

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I was only here half a year or so before you left but I do remember you and it’s good to see you back here and back lasering again! Great that you have a new learning quest when you return to Thailand.

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I would bet you could find some really amazing tropical hardwoods that you could not even find here at any price.

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i would love to make mine bigger, too!

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Hello!!! So good to see you! Sounds like life is full of experiences for you and your family.

The forum is different. I still read every day, but the joy and excitement isn’t the same. Still feels like family … just not the same.

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Glad to see another friendly face! I always thought it was detrimental to make reposts about questions or techniques a negative thing; it discouraged new discussions, as well as new people from feeling welcome. The new projects have always been welcome, but there was an elitist vibe there for a while, and now we can see what the forum has become after years of community members steering it. The whole “I don’t want this to be Facebook” sort of was a declaration to say that the forum wasn’t going to allow organic interactions or change that a handful of community members didn’t like seeing certain types of posts, which is why the odd duck members who were shunned here thrive over there.

With that said, the early days were exciting for everybody, and with that excitement there was an energy that surged here, which of course was going to diminish regardless. I believe that eventually this forum will dwindle down to a handful of people who enjoy sharing to similar enthusiasts, that don’t want to see a topic get renewed although it’s been years since it’s been brought up, and the employees that monitor it in their free time - much like other niche hobby online forums.

Oops, didn’t mean to write such a long observation! Again, happy to see the old online gang in here and some new names, too!

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