Burn baby burn

 It's been a while since I updated this blog - must do better!  Since last I wrote I've taken the decision to retire from my job at the end of March (I've 4 weeks left in work as I write this - I've got 2 weeks leave to take so from the middle of the month I am outta there!)  Although I'm confident it's the right time to quit, I'm a little nervous about keeping myself occupied when I no longer have a day job.  

With that in mind, I came up with the idea of starting a small business making and selling "witchy" crafts.  I was inspired by some of the items I saw for sale at a Psychic Fayre - and to be honest, it gave me the excuse I needed to invest in a laser cutter as a Christmas present to myself.  I named it Bernie, and set it up in the corner of my living room.  It wasn't originally planned to live there, but it turned out Bernie was a bitt bigger than I expected.

My laser

I've written in my other blog about the fun(!) I had assembling the machine, and for a few days I just stared at it, too scared to actually turn it on.  I don't know what I thought it was going to do - run amok and exterminate the cat, perhaps?  After running out of excuses - (I need a table to put it on...I have to assemble the enclosure...I must attach the air assist, and so on) I made my first burn...and after that I was hooked!  

First burn!

One of my favourite things to do with the laser is engraving on slate.  It just blows my mind that the laser can do that, and it was one of the first things I tried.  My first attempt was a bit off-centre, but I learned that slate can be sanded so with a bit of effort with the orbital sander (named Sandy, of course!) mistakes can be erased and the slate can be used again.

First attempt at a slate coaster

So after a few weeks of practicing with a variety of materials, I felt ready to work on a large (33cm) slate placemat.  I designed a circular Ouija board.  I took ages over the design, tweaking it and reworking it until I had it as I wanted it.  I sanded the placemat so that the surface was super-smooth (and set off the smoke alarm outside the kitchen. I was wearing a respirator (safety first) so I didn't really notice the dust! Lesson learned -   open the window and close the door if I'm doing a major bit of sanding.  ) I put the slate onto the bed of the machine, centred it, checked and double-checked the focus, speed and power, and hit "start".  It was going to take nearly 2 hours to complete, but I was confident it would be worth it.

I monitored progress from time to time and it was all going well for the first hour, until the laser started on the letters around the outside of the board.  It was only then I spotted my horrible mistake.  Can you see it? 

It was only when the machine started engraving the last letter of the alphabet that I spotted it was X, not Z.  I can't believe that, with all the hours I spent staring at the design and fiddling with elements of it, I didn't notice the mistake!  

Back to the drawing board - and my kitchen is covered in slate dust again!