When Make and Engadget collide

Thanks Phil! That's one sweet laser.

[va jj @ Dec 26th 2008 11:31PM]

that's hot

[Sublimewulf @ Dec 26th 2008 11:32PM]

whoa! Jinx

[Patriks7 @ Dec 27th 2008 5:23AM]

When it's turned on, it literally is hot..

[OneLove @ Dec 27th 2008 2:17PM]

GAY

[riv3r @ Dec 27th 2008 11:14PM]

@OneLove
Don't be jealous :p

[OneLove @ Dec 28th 2008 4:00PM]

Ahem, what i meant was, "why get a laptop and put engadget logo on it?"

[Sublimewulf @ Dec 26th 2008 11:31PM]

Thats... Pretty...

[N Ross @ Dec 27th 2008 7:10PM]

......Crap!

[Arkenklo @ Dec 27th 2008 6:14PM]

Yea, they should at least have put it straight, perhavs in the lower right corner.

[Hunter @ Dec 26th 2008 11:32PM]

Oh, man, I would totally do that to my MacBook if I had the ability.

[Jake Tobak @ Dec 27th 2008 12:09AM]

Indeed, if only I had a MacBook...

[aeth @ Dec 27th 2008 3:40AM]

Or money

[Decoy @ Dec 27th 2008 4:16AM]

I was hoping the first post would say:

I KNEW IT!

[Matthew C @ Dec 27th 2008 6:17PM]

Would engadget five one of these to me if I agreed to use it in every possible public place as free advertising?

[Jason @ Dec 26th 2008 11:33PM]

Of course it's a macbook pro :-P

[Joshua Topolsky @ Dec 26th 2008 11:37PM]

Running XP -- booya!

[dcoaster @ Dec 26th 2008 11:54PM]

Excellent, Josh.

[yopladas @ Dec 27th 2008 12:09AM]

So, it's proven, any computer with the mark of Engadget must be non-partisan!
Wewt for peace for once in the OS world...


and that IS hawt, gj josh

[RBRT @ Dec 27th 2008 9:20AM]

MacBook Pros are supposed to run OSX, otherwise just get an IBM!

[Mark Anderson @ Dec 27th 2008 10:28AM]

That is teh sex0rz!1!

[youngstunna @ Dec 26th 2008 11:33PM]

i, for one, am shocked it's a mac.

[Bryan @ Dec 26th 2008 11:35PM]

I thought it was just a watermark for quite some time... >_

[Geek45 @ Dec 26th 2008 11:48PM]

same here... D'OH!

[BananaBoat @ Dec 27th 2008 1:00AM]

He probably would have centered a watermark

[Kizorblade @ Dec 27th 2008 1:02AM]

Add me to that group.

/Sigh
/Facepalm

[Geek45 @ Dec 28th 2008 5:36PM]

@BananaBoat,
It looks like a watermark centered in the middle of the PICTURE and not the actual macbook../

[i.c. weiner @ Dec 26th 2008 11:37PM]

funny how it's an apple...

[Wiigee @ Dec 26th 2008 11:40PM]

running XP a stated above

[Cris T @ Dec 27th 2008 12:53AM]

OS X all the way!!!!

[Akshat @ Dec 26th 2008 11:38PM]

Where's the 'heart' sign?

[Jon Nelson @ Dec 27th 2008 3:34AM]

As in Lessthanthree Engadget?

I would get that burned into my laptop's case in a heartbeat if I had the means.

[chansthename @ Dec 27th 2008 3:53AM]

Engadget♥Apple

[yyan @ Dec 26th 2008 11:39PM]

Why diagonal? And it's not even diagonal at an angle that makes sense. The left side of the logo has an inch or two of room and the right side is running off the top... I don't get it. It could've been so much nicer.

Laser etching, however, is badass.

[Hunter @ Dec 26th 2008 11:40PM]

Asymmetry can be very attractive.

[Jake Tobak @ Dec 27th 2008 12:10AM]

Aye, it's artsy fartsy.

[yopladas @ Dec 27th 2008 12:12AM]

Ever notice how Japanese art is never symmetrical (like paintings) and it's obvious that they try to make it asymmetrical? (and they make it look good)

well, I think the asymmetry makes it more interesting to look at.

[DoctorRon @ Dec 28th 2008 7:22AM]

I think that he wanted the "radio wave" gfx after the Engadget text to be in the corner so it was GREAT placement.

I "have the means" to do this--I made it out of an old "tabletop plotter" that I found an "almost-size-matched" lower case for and scavenged a Lexan "top" for (it was originally a "dot-matrix silencer" I think.) I put the laser's interlock switch there so no one will be tempted to get a nice 3000 degree CO2 laser burn.

From there, it was a simple mounting of a CO2 laser into the bottom of the case (the once-empty project case is metal, has two doors in front, and is 60's blue. I believe that it once sat under/held supplies for/a very old Xerography machine.)

I used mirrors to steer the beam up to the "top" (the plotter bed and eventually the plotter pen mechanism which holds only a mirror now) and used a mirror/collimating lens in place of a "plotter pen" to lase any semi-non-reflective surface. Mirrors steer the beam from the bottom of the cabinet right up to the plotter bed--where the plotter's original rack and pinion-type gears steer the plotting head. I use a fixed-length "jig" to set the proper focal length.

Get this--I use a PENTIUM 90 running CorelDraw and Illustrator to make it all happen. The driver for the plotter was changed just a little (this was the HARDEST part and it was EASY) so that (yes, it is parallel-port compatible) dark colors make the transport move the "head mirror" slower--resulting in a deeper, darker burn. Light colors make the head move the beam faster. The lightest colors make the beam simply pulse on and off so it misses a few little spots. A blower keeps fresh air blowing around the laser and power supply. It will easily achieve 700dpi--I've never needed to test it at a higher resolution.

See, you can build one yourself--easy. And then this stuff that you read here seems a little less "magical", hmmm?

Peace to you all, and to all a good night!

DoctorRon

[michas_pi @ Dec 26th 2008 11:40PM]

This is bling for a geek. Straight ballin'.

[JohnTitor @ Dec 26th 2008 11:45PM]

ooooo
now do a G1 with the infamous engadge-T-mobile

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 27th 2008 8:24AM]

with a magenta Android theme, nonetheless.

[BecomingxInsane @ Dec 26th 2008 11:47PM]

Haha, wow, you actually have to look at it hard enough to realize its ON the MBP, and not just the picture itself.. Hehe I'm just slow... =P

[L8on @ Dec 26th 2008 11:51PM]

wow! I also thought it was just an image.. Very nice!

[L8on @ Dec 26th 2008 11:53PM]

more pix please?

[Keaton @ Dec 27th 2008 12:37AM]

I second that motion...
I want more pictures!

[asdf.asdf @ Dec 26th 2008 11:59PM]

Didn't Make and Engadget collide when Phil used to write articles for Engadget? Or was that flashenabled pre-Make Phil?

[pt @ Dec 27th 2008 1:21PM]

@asdf.asdf - good memory! the timeline goes like this... i was at fallon worldwide (best known for bwmfilms), my personal site was "flashenabled" also part of a book a wrote about designing for mobile devices, contributing editor at popular science, then how-to columnist for engadget, started hack-a-day then off to MAKE. so pre-MAKE is correct!

[Michael @ Dec 27th 2008 12:00AM]

Wow that looks totally fake its kinda wierd. Thats really cool though, whose the guy that does this stuff? I just got a new macbook and this would be really neat.

[shugg @ Dec 27th 2008 12:14AM]

that is tight , I gotta admit.

[MRCUR @ Dec 27th 2008 12:15AM]

iWant

[Kyrra @ Dec 27th 2008 12:22AM]

I've got a friend that owns one of these lasers, and they are amazing fun. Lots of mac products get his treatment. Then you can do other things like wine glasses and flashlights.
The phone he did for me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinlaserart/2323924985/in/set-72157604090623557/
One he did for a WoW guildie: http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinlaserart/2343510813/in/set-72157603967963160/

Website: http://www.austinlaserart.com/