The laser burns the wood when it cuts it, and I was worried that it would be difficult to sand away the blackened edges. But I was pleasantly surprised how easily it came off.

I only worked on the inside cuts, easier to sand now before I glue the three piece sandwich together.

Next step: glue up and sand outer edges

After seeing Inception, I had to make my own totem. Two turned wooden tops (one oak, one ???), finished with tung oil and wax.

The Laser Party was fantastic. The ladies of Design Glut and the fine folks at Length Width Height (a fabrication lab in the “incubation” center at NY Designs) hosted a great event. Met some great people and saw some very interesting designs.

They have a 51″ x 51″ laser cutter, the biggest I’ve ever seen. The thing opens up like a DeLorean and when the roof deck door is open, you can see the Empire State Building (my streak of using tools with some killer views continues). She’s a real beauty.

After a little trouble with my CAD file (I was the only one to give them a bum file, awesome), we cut a Monster Mirror. It turned out great. I still need to glue it up, sand it, and finish it, but this beats cutting them out by hand.

The other designs were incredible, check them out here. If you are in the NYC area and in need of a 51″ laser cutter, I know a guy.

And FYI, laser cut food does not taste good.

A couple of weeks ago, I helped my parents’ neighbor John, build a floating raft. Nothing fancy, a wooden box and some foam billets for flotation. We hustled and built it in two nights, so his kids could jump off of it as soon as possible (”Is it done yet? Is it done yet?”). It felt really good to come up with a plan, execute it, and see people enjoying it in such a short time.

They’ve named it the S.S. Minnow.

John’s son Matt liked the Minnow so much, he made me a model of it out of popsicle sticks. It looks great, I can’t wait to hang it on my Christmas tree.

The lovely ladies of Design Glut have invited me to their Laser Party on Thursday. It’s being held at NY Designs’ prototype lab

They’ve asked a group of designers to come hang out and have a night of free laser cutting and etching. It’s pretty much a party from the future.

I’ve re-worked the Monster Mirror design, so it can be cut with the laser. I’m excited to see how it turns out.

I tweaked the wooden mallet design a bit. Still using naturally fallen oak from the Poconos (P-oak-conos if you will, wakka wakka, sigh) finished with walnut oil, but now I’m using some scrap poplar to pin the handle to the mallet head. And because I’m an incredible egomaniac, I branded my logo on the handles.

The one on the left reminds me of the hammer from Donkey Kong, I’ve named it “The Mario”.

Image taken by Emilie Baltz

Last Jell-O post (I think). Some great things written out there:

- Gothamist, has a great picture of our melted Jell-O
- Eater, nice shout-out for Dave
- Asylum, that’s Mr. Leight to you pal.
- MarthaStewart.com, first-hand account.
- Time Out New York, check out picture #30.
- Make, great video

I am very excited to announce that I will be doing a live lathe demonstration at the MAD Museum, Aug. 19th.

I’ll be in the Open Studios looking down on Columbus Circle (perhaps the greatest view from a lathe in the city). I’ll be making lamps from logs, small pieces of furniture, and some other fun stuff. Come on by if you’re in town.

Well, sort of. Dave and I took home the coveted “Special Jury’s Meat Lover’s Honorable Mention” at the Jell-O Mold Competition. Dave get’s most of the credit for his beef consommé with horseradish and pork consommé infused with ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and star anise gelatins.

The event was a ton of fun, but it was hot. We put our Jell-O sculptures up on the wall and they did pretty well for the first 30 to 40 minutes. Long enough to get them photographed and for a couple of judges to get a look. But the heat turned out to be too much. After an hour or two of lying flat, they finally gave out and melted into a bovine/swine puddle. Yum.

We met some great people and saw some amazing pieces by the other competitors. I can’t wait for next year.

My friend Dave “Big Dog” Gould and I are entering the Jell-O Mold Competition at my studio. I went last year, and it was great. If you are in town, you should check it out.

Dog and I are going with two savory gelatins: Beef Consomme with horseradish and Pork Consomme infused with ginger, lemongrass, garlic, star anise (Both Dog’s idea). They will be in the shape of a bull head and a boar head. The plan is for them to hang from a diorama-like wall, similar to mounted hunting trophies. Pics of our mock-ups below.