I bought a laser because I wanted to understand machines.
It was on a list — things I wanted to get properly good at, not just own. The first real thing I made with it was a set of live branch coasters for my sister's wedding. People saw them, asked for things, and that was that.
These days I'm an assistant project manager in construction by day. Nights are for gaming, design work, programming, and this. A few weeks ago I burned the table numbers for my own wedding, which is either a sign of commitment to the craft or a sign I don't know how to sit still.
Patches came from a friend.
An old coworker of mine designs hats. He's a veteran, and he pushed a lot of patch work my way — which is why so much of what I've made carries the armed forces. Most of what I know about this trade, I learned filling his orders.
What makes these different is depth.
Most patches are printed. Ink sits on the surface and eventually the surface gives up. I engrave — the laser cuts through the colored top layer into the dark core, so the design is part of the material. It has real relief. You can feel it with your thumb. It doesn't peel, crack or wash out, because there's nothing sitting on top to come off.
Void Seekers is the one I'm proudest of.
I like tech, aliens, space and AI, and Void Seekers is what happens when you let someone like that design a patch series for himself. Humor first, with a bit of the deadpan-archive tone — field units and departments that would exist if any of it were real. It's the line that made me want to build this into something rather than keep it a hobby, and there's more of it coming.
What I actually want out of this.
The same thing I got from my coworker: helping someone make their thing real. That's the part I like. Send me a sketch, a photo, a bad description of an idea, and I'll tell you what it takes to burn it.
One thing I won't do: I won't put hate on anything. Life is hard enough and people need to support each other. Everything else, ask.
Tell me what you have in mind — or have a look at what's on the shelf.