Laser Engraving
Twotrees TTS-55 Pro Review: A Long Stretch of Real Use in a Garage Workshop
A 5.5W desktop laser engraver, tested over a full season of ornaments, signs, and test cuts in a one-car garage workshop.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
A 5.5W desktop laser engraver, tested over a full season of ornaments, signs, and test cuts in a one-car garage workshop.
The Twotrees TTS-55 Pro is enough for most home ornament work. A 10W-class laser cuts faster and thicker, but you may not need it.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on why a 5W diode laser fits ornament making better than a bigger machine.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
How to cut 3mm basswood ornaments with the Twotrees TTS-55 Pro. Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
Wren Hollister spent six weekends with the Twotrees TTS-55 Pro in her one-car-garage workshop. Here is what nobody tells you before you buy.
Six months of cutting, engraving, and painting on the same 30-pack of VKIZA basswood sheets, with the plain notes on what held up and what didn't.
A plain-spoken comparison from a Tennessee workshop: where VKIZA basswood sheets earn their place, where Baltic Birch is the better buy, and how to choose without wasting a weekend.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works, what does not, and why a 30 pack of 12 by 12 basswood sheets keeps earning a spot on her work table.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
Five plain steps to get 12x12 basswood sheets flat and keep them flat through the laser bed, from a garage workshop that has burned its share of scrap.
Three packs, 90 sheets, one garage workshop. Wren Hollister on what VKIZA basswood sheets do well and where they fall short.
Fourteen months, two craft fair seasons, and one very full Christmas tree with the N&T NIETING 27-piece set of unfinished wooden tree ornaments.
Unfinished wooden tree ornaments versus ready-made snowmen. A plainspoken comparison from Wren Hollister.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on why a box of 27 unfinished wooden tree ornaments beats anything pre-finished, one honest reason at a time.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on the 27-piece box of unfinished wooden tree ornaments that took over her workbench, and what she would tell you over coffee.
A plain-spoken walkthrough for turning a 27-pack of bare wood tree cutouts into ornaments worth hanging, from sanding to sealing.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what the N&T NIETING 27 piece unfinished wooden ornament set is really like to sand, paint, and hang.
Six months on a door in a drafty garage workshop, through Tennessee heat and a wet spring. Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
I put a ULIOMU wood wreath up against a Rosecraft Interchangeable Wreath for a season. Here is what I would buy again.
Ten plain reasons a wooden wreath outworks a silk one on a front door, from Wren Hollister, who hangs one every year.
A plain-notes story from Wren Hollister about the round wood welcome sign that showed up in a box, got taken apart on her workbench, and then went back together better.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works, what falls, and what to do before you stick anything to a nice door.
Six weeks on a Tennessee front door: what the listing photos do not tell you about the ULIOMU round wood wreath.
Seven months on a pegboard wall in an unheated garage workshop. What a 12-inch piece of layered basswood taught me about cut quality, warping, and dust.
A plain-spoken comparison of the Fourth Level Manufacturing 12-inch Sacred Om wood wall art and a standard framed print, from a crafter who has hung both.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on why a round basswood Om panel earns wall space in rooms that have nothing else in common.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on how a gift from Asheville became a workshop reference, and why it stayed.
A step-by-step method for hanging a light, thin wood wall art with no holes to patch later.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on Fourth Level Manufacturing's 12-inch layered basswood Om wall art: what the photos do not show, what the listing does not say, and whether it earned its spot on her living room wall.
A 5.5W desktop laser engraver, tested over a full season of ornaments, signs, and test cuts in a one-car garage workshop.
Wren Hollister spent six weekends with the Twotrees TTS-55 Pro in her one-car-garage workshop. Here is what nobody tells you before you buy.
Six months of cutting, engraving, and painting on the same 30-pack of VKIZA basswood sheets, with the plain notes on what held up and what didn't.
Three packs, 90 sheets, one garage workshop. Wren Hollister on what VKIZA basswood sheets do well and where they fall short.
Fourteen months, two craft fair seasons, and one very full Christmas tree with the N&T NIETING 27-piece set of unfinished wooden tree ornaments.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what the N&T NIETING 27 piece unfinished wooden ornament set is really like to sand, paint, and hang.
Six months on a door in a drafty garage workshop, through Tennessee heat and a wet spring. Plain notes from Wren Hollister on what works.
Six weeks on a Tennessee front door: what the listing photos do not tell you about the ULIOMU round wood wreath.
Seven months on a pegboard wall in an unheated garage workshop. What a 12-inch piece of layered basswood taught me about cut quality, warping, and dust.
Plain notes from Wren Hollister on Fourth Level Manufacturing's 12-inch layered basswood Om wall art: what the photos do not show, what the listing does not say, and whether it earned its spot on her living room wall.