I often get requests from family to cut or engrave something, but sometimes the laser comes in handy for fixing
things around the house. This morning, for example, I went out to see why the waterfall on my pond was not running.
Usually that means the filter needs cleaning. I pulled up the pump and found it running but the inlet nipple had broken
off from the pump, and leaves had stopped the flow through it. What was left was a jagged large whole in the thin
metal. My first thought was the laser. I came in and cut a donut of 1/4" acrylic, large enough to fit over the flat part
of the pump and with a hole for the water just smaller than the outlet nipple. A little epoxy and 10 minutes later it's
back together. I'll let the epoxy set another hour or so to help prevent any toxic fumes from killing the fish, then
connect up the filter and turn it back on. Saved buying a new pump at about $100.
Anyone else have stories about fixing things around the house and shop with the laser?
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While raising the latest round of chicks, I used the laser to create some temporary plywood perches for them while they were under the heat lamps in the stock tank. To make it easier for the elderly dogs to eat, I made some painted MDF raised dog food bowl/stands. I made an "oven stick" out of plywood that I can pull the oven rack out or push it back in. I made a number of gaskets for the old tractors and other farm-related devices. I have used acrylic scraps to make measuring devices for the race motorcycle where a certain part needed to be at an exact angle and have X mm gap between the other part. I have made light switch & electrical covers to hide the non-standard size holes in the walls of our ancient farmhouse. I made a sort-of L-shaped tool out of wood so I can push the ash & pellets out from under the pellet pot in our pellet stove when it's cleaned. I have used it to cut fabric and leather when making repairs to clothing - sure scissors would have worked, but it wouldn't have been fun! I have also used to mark engine parts, but hard to explain how and why it needed to be done without seeing the parts - it involved painting the parts and marking the paint with lines rotated at specific degrees. Future plans will be to replace the scratched-up glass in the ancient french doors with plexi since I have a gob of scrap plexi. Oh, and another was to use some black rowmark Textures to fill a hole in the dash of a friend's classic Ranchero where a gauge used to be and someone had put a hokey patch over it. The Textures made it look like it was a stock part that could be removed to insert a gauge.
Originally Posted by Joe Pelonio
