The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Laser-Engraved CD Stress Cracking

    Given the cracking caused by vector patterns on CDs and DVDs, seeing stress cracks open up on large-area engravings came as no surprise:

    Laser engraved CD cracking - D
    Laser engraved CD cracking – D

    They start smaller in the more closely engraved areas:

    Laser engraved CD cracking - A
    Laser engraved CD cracking – A

    But eventually spread over the entire surface:

    Laser engraved CD cracking - C
    Laser engraved CD cracking – C

    They’re not always straight:

    Laser engraved CD cracking - B
    Laser engraved CD cracking – B

    And aren’t aligned with the engraving path:

    Laser engraved CD cracking - B detail
    Laser engraved CD cracking – B detail

    My threat model says those discs are definitely unreadable …