Rochester Craftsmen Create Mind-Bending Boxes With Lasers

While 150 watts is generally associated with lightbulbs and other devices that are usually thought of as low-power and benign, at Olympus Laser Creations in Rochester, 150 watts is all it takes to craft wood into elaborate decorative boxes. 

The shop and products are the result of the minds of Lance Crummett and Steve Luce, two former Olympia tech industry workers who found themselves unemployed after they were laid off three years ago. 

“After a suitable time of enjoying our day off, we decided that we actually needed to make some money,” Crummett said. 

At the company they had worked for, which manufactured high-power computer processors, Crummett was a customer satisfaction associate and Luce had been a programmer. 

They also both had history with woodworking. Luce grew up around mills his family owned and Crummett had lots of hands-on experience working with the material. 

“The shop itself is one of those dream projects I’ve had for a long time,” Crummett said. “I used to do woodworking as a way to relieve stress.” 

The duo whips up designs on computer programs and puts them into a large boxy machine that houses a laser. It etches the designs on the wood or acrylic while either decorating or cutting through up to one-quarter of an inch. 

Once placed in the machine, the 150 watt laser begins zipping over the surface of the wood, leaving text, cuts or engravings in its wake. 

The power may be relatively low, but all the energy is concentrated into an area smaller than a human hair. 

“The laser cutter doesn’t so much burn as it does vaporize,” Luce said. 

They tend to use Baltic birch plywood due to its light weight and strength, but they can also use hardwood. 

The process of cutting through the generally light-colored wood leaves blackened edges, which provides stark contrast in the finished boxes. 

The designs they can produce are mind bending. 

Their signature box, like many others, comes in two sizes. It has decorative gears emblazoned on it, but the front of the box holds a working gear mechanism. In order to open the box, the user cranks a lever, activating the gears, and the box props open. 

Other designs include intricate laces of ghosts, flowers, Celtic designs and many more. 

“There’s a lot of stuff you can do,” Luce said. “... One of the interesting things about this business is we have way more ideas than we have time to implement.” 

Typical designs can be finished in a few days, but the gearbox took Luce around five months to fully map out. They sometimes also work with other artists for designs. 

One of their most popular designs are smaller boxes with marijuana leaves on them, of which local pot stores have bought around 500. 

The larger, more intricate boxes sell for between $40 and $100, depending on size and complexity. 

The duo started the shop in January 2016 and said their products have been popular among the people who see and use them, but marketing has been difficult. 

“Everybody who sees our stuff loves it,” Luce said. 

Since their physical location is a workshop, they rely on internet retail outlets to connect with customers. 

Slow but growing sales are forcing both of them to look for alternate jobs. Crummett said he’s in for the long haul and Luce said he’ll likely work at the shop part-time in the future. 

“We have fun doing this. It’s a really fun, creative outlet for us,” Crummett said.