Soon after my first trials plotting on eggs, I began to yearn for a more substantial plotting machine. Moving a pen is cool, but you can buy ready-made plotters for that (although perhaps not for plotting on eggs). I built a 24" x 24" engraving table using a Dremel tool, some drawer slides and standard threaded rod in 1991. I began experiments with some inexpensive pre-painted aluminum I had found (like the stuff they make roofing and siding out of).

Although I was able to achieve some interesting results, I found the mechanical limitations of the cheap components very limiting. I searched long and hard, and finally found the industrial components I needed to build a large scale engraver (5' x 4'). What at first was simply a test of my software and hardware's ability to remain accurate became an interesting medium. I sold about 40 engravings during the "Uptown Artfair" in 1993 and 1994. (See more engravings in the aluminum gallery.)