Here’s a laser cutting technique that makes thin plywood bendable. By cutting away elongated diamond shapes from the material, a lattice of strips connected minimally by alternating tabs is left ...

But new tools bring new challenges and new opportunities in joinery, like this interesting “hammer joint” that can be made with a laser cutter ... aimed at birch plywood, [Jiskar] mentions ...

The annual global market for laser equipment is estimated at $60 billion ... all reliant on it. High-power lasers cut, drill, solder, etch and weld most of today’s electronics and metal ...