In June of 1987 a friend of mine was getting
married and I wanted to give him and his fiancée a very special, personalized
gift. At that time I was experimenting with etching glass by various means and
had decided that sandblasting was what worked best for me. I came up with a
simple design of an elongated octagon clock made with glass mirror. I etched
the names of the couple, the wedding date, and a pair of interlocking rings
below a clock face. It was a hit! In July of that year my eldest sister got
married and I made one for her also. She still proudly hangs it in her living
room with her cherished photos. For the next few years I made these clocks for
everyone whose wedding I was invited to, as well as a few that I made as
anniversary and even graduation gifts. Any of my family members who married
during this time each have one as well. And I have not heard of anyone who was
not happy with their gift!
In 1994 I met a beautiful woman who was to
become my wife, although I did not know it at that time. During our courtship
her sister married a man that I worked with. I made them a very, very special
clock featuring an etching of their house. When Annette and I married in 1996
I made, for her wedding gift, a perpetual calendar. It has three etched glass
mirror panels and solid oak framework. She loves it!
It was about this time that I heard about a
machine called a Laser Engraver. It sounded like it was just what I needed.
The sandblasting method that I was using was tedious and time-consuming,
despite the fact that I had developed several time-saving tools and shortcuts.
Also, the quality of the finished product depended a lot on my drawing
abilities, which are not great. A laser would allow me to engrave virtually
anything that I could imagine. And with near perfection. Unfortunately, it
was not in our budget at that time. But we knew that when the time was right
the Lord would provide us with access to a machine and the ability to purchase
it.
During this time I tried my hand at making
frames for the original octagon clocks. They looked very nice and I sold a
few of them, but found out that I couldn't charge enough to cover the labor.
Whenever family members would find an unusual frame at a rummage sale they
would get it for me. And if I could, I would make it into a clock. We also
discovered that a local clock kit manufacturing company, from whom we already
purchased movements and hands, made a wooden clock ring that was a perfect
size for our needs.
Finally, in early 2001 we acquired a laser
engraver! We decided to go ahead and make a part-time business of it with the
hope of eventually being able to quit my full-time job as an auto technician
and work at home. While this hasn't happened yet, every day we are one day
closer to the realization of that dream. We have made many clocks for many
different occasions, businesses, organizations, and even schools.
Unfortunately, last year we lost our supplier of hands for the 12 inch round
clocks, and have been unable to locate a new source. On the plus side we
learned how to engrave photographs. This has been both exciting and rewarding.
And when the procedure is applied to acrylic mirror, the effect is truly
stunning! We call this our” Lasered Mirror Portrait”.
Business has been steadily growing and we
decided it was time to have a web presence. It made the most sense to offer a
smaller version of my original octagon design clock. Also, we knew we must
offer people the chance to have their favorite photograph permanently engraved
on a mirror in order to display and enjoy it.
So here we are!
What can we do for you?
Royce & Annette Moericke