PiBurner of the week: Robert Kofoed
Let’s celebrate our PiBurner of the week!
Robert Kofoed
owner at
(YouTube Channel)
It’s truly an honor to welcome Robert Kofoed to our growing ranks of PiBurners!
UPDATE 2/18/2023
Robert was chosen as a Beta Tester for the PiBurn in the fall of 2022. He has led the adoption of the new PiBurn Grip Chuck rotary for the Thunder laser community. Many with Thunder lasers has followed his lead and the results have been exceptional!
Check out his tutorial on miniature bats using his Thunder and PiBurn Grip
He is also working on a few other projects that he shared with our Piburn community.
About Robert
Robert is a legend in the Thunder community and really needs no introduction. If you have a Thunder laser or watch YouTube videos about lasers, you likely know and follow Robert’s channel, just like his more than 17,000 subscribers.
This is why we are so excited to share his story with you as our newest PiBurner.
Robert is the Owner/Operator of Computer Creations, a company he established over 20 years ago in 2000.
He lives in Fallon, Nevada with his beautiful bride of 42 years, Hope.
They have one daughter/son in law and 3 wonderful grandchildren.
He is no stranger to hustling hard, and knows how to build and grow a business. From a hustle, to full-time occupation fueling his retirement, Robert kept a keen eye out for opportunity, didn’t hesitate to pivot when needed and kept looking for growth. This is exactly what it takes to succeed in this business.
I’ve owned and operated a business of some kind since 1981 (began as a side hustle). When Computer Creations was born back in 2000, we were running an on-site photography business.
In 2010 we pivoted into custom wood products and at the start of 2020 after I retired from a 40-year career with a local electric utility, I took my custom wood products full time and added lasers to be able to offer a much wider range of products.
Personal background and pursuits
Robert is an avid outdoorsman. He loves to hunt and fish and be outdoors with family, an opportunity that is readily available in and around his hometown.
What else inspires him? How about public speaking!
Speaking to large crowds was one of my favorite things to do in my corporate job and I do miss it!
But now, he reaches thousands of people through his content, an audience much larger than even at his old corporate job.
He also has a passion for helping others. In fact it is one of the main reasons we are so aligned and why I was personally thrilled to offer Robert an affiliation with LensDigital.
Training others is one of my passions, one reason I started my YouTube channel Computer Creationz
Have you ever heard the maxim “If you want it done right, do it yourself”? This is how Robert operates – with full control over his creative process. And the results are absolutely incredible.
I love to have complete control of the creative process, from conception, design and production. That’s what I love about the laser business! 90% of our business is custom. Working with clients to get that design just right is very rewarding to me.
Talk about job satisfaction! Creating beautiful gifts for people is some of the most rewarding work that out PiBurners talk about.
Laser journey: Thunder Laser and PiBurn
For some people the Laser journey starts at retirement though the business journey started a long time prior for Robert.
Right after he retired, he ordered a 10 watt diode laser. We all have to start somewhere! For many people it’s a Glowforge or even a Cricut machine. But some take the plunge into the world of Diode lasers first, just to find out they need more power and capability a while later.
Took me months to totally figure the diode laser out. At the time there was little content on YouTube to help. I Started using Lightburn at the end of 2019. Once I got the diode figured out, I was hooked. It created beautiful stuff, but it was way to slow for any production work.
We hear this so often! Makers seem to outgrow the tools they start out with, but they always credit these tools for getting the journey started. You might call it, the gateway laser!
As with all successful makers, growth required investment into Robert’s business. This was not an easy decision by any means, here are his thoughts in his own words:
It was at that time that I had to have a conversation with my wife that I dreaded. We just spent $1200 on a diode laser setup, and it wasn’t going to work the way I wanted it to.
Keep in mind I just retired, and income numbers were up in the air. After many agonizing hours of worry we decided to order a Thunder Nova24- 60 watt co2 laser (best decision we ever made). This by far was the biggest purchase we had made as a business.
Robert pulled the trigger on a powerful machine and it would change his business and his life forever.
Fast forward to today, sold the nova 24-60watt laser and upgraded to a Thunder Nova 35-100 watt, purchased a 60watt JPT Mopa fiber laser, business is better than it’s ever been.
The investment paid off, and Robert business took off! Now, he uses the full power of his Thunder Nova to deliver phenomenal projects for his customers in record time.
YouTube Channel “Computer Creationz” with his Thunder Laser
Robert’s TouTube channel is not to be missed. If you are not subscribed, you are seriously missing out.
His love for teaching shines through in his content and the depth and breadth of his content are excellent.
Since I love to train, I share YouTube videos on Lightburn, laser operations and projects. I’m proud to say that since early 2020 my YouTube channel Computer Creationz has grown to 17,100 subscribers and average well over 6000 hours of watch videos every month. My goal is to reach 20,000 subscribers by year end.
Here is an example of a video you can find on his channel that can help you reduce your engraving time by 50%! Do yourself a favor, Subscribe!
Robert’s business today
Robert’s business thrives on custom orders from clients that discover his products online. He receives orders for many different types of items including tumblers he runs on his Thunder Laser and his PiBurn.
What are the types of orders he gets?
Mostly custom orders for all different types of tumblers, growlers, glassware, dog bowls. Unique custom wood products from 100% solid hardwood to Baltic birch projects. Projects that come from my fiber laser such as leatherette engraving, leather work, slate memorials, custom coins, knife and axe engraving if it can be lasered by a co2 or fiber laser I’m up for it!
Most unique custom project this year was a solid cherry horse measuring tool for measuring how high a horse stands. I had an example that the customer provided that was made in the early 1900’s.
PiBurn Discovery
When we recieved an order from Robert, we already knew about him and his excellent reputation in the laser community. You can imagine how thrilled we were to build his first PiBurn.
What does he think about it?
I ordered my PiBurn in March of 2022, I was looking for other rotary options. I love the ease of use of my PiBurn v4 and use it several times a week. The flexibility and the direction of LensDigital is very appealing to me. They have some very progressive additions coming up that will further the use of their rotary on many items that are difficult to manage in a roller style rotary.
What inspires Robert
Besides the few things we already mentioned, here is what keeps Robert cranking out new items and adding value to the laser community though his content:
- Taking something like a thought or idea and turning into a product for a client.
- Taking an idea from a client and delivering something greater that they expected.
- Working with someone that is struggling with Lightburn or a project and providing them the knowledge and skills to grow there ability as a laser business owner/operator.
There is nothing more rewarding than to see the reaction from someone when they realize that they can do this!
Favorite projects
Robert loves engraving custom sports bottles for sports teams with his PiBurn v4, anything unique that nobody else is doing like custom coins. Also, teaching someone that’s about to give up on their laser because they think it too intimidating is a very rewarding experience – especially when you help them succeed!
Advice for people starting out
In Robert’s own words, because there is nothing I can add here!
Do what YOU not want not what everyone else is creating. Be patient, growing a large client base doesn’t happen overnight. Always under promise and over deliver. Always provide more than you customer is expecting. The only thing standing between you and every other laser owner is your uniqueness and being able to stand out to your customers by producing exceptional quality products and superior customer service.
Important Links
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB3-k4fmkVqTTjAhb0Cdd_g
Facebook Business page
https://www.facebook.com/computercreationz
How can you not be passionate about the laser business?? Robert inspires us, and pushes us to create great content so we can keep up!
Robert, thank you for creating, for teaching, thank you for inspiring and sharing in your success, and of course, thank you for being a PiBurner!!
Happy PiBurning!
Len and Stan
Laser-focused on your success!
Your story is worth sharing too! Contact Stan to become our next PiBurner!