Veteran takes up laser engraving
Retired Navy veteran Roger Skeens poses next to several objects on which he’s worked as part of his laser cutting and engraving business.
Skeens, a 47-year-old veteran, operates out of his home in Oak Ridge as a sole proprietor of Skeens Laser Cutting and Engraving, with a website at skeenslaser.com.
He didn’t grow up in the area but after serving in the Navy submarine service for 23 years he and his family decided to move to Oak Ridge. He retired as an E-9 master chief petty officer.
While he’s already done many projects, he officially registered for a license in July 2023. The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce welcomed him as a new member on Aug. 15, 2024.
“I feel like it’s a lot slower,” he said of civilian life since his 2019 retirement. As an Ohioan, he said he was drawn to the Appalachian region and had heard Tennessee was a good state for veterans. Given his time on nuclear submarines, he’d heard of and been interested in Oak Ridge’s history.
“This is where we’re going to put down our roots and raise our two kids that are still in school,” he said regarding himself and his wife.
He’d initially intended to use his laser cutting machine to help a friend who built arcade-style cabinets for video games. Those plans did not work out. However, the laser device is programable to make many kinds of designs on many kinds of surfaces.
Skeens listed stainless steel, wood, acrylic, leather and powder coating including on water bottles.
His website advertises tumblers, travel mugs, silicone bottle boots, flasks, wine bags, customized license plates, black slate photographs, cutting boards, charcuterie boards, office signs, trivets, coasters and gifts that use handwriting in their designs.
“The options are wide ranging in what I can do with that because it’s kind of left up to the imagination and what people need,” he said.
He spoke with pride of having put preschool children’s handwritten names on a board.
He also engraved a customer’s lost loved one’s signature on a guitar.
“People don’t have to have their ideas fully fleshed out,” he said, adding he can work with people on their ideas.
“I’m always looking at opportunities to kind of help people.”