Tag: wood work

Laser cut dice cup

On By CarynIn Craft

Making kerfs, small straight cuts, in thin plywood allows the wood to bend without breaking. Those kerfs can also be decorative. I found free patterns on an Instructables post, downloaded them, and used the basic building blocks to make an SVG file for a round dice cup. The SVG file was built with sections of the rounded pattern, which resulted in incomplete cuts only a fiber width thick, but enough that many of the cutouts had to be manually ejected (dental tools or long thin carving tools work well for this).

Photo description: cut sides of the dice cup with stuck cutouts, along with the end of the metal tool I used the weed the pattern

I mentioned that I don’t like butt joints, so I added lace holes along the edge and secured the join by lacing with leather cord. I then measured the diameter of my cup and cut a circle of wood to fit inside the bottom. This is a different kind of butt joint, so I also cut a piece of recycled leather (thank you old recliner) with holes spaced to line up with the gaps in the sides. I glued the leather to the wood and used the same leather lace to sew around the edge of the base.

Photo description: laser cut leather base for the dice cup
Photo description: reinforcing the base with leather lace sewn through the holes using a long nose pliers to reach inside the narrow cup
Photo description: finished cup with leather lace securing the joins and another line of lace as a decorative element at the top
Photo description: dice cup bottom oblique view

I used my go-to finish, Howard’s Feed-N-Wax, which was problematic. The wax became wedged in the small decorative curves and was very difficult to rub into the surface. Some time in the oven on low melted the wax, but I think for the next project I’ll use light coats of a spray finish.

This was an interesting project that resulted in an unusual object, but not one I think I’ll repeat. I will take elements of this piece and apply them to other ideas.

Experiments continue.

Kerfs

On By CarynIn Craft

Kerfs are slits cut into wood. The right application of kerfs allows the wood to bend. I’m beyond excited about the possibilities combining laser cut kerfs and thin plywood. I found a box calculator website where you plug in dimensions and it outputs SVG files. I entered a 3” diameter and 6” height and downloaded files that easily went into my laser cutter software. I cut the box from thin plywood and glued it together.

Photo description: open topped container with rounded corners laser cut from thin plywood

The dimensions I entered were not the finished dimensions. It was 6” tall, but had a diameter over 3.5”, which turned out to be an awkward size, too big for pens or a dice cup, but OK for paintbrushes. I finished the wood with Howard’s Feed-N-Wax. I’m not a fan of butt end joints, which is what the seam on this cup is, where the edges of the wood come together without interlocking, but this was a very informative first kerf project.

Photo description: plywood cup and a bottle of Howard’s Feed-N-Wax

Bandsaw cut blanks

On By CarynIn Craft

I used my bandsaw to cut thin wood blanks for the laser cutter.

Photo description: purple heart, hickory, and flame maple thin boards

One disadvantage of thin cut hardwood is that it can be brittle. Plywood is constructed with layers of wood glued with the grain perpendicular to add strength, which is why most of the laser cut kits include plywood. As an example, I tried cutting the “Happy New Year” ornament from purple heart and I couldn’t even take it out of the machine without it breaking. (I did mention this in the post Wednesday, but did’t post the fail, so here it is!)

Photo description: failed Happy New Year ornament

So the challenge here is to design for support and strength when working with these hardwoods. I do have some ideas.

Happy New Year!

On By CarynIn Craft, photography
Photo description: laser cut Happy New Year ornament made from birch plywood held up against the blue sky

I tried cutting this shape from purple heart, but it was too brittle and crumbled coming out of the machine. The plywood is a little better; it still has some flex but still breaks easily with the thinness of the design. As I experiment, I hope to learn solid design parameters as applied to laser cuts. Let the experiments continue!

I hope y’all have a year full of creativity and purpose! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it brings some inspiration and amusement.

Now I’m dangerous

On By CarynIn Craft

My folks gave me a laser engraver, because I spent so much time at their house playing with their laser. My level of craft ability has now reached dangerous (on a scale of “beginner”, “how cute”, “nice”, “wow”, “dangerous”, “how?”, “mastery”). I started with my business logo on rock, painted brass, and a thin slice of purple heart wood that I sliced on my band saw.

Photo description: smooth river rock with a white mottled tree and roots logo for Caryn’s Creations

The rock ended up with a mottled white design that does not wash off. It has a pleasant texture but probably won’t survive a sealant (testing on that later).

Photo description: circle of purple heart wood engraved with the same burned logo.

I’m still experimenting with settings. The purple heart with logo was a little too intense and the burn carried outside the design.

Photo description: black painted brass with the paint burned away for the logo

I tried a circle of brass (I used a jeweler’s saw to cut it, the blue diode laser won’t cut brass). I originally did clean brass, but it only made a ghost image, so I spray painted the blank with black primer paint, let it dry, and ran it again. I quite like the result.

My head is swimming with all the possibilities.