We use cookies to personalize content, interact with our analytics companies, advertising networks and cooperatives, and demographic companies, provide social media features, and to analyze our traffic. Our social media, advertising and analytics partners may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. Learn more.
So, I’ve got a co-worker that has a Keurig coffee maker in his cube. I’m a heavy user of it along with a lot of others looking for their daily fix of coffee. His name is Lou so we named his cube “LOUBUCKS”. Just some silly office coffee humor. So, then I whipped up a LOUBUCKS COFFEE sign, borrowing heavily from you know where, in Photoshop. I printed it out and stuck it on his cube wall. He loved it so much it’s been hanging there for months! Silly. =)
Now that I’ve got the X-carve running I figured I’d try some different things out as practice. A better LOUBUCKS sign came to mind.
I had deleted the original LOUBUCKS sign shortly after printing it out. I thought I’d never need it again since he’d just be throwing the print in the trash. If I only knew! So I created new art of it using Photoshop again. I imported it into Easel using the Image Trace app. I then went to work breaking up the different files I was going to need.
So far I’ve needed two Easel files for my project. One for the white lettering and graphic and one for the black background.
The white lettering was created by using “Dry Erase Board” from Home Depot. The black background was created using “Chalk Board” from Home Depot.
Here are the specs I used to cut the Dry Erase Board and the Chalk Board:
Bit: 0.12 in 2 flute carbide
Feed Rate: 55 in/min
Plunge Rate: 6 in/min
Depth per Pass: 0.03 in
The planned end result is to add an edge lit acrylic in front of the white graphics and then house the whole thing in a frame. That’s the plan anyway. =D
I knew a fellow with a nearly identical setup - his name was Mark so his little cubicle shop was branded “Marbucks”. When I left that contracting gig I whipped up some custom currency for him “Pass the Bucks”, sponsored by Marbucks. A tongue-in-cheek nod that everything gets blamed on the contractor a few weeks after they depart.
Man, I wish I would have been able to do something like this for him.
Actually I’m surprised as well. I was a bit concerned about the white surfacing material. I’m not sure what it’s made of but it feels “hard”… harder than the “soft” MDF-like material that backs it. I think if the board didn’t have the hard white surface to hold it together that it may crumble… it seems that soft. Saying that though, the soft part machined very clean, cleaner than the same settings on regular MDF.
Yeah, totally… I think it would work great for halftone V-carving. I need to get into that next.
BTW, the Chalk Board material has a nice surface “grain” to it. I made sure to have that align vertically on the sign. You can see the grain in the first image. I think that would look great with the halftone V-carve for sure. Give it a bit of a “rustic” feel if you will… more premium than just brushing black paint IMO.
As some of you know I had some issues with the squareness of my bit (covered in another post) so I took some time out to fix that issue before engraving the cast acrylic piece.
Then, I went and cut the acrylic. Not happy with the result. The acrylic wasn’t flat enough so it didn’t fully cut. =(. I’ll work on leveling everything out better. I’m not sure how to get it any flatter though.
I’ll post pics of the results when I get a chance.
So, yeah, the acrylic engraving didn’t work out. In trying to reach the depth of the parts that didn’t carve the first and second time the third time was not a charm. =). Ended up gouging and heading off track. Oh well. Just another thing to figure out.
For now, just for time sake, I’ll just make little feet for the sign so it can be put into service on Lou’s desk next week. In the meantime I’ll keep trying to get the acrylic etching technique mastered.
