Back-Pack Charms for Students - xTool Projects
I created some all metal backpack charms for my bride to give to her students. With the included clasps, they can attach them to their backpack zippers as constant inspiration.
Step 1: Design
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Setting 1
Process Method
Vector Laser Engrave
Power(%) or Cut Pressure(g)
100
Speed(mm/s)
100
Lines per cm
260

The design is simple, but I had to start with measuring the metal tag and drawing it up in xTool Creative Space.  I included the hole so that I could make sure to avoid it with any design elements. i set the tag design on the red layer and set those elements to “ignore” so they would not process.

For the front, I wanted the message to be bold, and resemble a smiley face. So I used the “Be The” as an allusion to eyes and nose, then used the curved text feature to resemble a smiling mouth. These I put on the blue layer

For the back, I opened another tab and copied the tag objects to the new tab. I then used the curved text feature to make the school name surround the date. I ended up doing the 3 words of the school name as separate objects so make sure the layout worked.

Step 2
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I used the “L” bracket to help me align the tag. Once I got it turned the way I wanted it, I used a black sharpie to mark the hole. That way I can easily add the next tag and align the hole correctly.

I used the “outline” framing feature to make sure everything was correct for the first one. once I got the design framed onto the tag correctly, I started the processing. Up to this point, I used about 10minutes of my time. The laser time per face was 1 minute and 31 seconds.

I had 100 tags to process total. After the first one, I replaced the tag with a new one, making sure to align the hole to the sharpie mark, the double-clicked the knob to start engraving. I repeated this for all 100 tags. Once I had all the fronts laserd I repeated the process of framing the back face, then re-ran all 100 tags to engrave the backs.

Step 3
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Once all the laser work was finished I could assemble the charms.

The charms consist of 4 parts:

  1. Metal Tag
  2. Key Ring
  3. Globe Charm
  4. Swivel Lanyard Clips

First, I put the tag and the clasp onto the key ring.

Then, i made sure to orient the globe correctly and placed it onto the key ring so that it did not cover the front message.

Design Files
Round Key Charms.xcs
metal charm
stianless steel tag
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