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Introduction
Garden Marker Stakes
I made these garden marker stakes as a Christmas gift for a close friend who loves to grow their own fruits and vegetables. Since every garden is different, I want to show you how to make your own garden stakes using my provided template. I chose to make them using acrylic, so that I wouldn't have to worry about them growing mold (on wood) due to the wet environment.
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Basic Information
SoftwarexTool Creative Space
MachineM1
Laser Module Output Power10W
Material UsedAcrylic,Wood
Material InfoI am using xtool brand black opaque acrylic for the stakes and xtool brand 3mm birch ply for the gift box.
Making Time(mins)120
Step1
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Start by opening the XCS software and opening the file template project provided. Select the text box next, and type in the vegetable/fruit that you want to make. I typed tomatoes, and used the Font Christmas Bright.

Step2
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Next, rotate the text box by 90 degrees. Drag the text to the inner box on the stake template. Change the font size so that a little bit of the text goes beyond the center box in the stake template. I changed my size from 72 to 62. You can align the text by clicking both on the inner stake box and the text box and clicking Align at the top menu bar (do vertical and horizontal center).

Step3
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Select only the stake template, both the outer frame and the inner box and click Combine and Subtract at Overlap to make the stake into a solid piece. After that, select everything and click Combine and Unite. The text and stake template should now be one welded piece.

Step4
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Find a picture of your vegetable/fruit (outline/lineart with a transparent background) online and open it in XCS. You can also draw your own. I provided a tomato .png file. Resize the picture to fit on top of the stake as desired. Click on the picture and click Outline and do an Offset of 2 mm. Click on the stake and tomato outline and Combine and Unite.

Step5
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Setting 1
Process MethodLaser Cut
Process MaterialAcrylic
Power(%) or Cut Pressure(g)100
Pass1
Speed(mm/s)3
Setting 2
Process MethodBitmap Laser Engrave
Process MaterialAcrylic
Power(%) or Cut Pressure(g)100
Pass1
Speed(mm/s)40
Bitmap modeGrayscale

You are almost ready to cut. Set the correct settings for the stake. Since I used black acrylic, I did 100/3/1. 1 pass was all I needed, you may need 2 passes. I am using the honeycomb and air assist. I engraved the picture at 100/40/1/100. You are now ready to click Process.

Step6
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You are all done making your first garden marker stake. I made a custom sized gift box for my friend with the help of a box generator (https://www.festi.info/boxes.py/). This was cut on 3mm birch plywood at 100/4/1 using honeycomb and air assist.

Design Files
GardenMarkerTemplate.xcs
Tomato.png
#xToolChristmasgift
xToolChristmasgift
Christmas
Garden
Stakes
Markers
Box
acrylic
wood
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Free
Thank you for sharing , my wife will love these
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you're welcome
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Awesome and so creative?? I was curious as I’m new with XTool M1. I bought this tool to make acrylics and I’m finding out that I can only use solid colored acrylics. You can’t use clear acrylics? Are you able to use acrylics that are clear with design like glitter? Do you know?
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You cannot cut clear acrylic with the M1 (a diode laser). You can cut some glitter acrylic, as long as it's OPAQUE and not clear core.
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I love this. Thanks so much!
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You're Welcome! =)
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Hi Wendy love the work keep it up
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Thank you!
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Have you posted design files for the box?
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Hi Wendy. These are great! Suggestion - put all of your graphics up for sale on Etsy or somewhere else for a couple dollars. You get paid, we get awesome graphics - a win for all!
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Hi i am trying to do this for my P2 however when i get to the stage where i add the picture with a 2mm outline it’s wont allow me to combine it. Is there something i need to do differently at this stage for the P2. Thanks
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These are FANTASTIC. I can't wait to make them! Thank you so much!
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You're welcome!
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These look great! What thickness is the acrylic?
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Thank you. They are 3mm.
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These are adorable!
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Thank you!
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Definitely Creative! Great idea! Thanks!
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I am working on this and the XCS program won't let me combine the tomatoe image and the garden stake as in step 4. It is telling me I have two different types of design elements, what am I doing wrong??
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Such a cute idea! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for sharing!
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