DesignFind

I found myself creating a bunch of Christmas ornaments this holiday season. That's no surprise. Some were custom, but others were standard, flat, round ornaments. So as the OCD person I am, I thought, "I need a fixture for these!" Some folks call them jigs, but they're really fixtures.

In particular, I wanted to create some clear acrylic ornaments, and I haven't yet been successful in etching or engraving on clear acrylic with my M1. After reading a bunch about flash back, I knew what I had to do. I set out to create a fixture for engraving round ornaments that would raise them above the base plate or honeycomb panel to avoid burning the underside of the material.

This How-to runs through the process of making these fixtures (or "jigs," if you must). I designed one for 3½" round ornaments and another for 3" rounds. Hopefully these will help you create holiday ornaments in the years to come. I've already seen better results than I've ever had before on clear acrylic.