Richard
Report

Personalized See-Thru Home and Community Map [Week 2 Task]

Seize the Bay welcome plaque.xcs
Seize the Bay welcome plaque
.xcs
Application scenario
Laser
Machine & module
xTool M1
10W
Compatibles · 8
Material used
Felt
3mm Basswood Plywood
29
2357
Information
      I've been experimenting with methods and materials to create engraved maps for friends and family. This project is specifically for a vacation rental property we own (hence the punny name).

I've gone through various iterations and materials to home in on this design approach: I'm sandwiching a map that I cut and engraved on Basswood plywood between a transparent front panel and a transparent blue sheet (acrylic or gel).

The first task is finding and manipulating the map. I downloaded an SVG map of the community from OpenStreeetMaps.org and imported it into Affinity Designer. There are many tutorials on the best ways to manipulate these sorts of maps, so I won't get into those details. I'll probably share some tips from my learnings later. I exported my final design, with separate layers for water, streets, beach, wetlands, lettering, and framing, as an SVG file.

Now for the physical stuff: I covered the Bassword board with 12" masking tape to protect the wood from staining while cutting and to make the color fill process easier. First I cut the board to size with the laser. Then I ran the cutouts representing water and the engraving for the lettering and location marker. Removing the board from the laser bay, I filled the masked, engraved lettering with black powder paint, employing a heat gun to cure the color. After carefully removing the masking [hint: use a Cricut weeding tool], I put the board back in the M1. I was very careful to place the board exactly where I ran the first processes so everything would like up. Then I ran the engraving and framing.

For the picture frame, I wanted to convert the Michael's floating frame to be free-standing. I purchased a similarly stained wood pallet plaque and pried to pieces apart. The bottom plank was stained on three sides, so I chose that one and glued the frame to it, aligning it so the weight of the materials in the frame would be centered front-to-back. I allowed the glue to dry overnight, drilled and sunk two screw holes in through the bottom to tightly secure the pieces with short screws. Finishing the frame off, I used the laser to cut a piece of black felt the exact dimensions of the plank and glued it to the bottom, covering the plank's imperfections and screw holes. I also removed the sawtooth hanger that came on the back of the frame since it wouldn't be necessary. 

Finally, I cleaned and inserted the glass, board, and gel layers for the final product.
    
Comments
Remixes
xTool Supplies Used in This Template
xTool M1
xTool M1
3mm Basswood Plywood
3mm Basswood Plywood