Christmas Ornament Material

[Terry Swift]

All,

My police department folk have a request for me to create a Christmas Ornament in the shape of approx. a 3" oval to match the police badge. Looking at quite a few suppliers and not getting a couple of replies from some major players in my area in that area of expertise - I have been unable to find something suitable that can be dye-subbed and not drop the tree to the ground.

My fire department folk may have a request too - but I'm sure the Maltese Cross can fit on a more available medium circle. Again, my checking reveals nothing much over a 2 1/2" circle.

Either of these can be specially created; but at a cost that may send the overall cost higher than what people may be willing to pay.

All ideas welcome at this point/

[Joe Pelonio]

Try engraving & cutting 1/8" clear "green edge" acrylic, it makes for very nice Christmas ornaments. It won't be in color but may appeal to them. Just add a little bump to the top and a hole in it for the hanger.

[Terry Swift]

Joe,

Am looking to do that, but don't remember seeing the green edge at places like Johnson or JDS. I'll look more; but I have quite a few other designs like snowflakes that I'll get the colored acrylics for.

I have been trying to get to this project for the customer; but being a one man show makes getting everything done in a timely factor is hard when you're doing stuff for the first or second time and the project pieces don't fit together as they should. I'm trying to do some inlay type work for a business anniversary plaque and what I've engraved into the wood and what I've cut out don't quite fit. I know the laser cuts at an angle; but I've even reduced the size of the inlay piece and it's close. Cutting an testing uses a lot of time an materials. I'm also foiling the inlay different colors, which adds to the complexity.

I'm learning though. We all have to take those baby steps and I look working with this stuff; but I'm a mechanic / I.T. person by trade with little background in woodworking that would be a tremendous help.

[Joe Pelonio]

Tap Plastics has the green edge and will ship, but it seems like there would be local suppliers in your area.

For inlay work you need to adjust for the material that the laser burns off. Yes, it takes time, but if you do a contour on the cut file of about .04 it should be close. Depends though on the cut speed/power, which depends on the thickness/hardness of the veneer.

[Terry Swift]

Joe,

Thanks for the acrylic supplier. I have a few here in the DFW Area; but don't recall them showing that in the catalogs. I do have JDS, Johnson Plastics, a place called J-Bobs, etc. that are local to me - so I'll check a bit more.

I'm using 1/8" baltic birch as my inlay piece and vector engraving the foil to just cut the graphic lines and then vector cutting the piece out. I'm using the same template as I used to engrave the plaque and shrinking it down. The original dimensions were 6.967" w x 2.796" h and I went down to 6.676" x 2.72" and it was still a very tight fit in some areas and some gaps in others; like when I reduced the size - it wasn't symmetrical. I used the X / Y lock / aspect ratio to keep them synchronized and thought that would be the right way, but I went thru a lot of pieces trying to get as close a sizing as possible. I even tried moving the piece out of focus a hair (a suggestion), but that didn't seem to accomplish much.

LaserU covered a little bit of inlay work, but not very specific or detailed other than you use the same graphic to engrave the piece, enlarge the outline line size x amount from hairline, and vector cut the inlay piece and viola - you have it.

My first inlay piece, so playing / working with it is okay as long as I'm doing it the "right" way.

[Martin Boekers]

Acrylite is a manufacturer of acrylic they fabricate a great selection.

Another place you might check is Delvies plastic as they sell smaller
sizes of sheets
and dont charge a cutting fee.


Marty