Create a board game
with your laser

Step by step guide

Preparation

Required material:

Board:

19.7" x 19.7" TroLase walnut/white 1/16"
Acrylic (red, blue, yellow, green) 1/32" - adhesive tape on back side

Figures:

Acrylic (red, blue, yellow, green) 1/8"

Stickers:

TroLase Lights gold/black

Used Trotec Laser:

Speedy 360
80 watts
2 inch lens

Tip:

white acrylic grating

Step by Step

Step 1: Board

First decide what size board you would like. We are using 19.7" x 19.7" pre-cut acrylic for our extra-large board game. Adapt the design as you wish and send the file to the laser.

Tip:

For the best results and less cleaning effort, the board should be engraved from bottom to top.

Step 2: Colourful dots for the starting area

Cut five circles per colour from the 1/32" acrylic to indicate the players' areas.
For best results, we recommend using the white acrylic cutting grid, leaving the protective foil on the material during the cutting process.

You can order the acrylic with an adhesive film on the back and then you just have to put the circles on the appropriate places. Make sure the board is clean before you apply them.

Step 3: Figures

Now you need the red, blue, yellow and green acrylic (1/8") for the figures. Cut out the characters and the matching discs (standing feet) according to colour and plug them together.
Again, it is important to leave the protective foil on the material during the cutting process for a brilliant cutting edge.

Step 4: Decoration

We used some stickers to make the game board look less empty and more fun.

We engraved TroLase Lights and used our Kiss Cut parameters to "cut-in" the material. Only the adhesive film is cut and the support material remains unblemished. Then the sticker can be removed easily.

It is important to also engrave the stickers from the bottom to the top. (see Step 1).

Step 5: Used laser parameters

We worked with a Speedy 360 80 watts power and the parameters listed below. You can download the JobControl files and import them easily into your parameters database (see download area below).

Board - TroLase 1/16"

Engraving: Power: 80% - Speed: 100% - Frequency: 500ppi - Air Assist: ON - Z-offset: 1.5 mm
For best engraving results, we've activated the "high quality" function and set the Z-offset to 1.5mm.

Dots - Acrylic 1/32"

Cutting: Power: 33% - Speed: 1.2% - Frequency: 1000Hz - Air Assist: ON

Figures - Acrylic 1/8"

Cutting: Power: 45% - Speed: 0.4% - Frequency: 1000Hz - Air Assist: ON - Z-offset: -0.6 mm
Here we also worked with 0.6mm Z-Offset for a smoother engraving.

Sticker - TroLase Lights

Engraving: Power: 35% - Speed: 50% - Frequency: 500ppi - Air Assist: ON - Z-offset: 2 mm
Cutting: Power: 20% - Speed: 2% - Frequency: 1000Hz - Air Assist: ON
Kiss Cut: Power: 8% - Speed: 2% - Frequency: 1000Hz - Air Assist: ON
We also recommend that you activate the "high quality" function. The laser process takes more time, but the perfect result is worth it.