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Laser engraved birthday calendar
Transform a notice board into a calendar by combining it with laser engraved aluminium tags
In this tutorial we will show you how to create a unique birthday calendar by combining an IKEA "Vaggis" noticeboard with various Trotec materials, including our brand new range of aluminium tags. You can discover our materials on our engraving supplies webshop.
Preparation
Required materials:
- IKEA pin board "Väggis"
- 1/4 sheet TroGlass frosted: Green with double-sided adhesive tape
- 1 sheet of wood veneer birch, 600 x 300 mm
- Suitable material to cover the laser bed such as paper
- Hot glue gun
- Aluminium tags
Laser machine used:
- Speedy 360, 80 Watt with a 2" lens
- Vacuum table
- Acrylic cutting grid
- Aluminum cutting grid table for the wood cuts
You can use any Speedy series laser machine to create this sample.
Tips:
- Use the laser acrylic cutting grid for TroGlass and the aluminium cutting grid for wood processing to achieve the best results.
- Use a material such as paper to cover the rest of the engraving table, as this will maximise exhaust efficiency.
Step by Step
Step 1: The graphic for the cork board
The first step is to either create your own design for the calendar or use our design template. When sending it to the laser use the following parameters:
Print settings
| Process mode | Resolution | Cut line |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 500 dpi | none |
| Halftone | Others |
|---|---|
| colour | - |
Step 2: Laser engraving the pin board
Load the cork board onto the vacuum table and use the settings below to process the material.
Tip:
With cork boards there is a possibility that the material will not be perfectly flat. To ensure accurate processing test the focus on several positions of the cork board. If there are deviations use an average value for the focus.
Laser Parameters:
| Colour | Process | Power (%) | Speed (%) | ppi/Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| black | engrave CO2 | 22 | 70 | 500 |
| red | engrave CO2 | 50 | 70 | 500 |
| Passes | Air Assist | Z-Offset | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | on | - | High quality |
| 1 | on | - | High quality |
Step 3: TroGlass letters
For an eye catching design we used TroGlass to create the letters for the header. You can use our “birthday calendar” graphic or choose your own phrase. Send it to your laser with the following parameters:
Print settings
| Process mode | Resolution | Cut line |
|---|---|---|
| Cut Job | 1000 dpi | none |
| Halftone | Others |
|---|---|
| colour | enhanced geometries, inner geometries first |
Step 4: Laser cutting TroGlass
Begin laser cutting the letters from TroGlass (with double-sided adhesive tape applied). When cutting use the vacuum table. Once the laser cutting process is finished put a strip of paper tape onto the letters to keep them in position.
Tip:
In our example we have used the TroGlass parameters optimised for quality in JobControl
Laser Parameters
| Colour | Process | Power (%) | Speed (%) | ppi/Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Cut CO2 | 50 | 0.2 | 5000 |
| Passes | Air Assist | Z-Offset | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | on | - | - |
Step 5: Wood covering for letters
To further make the TroGlass lettering stand out we glued it to a wood veneer base plate. For this send the graphic to your laser using the below parameters:
| Process mode | Resolution | Cut line |
|---|---|---|
| Cut Job | 1000 dpi | none |
| Halftone | Others |
|---|---|
| colour | enhanced geometries inner geometries first |
Step 6: Laser cutting the wooden baseplate
Remove the vacuum table and replace it with the aluminium cutting grid table. Load the veneered wood into your laser cutter and begin laser cutting using the below parameters. Once you have finished processing you can clean the workpiece using a damp cloth if required.
Laser Parameters
| Colour | Process | Power (%) | Speed (%) | ppi/Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Cut CO2 | 100 | 0.8 | 1000 |
| Passes | Air Assist | Z-Offset | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | on | - | High quality |
Step 7: Assembly
The final step is to assemble your calendar. Glue your TroGlass letters onto the veneered wood backing. To make sure they are aligned test the positioning and mark the corners. Once you are satisfied glue the letters onto the pin board. When dry your calendar is now ready to use.
Inspiration
- Use our brand new range of aluminium tags to complete the calendar. Available in a variety of styles and colours our diverse range allows you to meet the varied needs of customers.
- To engrave multiple tags at once you can use a custom jig or template. Follow our creating templates tutorial
- You can also directly laser engrave the frame of the board to add more detailed designs.
