David Harvey
02-09-2010, 10:54 AM
Thought I would share this project that I did for a local police department in early December of last year. This was a pretty involved project, in that, I ended up having to use 'all' of the tools at hand, ie. CNC router, vinyl printer/cutter and the laser. The plaque was a large one...16" x 20" walnut and the design was that of the assistant police chief, who was coordinating and planning the retirement ceremony. He said here's kinda what I want, you just make it look good. ....errrr thanks....
They wanted to somehow convey a 'Family tree' of both the chiefs family and all of the memebers of the police department. The concept I decided on was to make all the elements 'lay' into pockets that were routed into the plaque, somewhat framing each element to make it standout and also blend into the entire scheme.
The pictures were all scanned from supplied photos and then print and cut as decals on the printer. These were then applied to the Alumamark gold plates that were laser engraved with a border and sized to precisely drop into their respective pockets on the plaque. All were then coated with a protective gloss finish.
The central photo of the plaque was lasered onto a 6" x 6" laser tile and pressed into the pocket in the plaque.
The hardest part was coming up with pockets that the 2 different badges would drop into and in a manner that would look similar to the other pockets in the plaque...plus they had to also be able to be removed and inserted back when needed. After a few trials in scrap wood I got that worked out
Once everything was machined and all the elements verified to fit, the last step was to laser engrave all the text below the photographs. They also wanted the US and State flags engraved either side of the photo at the bottom.
Luckily, everything worked out well, everything fit in the pockets like a glove and it was finally finished. They really liked it and I heard that the ceremony where it was presented went exceptionally well.
Thought I would share this as it shows how various pieces of equipment can compliment the other, and many on this forum have the different machines.
I took a few pictures of the plaque as it progressed and attached them to show how it turned out.
The next one I would like to make out of Corian (Yes, Keith, YOU GOT ME HOOKED! :rolleyes: )
They wanted to somehow convey a 'Family tree' of both the chiefs family and all of the memebers of the police department. The concept I decided on was to make all the elements 'lay' into pockets that were routed into the plaque, somewhat framing each element to make it standout and also blend into the entire scheme.
The pictures were all scanned from supplied photos and then print and cut as decals on the printer. These were then applied to the Alumamark gold plates that were laser engraved with a border and sized to precisely drop into their respective pockets on the plaque. All were then coated with a protective gloss finish.
The central photo of the plaque was lasered onto a 6" x 6" laser tile and pressed into the pocket in the plaque.
The hardest part was coming up with pockets that the 2 different badges would drop into and in a manner that would look similar to the other pockets in the plaque...plus they had to also be able to be removed and inserted back when needed. After a few trials in scrap wood I got that worked out
Once everything was machined and all the elements verified to fit, the last step was to laser engrave all the text below the photographs. They also wanted the US and State flags engraved either side of the photo at the bottom.
Luckily, everything worked out well, everything fit in the pockets like a glove and it was finally finished. They really liked it and I heard that the ceremony where it was presented went exceptionally well.
Thought I would share this as it shows how various pieces of equipment can compliment the other, and many on this forum have the different machines.
I took a few pictures of the plaque as it progressed and attached them to show how it turned out.
The next one I would like to make out of Corian (Yes, Keith, YOU GOT ME HOOKED! :rolleyes: )