Xmas Ornament Designs

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
It's getting close to that time again and thought I would share some Xmas ornament designs that I've collected-see cdr file attached (saved as a Corel 10 cdr.).
These are all vector designs which can be easily modified/sized/etc. and have only vector cutting-no rastering. Of course, you can add a name or fill/raster sections if you wish, but vectoring only keeps the laser time down and reasonable if you want to mass produce.
I use 1/8" stock. 5.75 " wide in cherry, walnut, maple, or Jatoba (Brazilian Cherry) and find the maple and Jatoba a bit stronger/better for fragile images and the cherry best for ornaments with rastered/engraved sections. For smaller, lacy-type ornaments, you may wish to delete some sections to increase strength or move the nodes around to eliminate thin junctions. Also, orient the grain direction of the wood (or image to the wood) to maximize strength.
I will post some other designs which I've has some success selling because they are associated with local towns/events.
Enjoy

[Jerry Allen]

Thanks for the file George.
Do you have a good source for jatoba blanks?

[Jerry Allen]

George,
I just noticed your thread regarding think cherry, jatoba, maple and walnut blanks. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44172)
I am very interested and the prices look great.
I'm attaching a modified version of the ornaments I uploaded in an earlier post re-sized for .15". Can I assume that this will work with minor sanding?
Should I wait for my order to size the slots? I'm looking for a snug fit to avoid gluing if possible. Would .152" a better choice assuming little sanding if any?

[Jeff Chumbley]

Jerry is this in x13? I cannot open it in v 12

[Jerry Allen]

Sorry Jeff. V10 attached.
I'd highly recommend getting X3.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jerry;
I've done a check on a number of samples of each specie and think a.150 after sanding spec should be good. Obviously wood this thin is somewhat affected by humidity. The Jatoba appears to be on the high side of 5/32" and the cherry on the low side. I will laser some ornament samples of each and post later today.
The Jatoba is a very hard, dense wood and weighs much more than the other specie-finished beautifully. I can see why they use it for flooring.
George

[Jerry Allen]

Thanks George.
I was wondering what cut settings your are using and particulary for the jotoba. I have had pretty good success interpolating from your stated Merc 60 cut settings at approx. 1/2 the speed.

[Jerry Allen]

Someone had asked me for the file I did this ornament with.
This is a two sided ornament with the same picture on the reverse.
The photo was sized, contrast enhanced, and modified in Photopaint using the Floyd-Stucky B&W algorithm at ~90%. You have to zoom in and out on the converted file to tell if the dots look right.
Sometimes my files are a little sloppy with extraneous work so I am going to clean it up and add some instructions and will upload the .cdr later.
The attached photo was before the item was finished. Sometimes I finish beforehand which works well.
I only do these on request because they are program editing intensive and most folks think the price is too high.

PS-- these should look good in maple, cherry, and jotoba

[Jeff Chumbley]

Thanks Jerry

Nice ornament with the picture. I have problems with wood so I usually do them in acrylic.

Jeff

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jerry;

Here's a pic of an ornament done in each wood. All except Jatoba were cut at 90% power (60watts) and 3.8 speed. Jatoba was cut at 90 and 2.5. Had a little smoke on the back but ran them through the drum once on each side lightly as I had plenty of thickness to work with. I will do one of your ornaments in Jatoba to check size and will post.
George

[George M. Perzel]

Jerry;
How do you attach an image as a thumbnail rather than as an attachment in this forum?
George

[Jerry Allen]

Geo.
Looks good.
Looks like your .bmp attached, "thumbnails" and views fine...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry George,
Head elsewhere again.
From what I can see, if you attach a .jpg it will get a thumbnail. A .bmp just gets attached.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi all;
Here's a few more ornaments. Enjoy
George

[George M. Perzel]

Hi all;
Here's how to make icicle names-easy and fast and the kids love them. Also a great way to use scraps of thin wood. Enjoy
george

[Jerry Allen]

attached are a couple of new interlocking ornaments sizes for .150 wood

[Jerry Allen]

Ran out of thin wood.
Used some cheap scrap until my order from Geo. gets here.

[Ed Lang]

Jerry,
What is that material?

[Jerry Allen]

Ed,
Some cheap green translucent cell cast acrylic I got from Delvies.
I intend to redo in jotoba.

[Jeff Chumbley]

George,

Are the 2 files that you have posted in version x3? When I open them in 12 all I get is a dummy file.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi jeff;
Yep- but here's the same ones in Corel 11.
Enjoy

[Jeff Chumbley]

Thank you George,

Sorry just haven't upgraded to X3 I probably should just for the vector conversions. I am still using my HP 5300C

[Jerry Allen]

Jeff,
More than just the vector conversions, Smart Fill is a real time saver, the node editor works better, and a many other things make it well worth upgrading.

[Jeff Chumbley]

Ok OK OK I'm looking LOL

Jeff

[George M. Perzel]

Hi
Here's afew of Jerry's ornaments cut from maple, cherry and Jatoba-worked great!
George

[Mary Helvey]

I'm still running Corel 9 because my laser is limited to a 98/Me OS. Would X3 let me work on projects then save in a format that Corel 9 could use for the actual engraving? :o

Mary

[Lee DeRaud]

I'm still running Corel 9 because my laser is limited to a 98/Me OS. Would X3 let me work on projects then save in a format that Corel 9 could use for the actual engraving? :o Yup: anything back to v7.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Mary;
Here's the files in Corel 9-
Best regards;
George

[Mary Helvey]

Thanks for the help. I will have to get X3 sometime, but until then thanks for posting the ornaments in v9.

Mary

[Jerry Allen]

Just got some wood from George.
Great stuff! I usually tear my hair out fighting birch ply and oak planks, hoping I don't get hung up on a knot or tough spot that doesn't cut through. I didn't know what I was missing.
The ornaments are mixed cherry and maple because I ran out already...

[Barbara Sample]

Thank you so much for this idea. I made a couple for my grandsons and showed them to someone and he order 10 of them.
Thank you again.
Barbara

[Dennis Kotlowski]

George,

I was wondering if you would be willing to share the cdr file for the lantern image you used for the below ornaments?


Dennis
JD Laser Gifts

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=48461&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1160793378 (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=48461&d=1160793378)

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Dennis;
It's on Xmas2-posted previously on this thread. Let me know if you have a problem with it.
George

[Jerry Allen]

George,
I already used up all the wood I got from you.
Do you have any more of the same?

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jerry;
Still a bunch in stock. Figured I could get 40 pieces of 12" stuff in a flat rate USPS box so am offering 10 pieces of each specie (40 pieces total) for $30 plus $10 shipping anywhere in continental USA.
George

[Joe Pelonio]

After missing the last two holiday seasons I'll finally see if anyone buys ornaments here. I came in on Sunday and did about 75, most with the green edge acrylic for a lady that's selling embroidered stuff at a holiday craft show this weekend. She wanted them to attract more people to her booth where she has hand made ladies embroidered fabric wallets and handbags. She didn't even want a percentage but I'm insisting that she take $1 each.

[Dave Jones]

Just curious what size you made and what they are going to sell for. I'm designing a couple of intricate snowflakes and am thinking about making them around 4".

[Joe Pelonio]

My stuff is all in the 3-4" range. Prices will be $3-6 each depending on size and how intricate, more cutting higher price.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Here's the 12 days of Xmas in ornaments. Had to make 3 files due to size limits.All parts are vectors so you can change at will-enjoy!
By the way, all are saved in Corel 9 so just about anyone should be able to open them.
George

[Rick Hutcheson]

Why do I get giberish when I try to open George's "Xmas days" attachment. I have Corel 9, 12, and X3 on my computer so it should open somewhere. I notice this on a lot of the cdr files, one opens fine, then the next one I get a page of giberish fonts and symbols.

[Ed Lang]

http://www.snowflakeslookandfeel.com/
will allow you to create snow flakes and save them. Then you can laser or CNC cut them.

Have fun.

[art baylor]

Rick:

Are you using IE6? For me the simple fix was to download and use Firefox for DL on this board. I couldn't figure what the problem was but firefox fixed it.
firefox.com

Art

[art baylor]

Ed:

The snowflakes thing site is a good find! Thanks

Art

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Here's an idea for an ornament that's fast and easy.It uses old pics/engravings of historic town buildings and is a great item at Xmas or anytime.
I use 5/32" cherry or Brazilian cherry (see http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=44172
Each ornament takes about 1.5 minutes and needs no finishing. I have a series of 8 of these that sell in a local gift store for $5.95 each.
George

[Steve McKee]

George, what size are these? Look nice, great idea.

Steve

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Steve;
About 3.5 inches in diameter-sized to get 4 out of one of the 5.75 x 12" thin boards-cherry works best for an engraved image contrast and minimum time as the Brazilian cherry needs a little longer engrave time.
George

[Rick Hutcheson]

Art:
I tried Firefox and still get the same symbols and gibersish. Thanks for the suggestion,

[Jeff Chumbley]

Dont double click on the file that you are trying to download.

right click
save as
when the save as window comes up add .cdr to the name of the file where you are going to save it to
click ok
then try open with Corel

Jeff

[Dave Jones]

I must be missing something. I follow that make a snow flake link and it takes me to a revolving search site. Clicking on any of the links there just does another search or takes me to one of a thousand other sites.

Is that URL correct? Where is the actual snowflake making page?

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Dave;
Yea- I got the same problem. Can someone post the actual link? Thanks
george

[Ray Mighells]

Try http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/ this comes right up and you can make a snowflake or download a zillion ready mades. They readily open in Corel. Some really nice ones, many need tweaking as they are very fraigle, some may not be practical for lasering, and the prettiest take so long to cut you'd lose money on them.

[Dave Jones]

Ahhh. OK. THAT kind of snowflake. Interesting, though not exactly what I was thinking it would be.

Thanks.

[art baylor]

Rick:
Did you ever have any luck with the cdr downloads? Do you have the problem with the zip files and pdf's here too?

Art

[Rick Hutcheson]

I can open the other files no problem. It's just the CDR files.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Here's a laser cut display stand that works great for displaying ornaments-could be used for other things. The cdr file has the slots made for 200 mm (they call it 1/4") luan plywood, which lasers beautifully by the way.
George

[Dennis Kotlowski]

George,

File won't open.

Dennis

[Rick Hutcheson]

Well I kept playing and finally figured it out. When I right click the file I get the option to save target as. I select that option, it saves the file on my hard drive with a htm extension. I then go on my hard drive and rename the file, delete the htm, and put in cdr. Window comes up and says may have problem but forget it. Now click on the new file with the cdr extension and it opens fine.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Dennis;
File is Corel X3-try this one which is Corel 9.
George

[Jeff Chumbley]

George,

Do you still have wood??

Jeff

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jeff;
Sure do-send me your email and I will send pics and pricing.
gperzel@rochester.rr.com
George

[Joe Pelonio]

I made 60 ornaments, most green edge acrylic, some with other acrylics and a few basswood. This with the laser limping along right before the tube died.

These were by request of a friend who with her daughter were selling their embroidered fabric purses and wallets, and wanted ornaments to attract more people and have something less expensive to sell.

At the one-day sale they sold 27 of the 60. On their other items they made less than half of what they made last year. All of the other vendors did badly too. There were times when only 2-3 customers were in the place. The unforunate bad luck was the weather. It was at the high scool where you park quite a way from the entrance, and we had driving rain with 40mph winds all day.

They will keep the rest for an upcoming sale at the elementary school, where kids by inexpensive gifts for their families.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
Here's a pic of the finished display with ornaments. These are made from Jatoba (Brazilian cherry, which is much harder and denser than out American cherry.) I don't usually do ornaments, but did a few with local historic buildings for a friend and the demand skyrocketed.
Wood cost for each is 20 cents, takes 1 min35 seconds to laser, tassel is 2 cents. These sell for $6.00 of which I get $4.50.
George

[George M. Perzel]

Hi gang;
Here's a few more ornaments. Therse are in Corel 9. Enjoy!!!
george

[Dave Jones]

George, it looks like the string hole on the one with the candle has dropped down into the ring around the candle. (at least on X3)

[George M. Perzel]

Dave;
Thanks-you are right. See corrected file.
george

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
here's some more ornaments-most with a lake theme/flavor. Add a lake name (use Roundboldstencil font for cutout letters-you may want to break the text apart and shift the letters a bit to leave a little more material between the letters) and a hanger string-selling like crazy here at $6.00 each and I can get 3 of them out of a 5.75 x 12" hardwood thin. Each takes about 1 min 30 secs to cut on my Mercury.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Jeff Chumbley]

Is that an X3 file George?

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Jeff;
Yep-darn it-keep forgetting. Corel 9 attached.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
here's another batch of ornaments- saved in Corel 9
Enjoy!
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[George M. Perzel]

Hi all;
Here's a few more ornaments-posted in Corel 9.
Enjoy
George

[James & Zelma Litzmann]

Mr. Perzel,

We just wanted to take a time to tell you THANK YOU for all your postings of ornaments. Sometimes we get so excited about all of you giving your patterns to us that we forget to say thank you. So we just wanted to take time to let you know you are very much appreciated. To all of you that have posted files, THANK YOU!

You are still some of the greatest people we have ever had the pleasure of spending time with (even if it is on a computer). ;)

J&Z (Psalms 18:2)
"Inscriptions Of The Heart"
Texas

[Keith Outten]

Folks, its time to make a donation to SMC so we can pay our annual expenses. Please click on the link in my signature and get your Contributor 2007 title and show your support for The Creek.

Thanks,
Keith

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Gang;
The season is really starting to heat up! here's a few more ornament designs-saved in Corel 9.
Enjoy!
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Mike Klafehn]

I haven't taken delivery of my laser yet (mid Dec), but I thought this site was cool for those interested in creating custom snowflakes and saving as eps files.

http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/ (http://snowflakes.lookandfeel.com/)

[Ed Newbold]

Hi jeff;
Yep- but here's the same ones in Corel 11.
EnjoyGeorge, do you happen to know what the font is that was used in your icicle file for the name Tracy? I've been searching the web for it and simply can;t identify it right now.

Thanks,

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Ed;
The font is "Iron Man"- I would attach it but TTF files are invalid here. Send me an email and I'll send it to you.
Best regards;
George
LaserArts
gperzel@rochester.rr.com

[Keith Outten]

George,

You can Zip any file first then upload.

[George M. Perzel]

Hi keith;
Thanks for the tip. Can you also just change the file type, up load it, download it, and then change it back?
Best regards;
George
LaserArts

[Pete Simmons]

Made many of some of the ornaments shown here. I used George's thin wood - Cherry.

Sold some, gave a lot away.

Had a woman stop me recently to tell me about one of the ornaments she gave as a gift. Both parties were very happy with it. She said you would have thought I gave the person a million dollars, she was so happy.

The ornaments are a big hit.

Thanks George and everyone else who helped make this possible!