Wooden Coasters

[Steve McKee]

Hi all, we have a customer that has inquired about wooden coasters/coaster sets. We have never done these and are not sure of a couple of things.

1: Where to get them, or do we make them out of 1/8 inch Alder sheets like the ones LaserBits carry?

2: Will these stand up to use?

3: Do they need to be finished in any way (varnished, etc).

Thanks

[Nancy Laird]

Steve, the 1/8 alder will work very well, as will 1/8 birch ply. You should ALWAYS finish your wood before you laser it, as any residue from the lasering that you try to clean off will move itself to the unlasered portions and leave ugly black marks. Besides, the finishing seems to "pop" the lasering a bit. We make a LOT of name tags, ornaments, etc. from 1/8 birch ply and they seem to stand up well. We cut the material down into sheets to fit our laser, one quick sand, one coat of sanding sealer (sprayed), quick sand, and two coats of lacquer. Do both sides of the material. That should stand up very well for your coasters.

If you are using any color fill on the lasered pieces, WAX them first with a good-quality wax made for wood floors. Not only does the wax clean the smoke residue from the item, it also seals the ends of the pores so you don't have bleed from the lasered portion. Let the paint dry well (at least an hour, overnight is better), then one more coat of wax to remove any paint film or residue and give them a nice shine. Hobby Lobby and Michaels carry Liquitex Basics acrylics in a myriad of colors.

I got a tip recently that if I'm going to try to use red or yellow or anything other than a brown-based color (copper, etc.), I should probably put in a coat of white under it as a primer. Otherwise, the nice reds and yellows will turn muddy. The edges of your pieces will have a nice brown tint to them where they have been cut by the laser.

Are you just making the coasters, or are you also providing the holders/stackers for them too?

Nancy

[Steve McKee]

Are you just making the coasters, or are you also providing the holders/stackers for them too?Nancy
Not sure at this time, they didn't mention anything about holders though I would suspect they would want them.