Round Tuits

[Annette Thomas]

Anyone have a template made for 18x24 Epilog Helix for round tuits? I need to cut the jig so I can set the round tuits in that I purchased. I have no idea how many I could get in the engraving area just thought I would ask before I reinvented the wheel.

Thanks,
Annette

[Jeff DeVore]

I always use acylic for my templates. It should only take a few minutes to set one up in Corel Draw. Just cut your template to 18X24 and then set up the round tuit circle size in Corel Draw. You can set the offset to whatever you want to in Corel Draw if you want them spaced evenly. After you get one row done then duplicate the whole row and move the duplicate down where you want it. After you get 2 rows done then duplicate the two rows and move them down to where you want them etc. When you get them all where you want them simply cut the template out with the laser. Hope this helps, Jeff.

[Frank Corker]

Wow I'm really having a learning curve here. I thought TUITS were I'll get around to it. Hey hey, live and learn Frank, live and learn.

Now I know what they look like, I'd be inclined to put it on the scanner and scan at 300 dpi and it gives you a perfect shape to draw the lines out. Then follow Jeff's instructions.

[Roy Nicholson]

I must be one of the biggest procrastinators around.

I could do with one of those.

Anyone got the pattern to share.

Regards

Roy N.

[Jeff DeVore]

I must be one of the biggest procrastinators around.

I could do with one of those.

Anyone got the pattern to share.


Kind of a catch 22....when you get a round tuit pattern you'll make a round tuit when you get a round to it....maybe.... Jeff

[Annette Thomas]

Ok I just made the time to make the template. I had to have one today so thought I would share. ENJOY!

Annette

[Joe Pelonio]

Wow I'm really having a learning curve here. I thought TUITS were I'll get around to it. Hey hey, live and learn Frank, live and learn.

Now I know what they look like, I'd be inclined to put it on the scanner and scan at 300 dpi and it gives you a perfect shape to draw the lines out. Then follow Jeff's instructions.
Here's what they look like, Frank. Now maybe you will finally get a round tuit!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/RoundTuit.jpg

[Michael Kowalczyk]

We make our own all the time from our 3mm birch ply. No need to take the time to load the blanks. Just load a sheet and put as many can fit on it. We make different sizes to accommodate more or less added text. I give them out as Biz cards and change my email address to fit the event so it is easier to track my responses. I am in Denver now at an ArtcamPro user's group conference so I made some just for here. When I get back, I will post a few pics.

Annette,
I would be curious to hear how many you did at a time and how long did it take, from load to reload, so we can compare results.

[Frank Corker]

We call those coasters!

[Mike Null]

Frank

Only for shot glasses. These are about the size of a poker chip.

[Stephen Beckham]

Annette,
I would be curious to hear how many you did at a time and how long did it take, from load to reload, so we can compare results.

Michael,

I do them quite often using regular old matt board left over from framing jobs. I usually run 50 of the 2" diameter ("wooden dollars" for google search) and I think it's 78 of the 1 1/2" diameter ("wooden nickels"). The biggest issue is that they are not standard sizes. You'll have some that shrank and some that have swollen since cutting. Some batches (same company) may come in unfinished - some have been maple and others birch. They work pretty good regardless.

On my run time, I usually run the whole deck (12X24) in about 30 minutes per side on average. I've had a couple that would run down as low as 25 minutes and one that ran 38 minutes depending on the artwork.

As a side note, I've convince one customer to let me do one side custom engraved with the laser and made them a stamp for the other side. It cuts down half of the laser time saving them money.

The question I'd like to hear answered is how much people charge for them. Going off of my average time, I can make fifty of the large ones with an hour of laser time. Materials plus laser time, they should be running between $1.50 to $2.00 each. BUT.... People won't give them away at that much - so I reluctantly run them at $.65 each when running a whole deck - less than a deck, they pay $1 each.

[Frank Corker]

Frank

Only for shot glasses. These are about the size of a poker chip.


Oh right. In that case we call those small coasters :D

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

We use 1/8" MDF. We have sold several thousand of them. I was also able to talk Frank (at Chewbarka) into making some anodized ones. They are the same size as his poker chips. Very cool to have!

[Bill Morrison]

Joe, If I post my round tuits that I give away do I have to blur my website. I'll do that anyway. Here's a round tuit that I thought you guys were originally talking about. What threw me off was when someone was looking for a template. I thought it was more than a circle.

[Bill Morrison]

Michael, here's my coaster sized business cards. I make them from rough cut Birch. 4/4 random length, random width. resaw them then the planer down to an 1/8th of an inch, sand and laser. I only give them to someone who shows an interest in having something done. Otherwise I use the wooden business cards with the regular info on the front and a small design lasered on the back. I usually have more fun making the cards that I don't want to give them out. I have a stack of them I just enjoy looking at. Sure not making any money but I'm having fun. I also made some of the round cards with mirrored acrylic but I only show those so people can see what else can be done.

Bill

[Frank Corker]

Bill, those Egyptian tuits are stunning! I just love the contrast with the black and gold. What did you use for the tuit for it to be so dark? Looks really nice.

[Bill Morrison]

My wife used some type of stain pencil and kept doing it until it got too dark for would have I would have liked. The orignals are made of brass, but I redrew the whole thing using different symbols for a lot of it and lasered it to the size she wanted. I only made those 2 for my wife because that were way too many lines for my liking. I'm going to do one more for the top of a small mirror for my wife and then back to doing Haida art stuff for her. That's the coastal Native art.

Bill