My First Project!

[Cherie Irwin]

So, I just finished my first project, other than just a trial run to make sure my machine worked when it arrived. As I mentioned in my introduction, I am a photographer. But, I failed to mention that I also own a photobooth rental company for weddings, parties and corporate events. I've had this idea to make little game spinners to give people ideas for poses in the photobooth. So, my first project on my laser was my game spinners.

Game Spinners.jpg

I have a little design tweaking to do, as the small cursive text doesn't show up well inside of the relief sections. And, I just did these on a few pieces of 1/8 scrap birch plywood that was given to me. Just a question, what is the best way to minimize the discoloring on the "unlasered" areas? A mask? Lasering on sealed wood? Would something like this work well with a foil overlay? I like shiny things! After I perfect the design for this one, I will be moving on to chalkboard speech bubbles and wood mustache props for my photobooth prop boxes? Do you think a low or medium density fiberboard would work well for those, perhaps with a pretty veneer for my mustaches?

[Mark Conde]

It looks great. I always like to engrave on wood that has been top coated (finished) It is much easier to remove the residue.

[Dee Gallo]

Nice to have you "in" the Creek, Cherie! What a fun idea for your photobooths and you might consider making small giveaway versions with your contact info on the back so guests can get back to you when they throw their own parties. Perfect advertising opportunity!

Your spinners are a good idea, and you might think about some other ways to do the same thing for variety:
1. use cartoon faces to show folks what to do - great also for younger kids who don't read well or drunks who can't focus well...
2. use acrylic and color fill - they are washable and you can get that in shiny (mirror) colors!
3. make giant dice with the same suggestions

Also, the speech bubble concept cracks me up - I'll bet they will love those! Or even random words or symbols.

I always find engraving on finished wood is better for cleanup afterwards and better contrast in general. I like to use brown shoe polish (paste) on wood, it looks nice if you don't want too much drama. But if you mask before engraving, you can use spray paint which comes in lots of colors including SHINY chrome colors. Very festive!

Please keep posting your work, it's always interesting to see what others are doing!

cheers, dee

[Greg Bednar]

Great idea Cherie. And Dee always has winning suggestions. Might I suggest since it is a booth that you rent out, perhaps some kind of advertisement of your company on the spinner ( if you don't have one on the booth itself ) since these photo booths are also popular around my location for graduation parties.

[Mike vonBuelow]

awesome-ness!

[Nurlan Malaikev]

This looks very good

[Cherie Irwin]

Dee, thank you so much for suggestions! After seeing a few of your posts while searching color fill techniques, it appears that are a true creative artist. I love what I've seen so far...beautiful, to say the least.

So I'd like to just make sure I have this right, if you seal the wood, you can just brush on the acrylic paint or rub in the shoe polish, and it will easily wipe off of the sealed "unlasered" areas? In other words, masking isn't necessary? That sounds easy enough. I am trying my hand at handpainted wooden signs, so I already have a large supply of paints on hand. I saw that someone mentioned DNA works as a solvent for acrylic paint. I'll have to do a Google search for that, since I've never heard of it. But, that may prove to be extremely helpful.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

[Dan Hintz]

I like... I know a few weddings that could have used a little "guided" fun, and this would have fit the bill nicely.

[Larry Bratton]

Dee, thank you so much for suggestions! After seeing a few of your posts while searching color fill techniques, it appears that are a true creative artist. I love what I've seen so far...beautiful, to say the least.

So I'd like to just make sure I have this right, if you seal the wood, you can just brush on the acrylic paint or rub in the shoe polish, and it will easily wipe off of the sealed "unlasered" areas? In other words, masking isn't necessary? That sounds easy enough. I am trying my hand at handpainted wooden signs, so I already have a large supply of paints on hand. I saw that someone mentioned DNA works as a solvent for acrylic paint. I'll have to do a Google search for that, since I've never heard of it. But, that may prove to be extremely helpful.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

Cherie,
DNA is Denatured Alcohol. You can buy it at Lowes in the paint section. It is also used to thin shellac. (also to mention, add some water to it at about 50/50 and it is great for cleaning computer screens, I use it on mine all the time) I believe it is basically ethanol, which has an additive added to it to make it undrinkable. You will find your self cleaning all kinds of things with it and it works most of the time. Careful using it on extruded acrylic though, it can make it craze.

[Dee Gallo]

So I'd like to just make sure I have this right, if you seal the wood, you can just brush on the acrylic paint or rub in the shoe polish, and it will easily wipe off of the sealed "unlasered" areas? In other words, masking isn't necessary? That sounds easy enough. I am trying my hand at handpainted wooden signs, so I already have a large supply of paints on hand. I saw that someone mentioned DNA works as a solvent for acrylic paint. I'll have to do a Google search for that, since I've never heard of it. But, that may prove to be extremely helpful.

Cherie,

Make sure your finish coat is a decent one. If it does not cover well enough, you can still get some unwanted dots in pores. I like to go over the finish coat with a super fine grit (4-6000) non-clogging sandpaper to get a very smooth finish. It only takes a quick swipe literally and you are good to go. This is also helpful if you don't use a mask for engraving and you get some shellacking - DNA takes it off easily and does not mar the finish unless you used shellac and then you can't use DNA. I always use a poly finish if I'm going to color fill wood.

There are two issues here: masking the engraving to ensure a clean surface, and masking the engraving to spray a color fill into. If you want to color fill with the squeegee method, you can remove the mask.

If you squeegee off the excess right away, it helps too. A piece of cardboard will do, just so you don't get lumps of paint you'll hate later. You want a nice even coat of paint. You should do a search for color filling, I think Rodne did a very helpful explanation of his technique a long time ago.

BTW- I was a wall dog at one time - it's a dying art thanks to vinyl cutters. But there is something very nice about a handpainted sign in my opinion. Good for you! Nowadays the only signs I do are more like murals with words on them.

cheers, dee

[Cherie Irwin]

I come from a family of woodworkers. My cousin currently builds custom cabinetry for high end installations, and he is basically my hookup for just about everything wood related. He is ordering 4 x 8 wood sheets for me and giving them to me at cost. He will cut them down on the CNC into sizes that I can work with. I'll check with him to see if he can pre-finish my sheets for me in the spraylab before he cuts them. That would save me a lot of trouble.

I will definitely look up Rodne's post on color fill. It is very easy to get lost in the forums when you are looking for guidance without coming right out and asking...there is soooo much information. I wish there were subforums for materials. That would definitely help. I feel bad for asking a question about a topic that has been thoroughly covered. That is not intentional, by any means. Hopefully, I'll soon be contributing as much as I am gleaning. The resources here are unmatched. Muddling your way through is the hard part. I've spent so much time on here that my husband is beginning to wonder if he'll ever see me without my head buried in my ipad.

[Dan Hintz]

It is very easy to get lost in the forums when you are looking for guidance without coming right out and asking...there is soooo much information. I feel bad for asking a question about a topic that has been thoroughly covered.

I'll suggest it... it's not easy by any means, but I'll suggest it anyway. Start at post #1 of the forum of interest (for the Engraver's forum, that's a good 4 years ago) and read every post in order until your eyes bleed. That's what I did a couple of years ago, and even then it took me a solid 6+ weeks of roughly 40-hr weeks to read through it all (maybe it was longer... time tends to sweeten painful things). Keep a pencil/paper handy, or open up a Word doc, to jot down notes. Keep a browser open to bookmark links.

It's painful, but in the end you'll thank me... at least once your eyes stop bleeding.

[Mike Null]

Cherie

If it hasn't already been suggested, try using the search function to find topics of special interest to you. That'll speed up the process when you don't have any time to spare to read everything. But don't be afraid to ask--we'll help you find the answer one way or another.

[Cherie Irwin]

Okay, after hours of searching, I can't resist asking. I'm trying to figure out what the best sealant would be if I plan to use acrylics for a color fill. Dee mentioned poly. Would a wipe on oil based poly be okay? I don't really have an ideal set up for spraying it, and I'm not confident that I will be very good at brushing it on without getting brush marks. Plus, cleaning up brushes with paint thinner doesn't sound like much fun. The fumes alone are enough reason for me to avoid it.

I played around with Minwax Polycrylic, thinking that I would just apply a mask before color filling this project. The polycrylic raised the grain in the wood. Assuming that was because it is water based. Not exactly happy with that result. Can someone recommend another sealant option other than the oil based poly that won't raise the grain or discolor the wood? I really don't mind masking on this particular project, as I really don't want to use the oil based poly due to yellowing and the noxious smells.

[Dee Gallo]

Cherie,

I am very picky about finishes on wood and have not found anything that will NOT raise the grain at least a little. I always sand a finish, even if it just a tiny bit with a superfine grit. I want silky smooth finishes. If you use a wipe on oil-poly mix, you'll need several coats depending on the wood (you need to keep applying until it no longer soaks in) but it will work. I don't like poly-crylic finishes because they don't sand well, they get a milky sheen. If you really hate clean up, try a spray lacquer, those work very well. But then there's more fumes. You can't win!

good luck, dee