Success! I have been working with various woods (and plywoods) and running into issues getting things to fully cut out. After using @evansd2Material Test to get my cut settings, I finally have some successful wood prints!
The engraved pieces will eventually be pendants and the spirals will be earrings. Quarter-inch wood is a little beefy for this application, but I had a small scrap piece and wanted to see if I could get a decent print. And they turned out so pretty!
I’ll update once the hardware is on and the pieces are done!
Note that delicate shapes like the spirals cut from hardwood are very prone to breakage, sometimes with the lightest handling.
The grain provides weak points. Sometimes, depending on the design, you can orient so that the grain does not factor in. For example, a loop for a hanger, with the grain running horizontal, would cause the loop to separate from the main part of the object.
The most common solution is to use plywood, not hardwood, for intricate designs. It’s a lot stronger and also more stable (less twisting/warping after cutting.)
The finished necklace is unstained and about 15 in long. The spirals have so far held up to being handled (so no separating so far, @eflyguy! But I’ll keep an eye on it, just the same). The stain job ended up making my hibiscus/palm leaves engrave fade into the rest of the wood, so I tried using an extra fine-tipped black Sharpie to bring it out. I’m undecided about the result.
I used a Cherry stain, which looks really nice, but since the engrave was light to begin with, it pretty well disappeared. Adding the black marker brings it out more, but it made the edges sloppy when viewed up close and the color coverage is spotty in some places. I think I’ll shoot for a deeper engrave next time; hopefully, that will be darker.
I used a grey stain on the spirals and those turned out really pretty. I’m really happy with them.
Any suggestions on a warm-tone (reds, oranges, yellows) wood stain that isn’t too dark? I’m looking for similar results (saturation-wise) to the above grey but in a color family that would coordinate with gold/brass/rose gold hardware.