3rd project, 3rd day

Graphic Drsigner here, who was very intimidated by my Glowforge last week when the box arrived, Now I love it. With the help of this community of talented users, I think I’m “getting it”!

80 Likes

You definitely got it! :grinning:

4 Likes

Those are nice ornaments. Can’t wait to see what you do after three weeks rather than three days.

6 Likes

You’ve got it, you’ve got it, by gosh you really got it!!

5 Likes

I second this.

2 Likes

Those are great. Draftboard?

I’ll bet they’re a bit fragile, but it’s an ornament so I think it’s implied that the owner should be careful.

To that end, have you tried to break one yet? Sometimes when I’m making a new design I will intentionally break one just to see how tough it is.

If you do need it tougher, Baltic birch ply tends to be stronger than mdf (draftboard is mdf). And is also a bit stronger than proofgrade, due to how it has wood core layers instead of mdf layers like PG ply.

Anyway. Great work, innovative 3d elements. I’ve been waiting for inspiration for ornament design, this is good stuff.

7 Likes

Great design job! Looks fantastic!

3 Likes

You’re off to a great start! Can’t wait to see what else you do.

2 Likes

Love the concept and execution! Gives you so much flexibility in design.

2 Likes

Those are fantastic. Love the depth. I will be using this on future projects for sure!

2 Likes

Great! Thanks for the tip. Yes, it is just the mdf in the sample pack that came with my Glowforge (still “discovering”) I was looking for a better wood. I am going to try the Baltic birch! They are somewhat fragile, but surprisingly not as bad as I thought. I am doin 2 more tonight, we will see how adventurous I get :wink:

2 Likes

If you have any PG Basswood ply that would look good too.

1 Like

For less expensive exploring I have found oak plywood to be the ultimate as it is both strong and inexpensive. I buy a 4ft x 8ft sheet and have them cut across the short side to make 5 -19inch x 48 inch slices that I use the passthrough to use just what I need but for a basic you could have them cut at 10 inches and get four 10s and an eight or25 Glowforge sized sheets out of one large sheet of plywood. I have found the large sheets from $10 to $30 or fifty cents to a dollar a sheet.

Revolution plywood is usually cheaper but not as strong and mainly one sided beauty. The Ba;tic I got on my first venture was quite horrid and about the price of oak though Glowforge size pieces can be nice and $2 a sheet plus shipping.

For just trying ideas out I like those better than MDF that can dissolve in most solvents and is quite fragile as well. The Oak ply also pretty good for engraving as the layers are similar while those like revolution wood are dramatically different and the surface extremely thin.

4 Likes

Do you find oak ply better than baltic birch ply (not just regular birch ply)? I haven’t had a single issue with baltic birch in terms of voids, etc., but I’m always open to trying new materials.

I am not sure what I got my hands on fist as i was sort of a babe in the woods, but other than expensive BB $2 + a short sheet the Revolution is ~$0.40 for the same and Oak ply just a bit more. you get reasonable quality few Knots and small amounts of filler that is nowhere near as laser proof as I found in a lot of the birch I purchased. Since then in the 4’x8’ sizes all the birch I have seen is riddled with knots while you can choose oak which has very few.

1 Like

Great job, especially for day 3

2 Likes

What a wonderful concept and execution. Great start!

3 Likes

Hmm. None of the BB I have has any knots. I love working with it, actually. But I’m buying it cut, so it’s pricey. I need to go figure out how much it would be from the local plywood place and compare.

Thanks for the info!

2 Likes

People talk about getting full 5x5’ sheets for cheap. Like under 20. It’s always cost me over 30 a sheet. I wasn’t very happy with the woodcraft stuff I was buying. It had no knots, but it had voids on the interior. I had them rip it with 2 cuts so I had (3)20x60s. The crosscuts were easy to do at home. But the initial rips were tougher.

2 Likes

Oocouch has BB 12x24 at $2.00 but as useable wood that is equal to $50.00 for a large sheet. I have purchased oak for between $10 & 30 a sheet and Revolution wood for $15 a sheet all cheaper than Oocouch though their wood is very nice

1 Like