Awesome. I have a few bad lamp shades so this will be fun to make.
2 Likes
Such a fantastic idea! Love it!
1 Like
Brilliant!
2 Likes
I LOVE that you painted the lamp base as well…changed the entire look of it.
5 Likes
I’ve never seen anything like this. Fantastic to see the creativity of the engraving across the slats. Such a unique and creative design.
1 Like
Was mentioned in
3 Likes
This is great! Really puts some ideas in my head. Nice concept and it looks really cool.
3 Likes
this would be ideal except that most of the mugs I make alternate colors/woods, so I’ll have to cut them before engraving them. I’m hoping the tape thing works to hold it all precisely together so they don’t shift.
1 Like
Tricky idea making it two-sided 
It’s one of the exercises in my class. When we get to engraving photos we start with a piece on ply, then go to one using jigsaw puzzle pieces overlaid as a cutout then the tongue depressors (with a square cut overlay to trim off the rounded ends if the student wants).
I find that they learn better when we apply techniques to actual things they can take home and some things (like prepping photos for engraving) really need multiple iterations. The GF would make that unnecessary though with its scan & send simplicity.
2 Likes
It is so elegant, like a distinguished feel, I really like it!
How about engraving two pieces of wood (light and dark) and then cutting into the slats. Alternate the colours to produce two mugs (2 birds with one stone)?
2 Likes
I suppose if you leave enough “extra” on the tops and bottoms of each of the slats that might work. My concern is that the images wouldn’t match up EXACTLY on both mugs and there would need to be a lot of work to trim the tops and bottoms of the slats to make it work. We don’t have a 0,0 point so I’m not sure how to make this line up exactly from one set of slats to a second.
I like your suggestion, and will probably do that, but just thinking through the extra difficulties it introduces.
Don’t worry about aligning them - cut the same image in each color and you end up with two finished products.
you have to keep in mind that even if the images are offset from each other even 1/16" it will be noticeable. You would have to be able to place the image EXACTLY in the same place if you only plan to have to drop your finished pieces in, engrave, and swap out colors. That’s why I’m saying to leave a little extra on top and bottom to allow for slight variances in the placement of the image on the two pieces.
If your final dimension of the piece is 6" long, I would cut about 6.5" and place the image centered about 3.25" from the top. That way even if they are off a bit, you can adjust for it to be perfect by cutting off both the top and bottom of the piece.
You are over thinking it. Say your final piece is 6 x 12 (made up numbers). You have one file with the engrave and cut in it and run that on a piece of light material. Then run it again on a piece of dark material.
They would be identical since you are cutting the same file. In the end you could make two finished pieces - one light and one dark. Or swap half the pieces have have two with alternating colors.
Unless you are saying the Glowforge can’t reliably cut within a 1/16" margin of error. 
1 Like
I guess I didn’t need the made up dimensions in that post. Haven’t had coffee yet. 
There might be slight variance if the materials are different enough to cause a difference in kerf. Very, very slight.
1 Like
That would be an interesting test.
I love your project. I have been thinking about how to do lamp shades. I like using the hanging slats as a solution!
3 Likes
I just had an idea about engraving in a similar fashion about two days ago. Glad to see how amazing your lampshade turned out!
1 Like