Partially inspired by @polarbrainfreeze, and a bunch of really cool moleskine covers, I decided to whip up a template to make a cover for the Cambridge Notebooks that I like to use for notes and ideas.
(Yeah, they’re not particularly artistic… but I need something with lines on it.)
Wood is the material of choice here (1/8" or 3mm) - I like being able to flip it around and it becomes a sturdy clipboard surface to write on. The wires are easy enough to open up with a thick pen and insert the cover (and backing) , but if you intend to use both, you’ll probably need to remove a few sheets - otherwise the finished book gets a little overstuffed.
Anyhow - just pop your design in and get creative with it… I tried them out of a couple of materials - I really like the Proofgrade Basswood ply - it gets a nice dark contrast for the engrave. (The gold foil on the walnut looks nice, but not quite enough contrast for this use.)
Note: I’ve had some questions about this coming in incorrectly sized in some of the programs other than Illustrator, which is what it was created in. (Makes it difficult to size your artwork, although the GFUI should pick it up correctly.) So if you need to resize it in your own program and save it, the specific dimensions are 241.3 mm x 190.5 mm, hole diameter is 5.614 mm centered.
No, I just worked a fat pen through it to open up the comb. Then pinched it back closed again. I wouldn’t want to do dozens of them, but it’s fairly quick for one or two.
Hey, thanks for this! It’s a great last minute (if you don’t do too much engraving ) gift idea, customizable for the person or event. I really like your examples–the foil looks great in my opinion.
If you did, how about an opening jig ?
Re-create you fat pen with a piece of plastic pipe the same diameter, but with a section cut out lengthways, so it’s C-shape in X-section. A plug for the front end, possibly the pen top, then you could push it to open the wire, lay the covers plus pages over the open parts of the wire, pull the plastic out, or push it out, and the wire might spring back into place .
I was thinking maybe the gold foil would work on the white Basswood for a Wedding Guest Registry - that might be quite nice - there are lines in there for people to sign in and leave address info. (And the foiling process is extremely quick since you are scoring, not engraving. That one literally took less than 10 minutes.)
If I were going to do them commercially, I’d certainly consider something like that - the wires are fairly stiff. But one at a time isn’t a problem.
A very deep engrave on two 9/16 thick maple long ellipses, (or even one of those pen blanks )and a spot of 1/16 BBply just sand and polish and you have a hair loom … er…heirloom
Ok this is awesome, I am definitely going to make some Christmas presents with this. How do you apply the gold foil? Thank you so much for taking the time to share!
) gift idea, customizable for the person or event. I really like your examples–the foil looks great in my opinion.
