Family Crest Gift

Made on a Glowforge
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My husband’s aunt asked me if I could make her a sign for her to hang in her home (indoors). She wanted the family crest and last name on it. I told her I would send it to her as a gift, because I made something for everyone else in the family so far (also, I told her if I screwed it up and she didn’t like it, at least she won’t feel like she wasted money on it).

I figured it was the perfect chance to test out some 2-colored material I bought. I made it…but then I thought it was too plain. I wanted a way to display it that wasn’t too wild (I went through a ton of ideas…most were gawdy that I thought would be good to show off the Glowforge, but be too distracting for the sign).

I made a file for the frame, then added some snips of a file that I bought from @geek2nurse’s etsy shop (hope you don’t mind; I made my own kumiko pattern, but I knew yours would cut perfectly without disintegrating or catching fire and I haven’t tested mine yet).

Anyways, I’m super happy with how it turned out. But… I made a few mistakes. First, the two-color stuff scratches easily…how easily? I used an eye glass lens cloth to clean off my fingerprints, and suddenly the whole surface had noticeable scratches on it. I sanded it down (gently…didn’t want to go through the layers), and my husband sprayed it with a 2-part clearcoat (just so happens he was painting the car when I was doing this). However, I had to sand and polish again, so then a very tiny bit of the center where it should be black, I accidently went overboard and it’s gold now…and driving me CRAZY.

Also, I had adjusted my frame file size, and I forgot to increase the size of the crest file…so the score line I had on the frame to mark where I was going to glue the crest was now a quarter inch too large all around. So I flipped it over and glued the crest to the backside. It looked good afterwards because the spacing was more even throughout now…however…since it wasn’t scored, when I clamped it down, it seems the crest shifted a little…and it’s not even. UGHH…

I’d do it over and keep this one for myself, but seems like everyone is having a walnut plywood shortage and I’m almost out…plus, now we’re out of clearcoat. I used the 2-color material in glossy black with gold underlay, :proofgrade: black acrylic, walnut plywood, draftboard (this is used to make a very thin frame in the middle layer to hold the black acrylic in place. I engraved the back of the acrylic and cut the final layer of plywood so that a screw or nail can fit in there and sit flush against the wall.

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I think your husband’s aunt will be blown away by this. You did a great job.

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I haven’t sent her a picture, I figured I’d let her see it in person and let her make her judgements. But, it was a fun thing to keep my mind busy the last couple of days. Now I need to find a box to send it in. But really, if it wasn’t for the lack of materials, I’d redo it; it’s ok for my home (though I would probably put it somewhere dimly lit so I wouldn’t notice the flaws…I even tried finding my model paint to fix it, but the black was all out and the paint on the cap was dried up), but when I send things out to people I want it to be perfect :sob: :sob:

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Wow! That is beautiful! She should love it!

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Your post was written like so many of my own are…pointing out what went wrong and what mistakes you made…but, I’ll tell you here and now that this is absolutely beautiful! I’m sure you’re very aware that other people do not see the flaws and mistakes that we make, but like you…I want my pieces to be as perfect as possible just because it’s a self-standard. You aunt will be completely thrilled to receive this…very nice work!

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I like to keep it real. :rofl: I like reading your posts, and anyone else who includes all their troubles… It reminds me of homeschooling (I’ve been homeschooling for…7…8…9 years?).

Anyways, so many parents would show up to campus days looking perfectly serene, talking about the blessing of homeschooling and spending time with their kids and how it was the best decision of their lives. I’m there clutching my gallon of coffee, shaking from nerves, and questioning every decision I ever made in life while wondering if my pj’s I showed up in were clean or not and asking myself what kind of medication those other parents were taking to breeze through the day like that. :rofl: :rofl:

But other parents used to like talking to me, because talking to me didn’t make them feel like they were failing, that problems were normal, and that they weren’t awful because their kids constantly fought or stopped listening to them. Lol…I bring forth the good, the bad, and the ugly.

BUT on a postive note…my mistakes in lasering have become much less…the piles of scraps are becoming fewer, and my mistakes are not as major…knock on wood…homeschooling…I’m still barely surviving…at least I have these gummi bear reviews to get me through the day :rofl: :rofl: :sweat_smile:

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Of course not. Your crest came out beautifully!

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I think it’s freaking awesome. Love it
:heart:

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It looks fantastic and so original!

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Mine, too. And, nearly every time I struggle with something, I learn something new which is a great payoff to a PITA problem. Yesterday, I learned a new thing. That translates into "I spent an inordinate amount of time with a road block to success…but, I won in the end.

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Totally gorgeous!!!

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It really is beautiful!

I would imagine that most of us are quick to judge our work. Sometimes you just have to find the “repair” to change your original concept. It’s all good! I always have a little “repair” or “fix” to get a final end product. :slight_smile:

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It turned out stunning! (And the only way I know of to eliminate “oopsies” entirely is to remake it about 14 times! Like you said…bad materials shortage right now.) :sweat_smile:

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Nice work! What’s a project without mistakes? No adventure in projects without mistakes.

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This material shortage is weird. I can get cherry (Just in case I ordered 20 sheets of it), which I like but matches nothing I make, but walnut and maple are out everywhere. I decided to try a few sheets of JPPlus walnut…it’s so shiny that it looks fake. Since that was all I had besides one sheet of my preferred walnut, I used it for the back.

I didn’t jump on the Glowforge store when I got notice their walut was in, because the day before I got the email is when I ordered from elsewhere. :sob: Trotec told me their walnut will be in from Europe mid-August. So I guess I’ll be putting in another large order with them since I have so many walnut projects lined up now.

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Walnut was often out of stock for long periods long before the pandemic. There was a thread about it specifically back around Christmas.

It’s popular, and in-demand. Cherry isn’t.

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Before I read your post, I admired the sign and how beautiful it was. I would never have thought anything is wrong with it and that you’d even consider needing to redo it! I think it’s amazing!

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Walnut is always out at glowforge, but I never had an issue with other stores being out of stock until last month :sob: I guess I got spoiled. Luckily the customer service is great and told me exactly when I can expect a shipment in.

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My biggest peeve is that extremely small bit of gold that is supposed to be black. I’m still considering going out to find some black model paint and applying it with a toothpick; however, chances are I’d make it worse. My eyes automatically zoom in to it.

Ugh… The sooner I send it, the sooner I’ll stop focusing on it. I guess for me it’s all mentally symbolic. It’s a rare family crest, and a rare family last name. So… I messed it up :sob::sob::joy::joy:

Thanks for the kind words though. I do like it in general. If I ever have to do it again, it’ll be perfect next time :joy:

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Never even saw it and then had to search…leave it be. You’re the only one who sees it. :rofl:

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