I’ve started making earrings that have a thin design. What do you use to keep them from breaking? I’ve been using proofgrade medium plywood - cherry or maple. Would love to hear your suggestions.
Welcome to the forum.
Without seeing yiour earrings it is hard to offer assistance except to suggest thickening your delicate design areas.
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They make small bubble wrap sleves for computer components, I am sure they will protect your product.
Try Amazon or even Ebay.
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Acrylic is stronger than plywood when thin, but in general, design the lines of the earrings to be a tad bit thicker to help with breakage. You can also try painting with super glue or epoxy, but seems like a lot of work!
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I adjust my designs to make thin lines slightly thicker. They are so small that making each thin part slightly larger doesn’t affect the overall look, and in many cases, it’s actually making the earring look more like the original I had in mind, because when I’m making them thicker, I’m actually adjusting for what the laser is burning away,
I make a test print from whatever scraps I have on hand, then I rub my finger gently over anything I think might be an issue, if it breaks or crumbles away, I go back to my file and make those sections thicker (or I remove them based on how important it is to my design).
I also sometimes add a frame around the design and make sure as many small bits as I can touches the frame at some point to add extra strength to it.
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I fill in our earrings with resin. We use PureBond Plywood from Home Depot. They have an assortment of this such as Cherry, Maple, Walnut, Mahogany & Cedar. Using resin with the plywood makes them stronger. Also you can add color to the resin & makes for a fantastic look.
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Thanks everyone. I don’t want to change the thickness so I’ll try adding some resin to see if that helps.
Bubble wrap is great for cushioning, but not providing stiffness! There’s usually carboard inserts in the packaging to provide the rigidity/strength to the container to prevent the bending/damage to the box and contents during handling/shipping!
The resin is a great idea–or a wood with very tight growth rings. You’re running up against the physical limits of the wood by removing what gives it most of its strength–the layers of the growth rings (what is “grain” when the wood is cut)–and even worse if your parts with the longest thin members are cross grain, and not along the grain…
And for storage/presentation/packaging–be sure to support with heavy cardstock or similar rigid items to prevent any bending/excessive movement to ensure they remain intact for the wearer!
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