Mark's Learning Projects

It appears there are several types of material that are either burnt or not burnt, this is where halftone and other dithering techniques are going to have to be experimented with.

EDIT: word substitution typo

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I saw some results in another thread that showed some more gradations on cork, but the trick was to use a grey as the darkest color rather than black. Need to work around the lowest power setting not being low enough, IIRC.

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I intend to engrave black DiBond ACP to reveal the aluminium. So I think that will be either black or sliver with nothing in between. I wonder what the horizontal dot rate will be for halftoning.

Very simple project this morning that was a mix of Inkscape practice and a prototype for a future project I’m planning. As should be obvious by my coaster, I’m a fan of the Overwatch video game. They have an adorable creation in the game called a Pachimari that was the basis of my practice today.

Started with this PNG:

Imported the image into Inkscape, vectorized it, and did some cleanup and editing of the vectors to adjust the size and position of the upper tentacles and split it into score/cut/engrave layers.

Cut on some scrap 1/8" :proofgrade: Maple Plywood (which is ridiculously nice, I’m very spoiled by it) in about 4 minutes.

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Cute as a bug! :smile:

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Yesterday I made a very simple headphone hook that friction clamps to my desk to hold my gaming headphones. It’s a couple of layers of 1/8" Maple Plywood with a small clip that holds them together. I intended for the clip to be flush with the slot that attaches to my desk but I got distracted and goof. It works well enough that I can’t be bothered to fix it. :slight_smile:

First thing I’ve designed using Fusion 360 and the slicer. It was pretty straightforward.

Another sign this morning, this time for my wife. My kids are all very active in dance and my wife helps out a great deal with costuming. She spends many hours a week at the dance studio in the costume closet with a couple of other mothers who also help out. They spend so much time there that the closet got nicknamed “Narnia”.

Naturally, I thought we should make it more official with a sign. Medium 1/8" Cherry Plywood :proofgrade:. Took about 15 minutes to cut once I had it designed. There was a fair amount of fiddling with the text to clean up the vectors and then some fairly simple adjustments to the wardrobe image to adjust levels and contrast. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

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Very nice! I think the sign will be a big hit. Next they will have you helping make the costumes with craft foam!

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:sunglasses: a functional piece and a decorative one. Both are really cool, I really like (need) the headphone rest!

I’m impressed that you were able to incorporate slicer with your very first F360 design. I still like my own design for my nicer headphones Headphone holder realized but I really like your quick concept for all kinds of hooks and holders around the lair.

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Oh I like all of these hook ideas! I’m going to need to come up with something pretty soon here.

(And love the gateway to Narnia idea too - my niece is getting into theater - i need to do something like that for her closet!) :smile:

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Mixed media day! Very very simple but satisfying one this time.

A while ago (an embarrassingly long while if I’m honest) I made my wife one of those birthday wall hangings where you hang charms for each birthday. I made it as an experiment on my X-Carve using a V carving bit and we were generally happy with the result.

The charms, however, were a different matter entirely. I experimented some at making them on the X-Carve, and while doable it was a hassle. This sums up a great many of my experiences with CNC milling in general, and a big part of why I was so excited about the Glowforge. Ultimately I never got around to making the individual charms so the gift sat on a shelf for … a while.

Today, I finally cranked out the charms on the 'forge in about 15 minutes. Not having to deal with hold down strategies for work pieces is an incredible game changer when comparing laser to CNC routing/milling for the types of jobs that the laser can do. The X-Carve is still an excellent tool and it can do a lot of things my Glowforge can’t, but when I have the choice it’s Glowforge every time.

Still, the V carving in the big FAMILY in this thing is so gorgeous it’s hard to feel bad about going that way for that part of the project. :slight_smile:

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My Handibot will always be my first love as to Digi fab maker tools but you nailed it. If a project can be done on the :glowforge: the workflow is just so much easier. No noise concerns, no clamping. just position your material and go.

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That is such a great idea…I’ve never seen one of those! :smiley:

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Are you planning on using different colors or wood types for children, spouses, grandchildren, etc?

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I love this!

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Yep! And a red acrylic heart for our anniversary. :wink:

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Great idea! WAF (wife approval factor) just hooked upwards!

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I made a VERY similar project a few year ago, and yeah, while the main part was not too bad, the charms hanging off the bottom were the annoying part of the project. However, it’s great to help me remember all the various birthdays.

I hadn’t considered changing up the charms to have them done on my GF. I think I may redo them now, thanks!

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5 minutes of goofing around in Inkscape with no idea what I was doing resulted in this, which I’m pretty happy with.

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:thumbsup:

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