Mead Five Star Notebook Cover Template 5½" x 3½"

Free Laser Designs
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I was working these up to learn to tweak the 3D engraving process on various kinds of hardwoods, so figured I share the base template in case anyone else wants to experiment a bit. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Left to right that shows the effects on :proofgrade: Maple, :proofgrade: Cherry, and Inventables Padauk.

(I ran quite a bit of preliminary testing on basswood hardwood as well, and while I like it for quarter inch and thicker slabs, it’s a little fragile for the 1/8" material that’s needed for these notebook covers. But you can get some really great, really deep sculpting in 1/4" materials.)

The PG cherry is a favorite for the depth of colors you can get:

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But the Padauk comes in a close second for the sharp detail it picks up - it’s very hard and burns clean, but when you remove the char, you also remove a lot of the contrast.

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The Maple doesn’t contrast as well, the engraving is a little lighter in color, and it’s a little more fragile…I cracked it while scrubbing :roll_eyes:… but it looks cool too:

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The file was created in Illustrator, so if you are importing into another program, the sizing might be affected depending on that program’s native import settings.

If you need to scale it for your software, the correct size is 4.25" x 5.75". :slightly_smiling_face:

The depth map was just one I found somewhere online…I collect things and I’ve had that one for a while.

Mead Five Star Cover shared.zip (706 Bytes)

Oh, and these are the notebooks they fit: Mead Five Star Notebooks

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Thanks @Jules those look awesome…

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My pleasure! After the holidays I’m going to try it out on some thicker materials, maybe in a box lid or something. The deeper you can go with the 3D engraving, the better it looks. (But I need to find a source for good thick basswood…the stuff I got turned out too streaky.) :neutral_face:

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I always look forward to your projects and wisdom great Oracle. :wink:

I’ve tried several 3D tests but just can’t seem to get them to turn out right. But i’m not giving up…

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Chuckle! The only wisdom I have on the 3D engraving process is…make sure you have enough material. Can’t tell you how many of those things I burned through (as in completely through, there are blinking holes in it that let in light) while I was trying to figure out what I was doing. :smile:

I’ll bet I did a dozen if I did one. I’m just stubborn.

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Dumb question: how do you get it in the spiral?

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Answer: very carefully…:rofl:

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Oh, it is a bit different than the first one I showed and I forgot to say…you have to unhook it (small pair of needlenose pliers works), then just twist it out from one end. When you’re done, you kind of wind it back up through the pages and cover.

And you do have to remove a little wad of sheets to accommodate the cover. I might turn those into another scratch pad…I’ve got some padding compound. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi Jules;

Great project. Thank You for the share.

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My pleasure! (Haven’t had a chance to do much else lately…the 3Ding has taken time to learn.) :smile:

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I’m going to make one for my Great Granddaughter for school. She’s 10 years old.

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If you have a small school photo of her, it would be cool to personalize it. (And no one can rip it off.) :smile:

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Sounds like a great idea.

Thanks,

Rod

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Thanks for blazing a trail for us on this.

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Gorgeous!!

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Beautiful!

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Great work as usual and thank you for the file.

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Gorgeous! I love seeing it in the different woods. Thanks for that, and for the file.

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Oooh! Gon’ take this file, cut it, and see if the holes work with the standard spiral bindings I have… If they do… whoa Nelly! My notebook affliction will take off! Thank you!

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