Melting crayons

Created this icon to put on a laser cut box. Originally I was just going to engrave it but then I thought, if I engrave it deep enough, I can melt shaved crayons bits for more color. This is what I got. Only thing I don’t like about it is the “wet” stain around the crayon bits but that may just because it is draft board.

To melt the crayons, I just put it in the oven at the lowest setting and checked it every 4 or 5 minutes till it was fully melted.

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Kewl! I love seeing people try unusual techniques! (You might try waxing the rest of the draftboard with some kind of wax to hide the edges of the oil? (wax?) that seeped out of the crayons.) :sunglasses::+1:

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It doesn’t seem to be a surface problem, it actually seeped through to the back side as well.

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That’s how the USAF aircraft maintenance guys used to fix their uniforms when they got jet fuel on them. (It leaves slightly darker spots that you can’t get out.) They’d just dunk the whole uniform in a barrel of fuel. Voila, problem fixed. :wink:

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Nice! In a life before this one, I used to make crayon art. I’ve always wanted to take a crack at print one in the laser to see what would happen, but I haven’t gotten around to it. Previously I would use vinyl, melt the crayons with a heat gun, let it harden about 80% of the way, then peel the vinyl up.

It’s partially because of the vinyl cutter I owned that I was comfortable getting this laser!

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Haha! It was getting the laser that finally convinced me I needed a vinyl cutter. :wink:

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I got a vinyl cutter waiting on the Glowforge to show up.

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I still have mine, it’s just a couple thousand miles away :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes: I learned about paths and vectors for vinyl work, which translated perfectly to creating laser files.

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Nice project! Ive had that oil seepage problem. Another solution is to seal the engrave (I use a brush-applied matte acrylic sealer but a spray one should work as well) before melting the crayon. Then you can remove the mask.

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Always great to see new techniques used.

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Awesome job!

A heat gun works great for melting crayons. Or a hair dryer in a pinch. You could control you melting better, and maybe avoid the staining. I’ve only used it to fill Acrylic engraves.

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After the engrave, try using some sort of sanding sealer. Just paint it right on with a brush. Make sure to get total coverage inside the engrave especially. This has worked really great to keep my resin projects from soaking in.

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Um, yea, but I’d think the making of the entire uniform ultra mega flammable would be a wee bit, I don’t know, dangerous. Perhaps? Just a teeny bit?

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Well, you still have to wash it afterward, so it’s not like you go around wearing it like that, I guess. :wink:

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Fun to try new things. Sorry your wax seeped into the Draftboard.

This is gorgeous! Who doesn’t love giraffes!

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