Mini Maker Faire Awesomeness

So, got accepted to be a part of the 2017 Midcoast Mini Maker Faire (official mini) in Camden, Maine in the beginning of September. Keeping my fingers crossed I receive my Glowforge before then as I am showcasing the Glowforge itself! Need ideas on what to have visitors make (free for them, mid to low cost for me) that would wow them. I’m thinking some custom Makerfaire souvenir coins with their names or self drawn art in the middle. Give me your ideas and pray for the Glowforge to miraculously show up on my porch sometime in August…lol. Thanks a bunch ahead of time!

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this would be a best bet i think. engrave all the coins ahead of time, do vector name engraves on demand. that way you could do them quickly and repeatedly all day without any one thing taking up too much time.

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So then put the coin to be engraved in a jig? Might make sense to do all the engraving first but not the cut. Then plop the whole sheet in there and do the vector cut at the same time as the vector engrave. Maybe even figure out how many arrow keys to hit to go from one coin to the next :slight_smile:

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Wow! Good call and thank you @jrnelson and @paulw yeah the easiest set up and execution would be ideal.

That’s what I’d do. Then it’s just a drag & drop operation of the name file (SVG) onto the piece in the jig. If you’ve got multiple folks lined up just drop multiple names in the file and drag them individually to different coins in the jig holes.

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couldn’t the jig literally be the original sheet the coins were cut out of? just place them back in the sheet, properly rotated, and then engrave and remove again.

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Yes indeed. In fact, I’d use a 20x12 sheet to do the coins in the first place. I’d engrave centering lines above/beside each coin outside the cut lines. Then do the first sides, cut them, pop them out and flip them over for the back side (assuming you’d want some static engraving on both sides). Then at the MF using the same 20x12 piece you cut the coins out from, you can drop in the coin and the registration marks will make sure you get them oriented properly.

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I’m going to go you one step more OCD and say don’t engrave centering lines, make the initial cut with tabs/ears sticking out. Then you can zap those off when you do the final engrave. Bonus: if you do it right the offcut bits will fall down into the crumb tray and it will be easier to pick the coins up :wink:

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I’ll be in Camden for a wedding in Sept. not sure if this is before or after the wedding, but it’s a short jog from here. If I’m home I’ll swing by!

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Please do @mad_macs! It would be great to meet up with other 207 Forgers!

Thanks everyone so far for your input and ideas! Keep them digits crossed for me!

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whereabouts in maine are you? i tend to head to southern nb a couple of times a year.

Waterville Area!

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I’m in Woolwich. You would be pretty much driving by our houses on the way, unless you were already in eastern Canada.

i’ve only gotten to drive through maine once or twice; we usually end up driving over top instead. beautiful state, though, like the rest of the area.

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