I made these two plaques for my friend and his wife.
The large plaque is on PG maple ply, and the border is PG walnut hardwood. The upper hanging points are a part of the maple backboard.
Many thanks for the folks who helped work out my problems with the files used to make the large plaque. The eagle would not engrave at first. When it got fixed, I engraved the eagle into mirror acrylic. The backside is engraved and painted black:
(protective film is still on the front face)
Darn thing got a serious bow in it due to the removed material, so I had to iron it flat. The acrylic was protected from the iron by a teflon sheet and a cotton cloth. Once ironed, I kept it under a book until I was ready to glue it. The acrylic cutout was fitted into an engraved area of the maple, so it would not slide around. Then I kept it under a heavy load for a day until the glue was fully cured.
I engraved the name in and painted with white acrylic, then two coats of maroon. This is the color of the Medical Corp in the Army.
Jane is a ‘foody’ who loves recipes and cooking. She also used to work for the VA as a patient advocate; I added the engraving to reflect how these two activities combine.
For the vegetables, I masked the plaque (this was non-PG birch ply) and scored the [premium] graphic. Then I removed the inner mask and painted the area with acrylics followed by a coat of shellac. I re-masked and engraved.
I’ll mail these two out on Wednesday. USPS has more important things to do today.