Pre cut Wooden Disk Pendants

[bill_laba]

I ordered these wood blanks from TheRingLord.com on a whim when I was getting some differently shaped anodized aluminum blanks (dog tags don’t work for every project).

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised. They have a nice beveled edge, which would is nearly impossible to create on the laser as I wouldn’t want to spend the laser time engraving gradients at the edge and on both sides. At $3.25 for 24 of the 1.5" blanks, not cost effective to do this or spend time sanding them to shape. I also hate painting and would have a tough time getting this smooth of a finish on them. If you like the look, even with shipping I think they are worth the cost in time saving.

They make great pendants. I’m sure that others could come up with more impressive engravings that would elevate them to artwork. These are just for the kid’s Halloween extras.

The photo shows 24 of the disks. I ordered 2 packs, so might have mixed up the colors a bit. I think the site says you get 2 of each color. Chains were just cheap jewelry findings from Amazon.

Here’s a photo of the profile of the disks. They are about .210" at the tallest and there was minimal quality drop off of the engraving at the beveled edges.

Until camera settings are tuned up, alignment for engraving pre-cut shapes takes a bit of effort. Others have devised ways to determine how to shift files for alignment, but I find it’s easier just to set up your file to match the shape of the design and cut a placement template. Hey, cardboard is cheap and cuts on it are fast. Here’s how I set up the file. I’ve covered this before, but am including it for anyone who hasn’t seen it before.

I place cardboard down and secure it with magnets. Set focus for the height of the cardboard and cut the outside RED with steps for the other colors turned off. The little line at the top helps me to make sure the hole in the disk lines up when I put the disk in the template.

Remove the cut outs without disturbing the outline. (Edit - then set the focus height to the height of the material actually being cut - this adjusts for the focus difference in height from the cardboard to the actual material) I masked one side of the disk and placed it in the template with the hanging hole aligned with the cut at the top of the template (I had a few of them pretty crooked at first - trust me, this helps). Turn on the BLACK layer and ignore the rest.

Flip, mask, and align the other side. Then ignore everything but the BLUE and engrave away.

The disks only come in multi color packs, but I should find a use for most of the colors. Shipping is by the pound though. The cheapest amount to me in WI was $7.80 for a pound of materials. Extra weight doesn’t add a lot, so try and pick up all you need in one shot.

Here’s a link to the “Blanks & Tags” page on their site.

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=207&cat=Blanks+%26+Tags

[cynd11]

Way cool!

[Jules]

Sweeeet!

[gmckayca]

Really nice.

This is the sort of item that prompts the possible creation of a new forum category: Sources for Materials. We’ve seen so many interesting items engraved on various items found online such as veneers, disks, plastics, leather, anodized aluminum, dice, etc. etc. etc and it would be nice to have a repository to scroll through.

[dklgood]

I have also ordered from theringlord.com. I think their products are pretty reasonable.

[marmak3261]

Lucky Leah. She gets to go to Hogwarts and poor muggle Kaela has to go to All Saints. It’s an unfair world. Hopefully they do have inter-school mixers though.

Nice find. And it spurs me on to get my lathe up and running. I have a laser and a 3D printer and still haven’t gotten around to making the pulley that I need. The lathe for making these tokens! Cool effect the way they are rounded. Nice.

[bill_laba]

You guessed it. Leah’s pendant has the Hogwarts crest on the back and is in the favorite color of 11 year olds. Her Mom and her read a chapter a night at bedtime. Oh, and her Dad says she can be kind of witchy at times .

Kaela is older and is an exceptional Muggle athlete at All Saints . I thought she’d appreciate this more than a Hogwarts emblem.

[ranger.mctague]

How did you deal with the offset?
Mine is always cutting about 1/8 to 1/4 inch to the right of the material

[marmak3261]

@ranger.mctague

you deal with the offset

Are these single designs that are placed around the perimeter rather than close to the center. Is this Proofgrade that is read correctly? I understand that folks have been encountering a wide array of variation in how the design ends up getting cut in relation to the material. For my production unit, I expect it to be within an 1/8" of where I place it so I can use up lots of small scraps no matter where they are on the bed. I am rarely surprised by cuts and engraves that go where I don’t want them to go these days. I almost always have a 20x12 artboard for my designs.

If I cut multiple tokens like this on a larger sheet, I do make sure I have at least a 1/4" margin around the perimeter for good measure, but the multiples are all grouped together so it cuts in relation to itself just fine.

Might be good to open up a topic with some pics and design examples and some random materials to have a look at and see if this is really out of performance expectations or not. There is still some expected leeway in placement and actual cut, but learning how that all works is still a project, as are improvements in optical positioning.

It is one of the essential features that we are all learning how to manage and discover what we expect. Some folks might say that the Glowforge will not be complete until it has exact (not even sub-millimeter but better) accuracy over the 20x12 workspace. Actually the 20x12 workspace ship has sailed and we are given a little less to work with. This is most essential though in pursuing the mythical flip over and cut the other side exactly where you need it function.

[bill_laba]

I use the file with all of the elements imported at the same time, then they are all aligned without ever having to move them in the Glowforge interface. That is why they are all stacked up in the sample file i included. Never move the interface file or the cardboard after you start a series of operations. I should have added that you have to adjust the focus if the cardboard holder and the material being engraved are different. I edited my post for that now. When you go back for the 2nd and 3rd operations, it may look like it’s “off”. Don’t move anything even if it looks bad on screen. If you follow this, alignment should be good. If you have to leave the Glowforge App for any reason, you need to cut a new template and start the cardboard template process over again.

I hope this makes it a little clearer.

[rand]

Exactly what I was thinking – a great way of doing it! I have a bunch of circular wood rounds, and wondered if this was the best way to do it. Excellent work!

[marmak3261]

You can even register the cardboard against the side of the crumb tray and the front garage door, or even the back and reuse the same jib. I have done that with my pencil jig. Just put the cardboard jig in the same place and use the original file that made the cutouts in the jig to align the designs with respect to the 20x12 artboard. It repeats fine.

[rand]

That is cool! Thank you!

[marmak3261]

Just to follow up with @ranger.mctague’s placement issues. Here is some precision design placement:

Before Print:

After Print:

This is using default thick acrylic settings as material even though my chemcast is slightly thinner. Still close enough for accurate placement with lid camera alone.

[ranger.mctague]

This is how much I have to offset to stay in the print

[chris1]

Is your machine level and flat? It’s easy for the case to twist if what it’s sitting on is a bit askew or moves under the weight.

I noticed this on mine by lifting the front right corner of the machine and watching the lid position change.

[palmercr]

Also a desktop or counter top can look flat and level but if you put a straight-edge across the diagonals you can see it can be twisted a few mm.

[jbmanning5]

I picked mine up and moved it a few days ago to more easily take some measurements someone had requested of the passthrough. When I moved it back from the edge, all of a sudden the lid just wouldn’t close all the way - and it has always been quite flush for me. It can definitely get a bit bound/compressed/twisted. I picked the unit up a bit on each side and it’s back to perfect.

[palmercr]

That is interesting. I though it would just conform to the surface it was on rather than remember how it had been twisted while being moved. That would mean even if they calibrate it on a flat surface in the factory it might not have settled in a flat state unless they tweak it.

[ekla]

@bill_laba

Never move the interface file or the cardboard after you start a series of operations.

This, exactly. On my old FS laser with zero camera capabilities pre-cutting a paper or cardboard outline is essential to have any shot at aligning anything.