…so, I think I’ve just created a new subcategory; “Embellished on a Glowforge.” EOG. I spent all afternoon yesterday, making tests for settings……for some Proofgrade manual settings and also some for anodized aluminum, which is my new favorite thing.
Right after I had to return my PRU to Seattle, I received my order of bracelet blanks and was disappointed that I no longer had a laser to use on them. As fortune would have, I received my very own production unit only about a week later.
Today was aluminum day and it was interesting. All anodized aluminum is not equal, I can tell that right now. I have some business cards made of it and they are much nicer quality than the bracelet blanks. They also take an engraving much nicer, too.
Tried making a few bracelets today. Engraving was fine, with the exception of a couple files that did not translate to engraving that well. Not all that interesting though, for a piece of jewelry, so I thought to try some additional bling in the form of…….wait for it, wait for it… embossing powder! You heard it folks, my old tried and true go-to! I masked the aluminum and tried using it like a stencil……and even tried some foil. It did not work and looked pretty bad. Plus, you could scrape it off with a fingernail. Well, I had to at least try. Thinking that the bracelet idea was going to be spent, I had one last thought.
Markers. I have a huge bunch of colored Sharpies and one package of Copics. Markers didn’t work either over a mask…it just leaked underneath it. So, ta daaa!..…I colored the metal first! It doesn’t rub off and has this most lovely translucency to it. Then I engraved it. I sort of like them. The first one I made was the top one in the photo….it says ‘sleeping with the fishes’. I dunno…for some reason that just popped into my head. And because this was all a learning thing, what the bracelet said really didn’t matter. The middle one is my very favorite, but that’s the one that has the really weak engraving on it. The bottom one is for my friend, Pat. She might hate it, but that’s OK….I need folks to be guinea pigs.
Now I’m busy gathering more images so I can make some more.
The settings I used are speed 1000, power FULL, and LPI 270.