I made this for a local maker fest as a silent auction item. I really like how the transparent red acrylic works with the walnut. But I need to find a better way to attach the acrylic because I hate seeing the super glue marks from the back. The linseed oil really made them pop after I finished it.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a better way of doing this? I want to make another one and I would really like to avoid this if possible.
Why not run the cut for the “MAKE” word on the Walnut as well (possibly even first, and adjusting for Kerf), then try to glue the edges of the letters.
I’m sure it would take a bit of experimentation to get the Kerf right, but that’s how I’d approach it.
It looks great, though! Nice work.
Nice looking piece.
Maybe paint a thin layer of glue on the back of the entire letter for a more uniform look. I’m curious to see others suggestions myself.
I was thinking about trying something like that, but I figured I would still get some glue that would get pushed under.
This is a really cool looking sign!
I recently tried to glue edges when inserting into an engraved area … it definitely bled under.
What about applying adhesive with one of those Xyron machines? I may have to dig mine out and see what happens if you feed 1/8" acrylic through it.
Ya I figured getting an even coat would help. The bottle of super glue I had really wasn’t the best way to apply it. I kept putting way too much on and getting squeeze out on the front. So I went safe on the final. I’m sure there is an easier way to apply it or a better glue to use.
Ya I would think it would be really hard to get it just right to prevent that.
the xyron adhesive isn’t necessarily a neat, consistent layer. not good for transparent parts.
maybe a roll of clear acrylic adhesive? your biggest issue might be air bubbles with that.
Love this piece!
How about contact adhesive? I just got some water-based stuff and I really like it, although I have not yet tried it with wood or acrylic. Seems like you could get an even coat with a squeegee.
You can try apply the 3M 300LSE tape on the back and then cut the acrylic. It may be less obvious (I only tried on opaque materials)
I thought it would be fun to experiment anyway, so I gave it a try. The closest I could come to a torture test was 1/16" clear acrylic stuck to black paper. I think it may actually be viable for some uses.
It’s not perfect, but the imperfections are fairly uniform and it doesn’t have a blobby look like the superglue. I also didn’t clean the excess gunk off the front and sides because I didn’t want to get the paper wet.
Not sure it works for this design as is but standoffs look awesome with acrylic and wood backgrounds. You can get the led standoffs and make it light up as well.
I ran into this same problem when inlaying transparent colored acrylics as well. Best way for me was to paint the back of the acrylic.
The problem isn’t necessarily with the acrylic, but the engraved section of the wood. Unless you’re carving it out and getting a really smooth surface, the small ridges made from each laser pass by will stick to whatever adhesive you use. You could also try using a thicker glue that just overflows, but then you run the risk of it still not coating evenly, and getting on the rest of the work. The overflow wouldn’t be so bad if you left the transfer paper on, and ran the finer details after the glue dried, you’d need snapmarks, which I think you mentioned you have, so it wouldn’t be a problem to realign it.
For me the paint route was the easiest 
Wish I had a picture of one, but it’s been a while since I’ve done a project like that.
I havent tried this, and it looks like others here have even better ideas, but one way to possible avoid the glue underneath / on the back side if you are glueing the edges might be to mask the back and then remove it once inserted and the glue dries. That way, if the glue DID leak though to the back, it would (hopefully) be on the back side of the back masking. When you peel the masking from the back side, the excess glue would come off with the masking.
I wonder if UV glue would work. Wipe excess the cure it
Have you tried spray adhesive?
I wonder if you engraved the make letters into the wood, then painted the glue into the engrave then added the acrylic.
Love the color contrast. Glue marks considered that’s a sweet sign.
