Glowforge: How to Make Baby Milestone Plaques
Are you looking for a sentimental way to treasure the key moments in your baby’s life?
These baby milestone plaques are perfect for creating with your Glowforge machine, and they’ll allow you to preserve the memories of your little one’s first moments on this earth.
They also make an ideal gift for those who are expecting. This project might even be an excellent way to celebrate your own pregnancy!
Project and instructions by Katherine Printall
You will need
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How to make
* A Glowforge 3D Laser Printer
* Round Wooden Coasters x 12
* Stix2 Self-Adhesive Craft Paper Tape
* A3 Card
* Free Templates - Downloaded
In preparation for this project, download the templates below.
Milestone Plaques 1-6 (Front):
Download the PDF template here
Milestone Plaques 6-12 (Front):
Download the PDF template here
Milestone Plaques Outline:
Download the PDF template here
Milestone Plaques Back:
To begin, mask all your coasters on both sides with the Stix2 craft paper tape (this will stop the wood from scorching around the engraving). Try not to overlap the tape or leave gaps. Lay the tape in the direction of the wood grain so that you know which way it runs when you line it up in the Glowforge.
Trim away the excess overlapping the edges.
Tape an A3 sheet of card or thick paper to your honeycomb tray and turn your Glowforge on.
Finally, download the milestone plaque files ready for when you open your Glowforge app.
Open the Glowforge app in your browser.
Click on the 'create a new design' button and then select 'upload a file'. Select the downloaded file 'milestone plaques outline' and click 'upload'. When it has uploaded, click on the plus sign in the blue square at the top of the screen and click 'upload'. Select the 'milestone plaques 1-6 (front)' file.
Repeat this process again to upload the 'milestone plaques back file' . Select everything on both layers and move the artwork so that it sits roughly in the middle of your paper. You will be able to see the three files on separate layers in the panel on the left of the screen.
Click on the layer for the back of the plaques, and in the window that opens make sure to click 'ignore'. Do the same for the layer for the front of the plaques.
Click on the outline layer and select 'score' at the top, then click 'manual' and set the speed to 500 and power to 20. Then, select 'unknown' above the layers and click 'use uncertified material', type in 1mm and click 'submit'.
Finally, click 'print' in the top right corner and when the button on the Glowforge flashes, press it.
Top Tip: Using the outlines scored on your paper as guides will allow you to line things up more accurately than doing it by eye with the camera.
Once the print is done, open the lid and place 6 of your masked coasters on top of the paper, lining them up with the scored outlines. Have the grain of the wood running horizontally.
In the Glowforge app, click on the outline layer and set it to 'ignore'. Leave the layer with the back design on ignore. Click on the layer with the front design, select 'engrave', then choose 'manual' and set the speed to 1,000, power to 80, and lines per cm to 90.
Click on 'unknown' above the layers, select 'use uncertified material' and type in 5mm and click 'submit'.
Then print.
When it's finished, turn the coasters over making sure you keep the grain running horizontally and still lined up with the scored outlines on your paper.
In the app, set the front design layer to ignore, and the back design layer to speed 1,000, power to 80, and lines per cm to 90.
Print.
When the print has finished remove your coasters from the Glowforge and remove the masking tape.
Repeat the process replacing the 'milestone plaques 1-6 front' file with 'milestone plaques 6-12 front' to make the other six plaques.
Craft with us at our workshops
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