Laser Cutting Inlays

[TonyB7539]

Anyone know where I can get an inlay laser cut. I want it pretty precise and I basically suck at trying to do it by hand...

[jammy]

Out of what? and do you only want the material cut and you're going to route the holes youself?

[Clavin]

I'm willing to bet you can get a hand cutter to do it almost as good, especially if there is few or no interlocking parts. You'll have to get the rout Laser or CNC cut as well, plus you'll have to pay a set up fee. What is the image you want cut? Can you post it? If it's relatively simple don't do it laser. It won't be worth the money most likely.

If you are not proficient yet at cuting by hand, I recommend doing more of it. It only gets easier!

Craig Lavin

[TonyB7539]

I was going to do it out of clear acrylic so I could put LED's behind it (about 1/8th inch thick). I could probably do it by hand, I just thought with that material lasering might just be quicker and more accurate.

[Clavin]

1/8 inch is pretty thick. Most of my materials end up at .04" by the time thier leveled, some may be a tad thicker, but 1/8th is pretty heavy. It can be done, but it's pretty thick

Also- whats it going into? Maple, ebony?

That will determin how precise it needs to be routing wise. Also, whats the pattern?

Yes laser cutting is the most precise, but its most likely going to cost more than it's worth for one inlay.

Craig

[TonyB7539]

It will be going into an Ebony board. The pattern is basically just lettering, but it's the font that it's in that is making think about the laser cutting decision, since it is kinda in the style of the band The Cramps. I can probably get 1/16th inch acrylic, or I can just sand the 1/8 inch down to what I need, I just have to be careful not to melt it when I am sanding...

[Jivin]

go to a small-business computer engraving shop. my mum runs a computer engraving business and provided its a flat peice (and im assuming your sheet of material would be ) if you can hand over a hand-drawn version of what you would or even better, a CAD file of some sort, then they should be able to knock something up for you for a few bucks, depending on the complexity.

weve had customers before wanting custom guitar pickguards and stuff like that, and im using the engraver to cut out my explorer template, so i know its possible, but i guess if there is -really- fine elements to your design (like that are only 1-3mm thick), some places might have a bit of trouble and either turn down the job or charge you more for the trouble.