Sunday, February 17, 2008

plexi "snap out" rings

plexi DIY "snap out" ring

plexi DIY "snap out" ring

plexi DIY "snap out" ring

plexi DIY "snap out" ring

(click on images to visit my flickr page to see more)

As you all know we purchased a laser cutter/engraver in the painting and printmaking department here at VCU. Unfortunately it was damaged in shipping and that caused a bunch of problems. It is working but the Z-table where you lay your material to cut is out of whack making it hard to cut anything. I have been trying to run it through the ringer creating a list of materials that it can and can not be cut. At the same time I am creating a chart that tells you the settings to use when cutting specific materials. granted I have been getting really carried away with using the darn thing. In a earlier post I showed you some bracelets made out of cardboard. Now I am working on these plexi rings. In an ideal world the laser cut width on 1/8" plexi is .003" but since our machine is out if alignment I haven't been able to get a nice uniform edge. I thought I would post my current experiments. With this design You get two rings in one sheet. The snap out tabs act as stops for for the top to rest. I am working on doing some engraving cuts along those tabs so the plexi will snap in the proper place. I am really interested in this DIY jewelry as well making affordable pieces everyone can wear. As soon as we get our machine fixed we I will have a bunch of these. I am really excited.

more studio shots


well we are still working on our space but I found some before and after shots of the work we have been doing. I will be posting things when we get closer and closer. Until then here is an old shot of when we first bought the place and when we stripped it down.