Making an Experimental Laser Engraved Belt with a 40W Universal Laser
Jessica Hogan has put together a fantastic laser engraved belt using a 40W Universal laser at FabLab. Here’s more from Jessica Hogan:
I knew I wanted to do something with circuits, because I’m nerdy like that. I thought it would be a fun spin off of the typical leather belts with names engraved, but mine would be the futuristic, technology-loving version! I went to my favorite site for free fonts, dafont.com. After testing out a few, I settled on ‘Circuit Mage’. I felt like it would be the easiest to incorporate into an existing circuit board pattern. I realize it’s not a real circuit board pattern, but it is a pretty one! I love Inkscape and use it for designing everything; embroidery files, 3D files, even the circuit boards that I CNC!
I am fortunate in that I work at a Fab Lab. My Fab Lab has two CO2 laser cutters, an Epilog and Universal. I chose to use the 40W Universal laser for the engraving because it has the largest bed, 32 x 18″. The experimental part of this project would be to create an Inkscape/SVG file for my 38″ belt, and then split up the file into two separate laser files. I would have to pick up & move the leather to get the rest of the design engraved. I knew this would be difficult, so I experimented with a strip of thin chip board.
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