Beta project twelve (Acrylic in Wood Inlay)

Back in the beginning, I started this thread just for the fun of it:

I promised a prize the winning entry, as chosen by a random panel of Glowforge staff members.

They voted (kind of) and as far as I can tell @Xabbess won.

Here we are almost six months later, and even though it may seem as if I had forgotten, I had not! (no really, I didn’t!)

The first thing was to come up with a design that utilized the Glowforge, would be able to withstand actual use as jewelry, and which I would be able to get done in my “spare” time.

I decided on a simple silver disk with a bezel to hold a wooden cut-out of the Glowforge logo.

In order to make the logo stand out nicely, so I used the beautiful red Padauk, which I thought would look great with the silver outside. After cutting it though I decided I did not like the black edge inside the logo, it was just too dark. It occurred to me I could cut an acrylic piece to insert inside. Many experiments followed…

In the lower right you can see my final success (this thing is only .625” in diameter and it looks great!).

There was a real trick to getting a tight fit between the plastic and the wood. I cut the plastic backwards, so that the kerf angle (as small as it is) would cancel out. I had to tap the insert into place, but once it was in there it was NOT coming out! The only thing I would do differently would be to calculate just a little better and extend the length of the curved sections to account for the loss of circumference when I scaled the insert down to fit.

After that it was pretty basic metalsmithing.

I have a set of circle punches that made quick work of the backing piece.

A little strip of silver for the bezel,

a jump ring and some solder and a quick trip to the buffer and done.

I used a tiny drop of CA glue to hold the wood in there, but given how tight the fit is I am not sure I even needed it.

Obligatory “beauty shot” on the Glowforge go button.

I realized while doing this that I am really out of practice, so I apologize for the not so great craftsmanship. However, if you still want it @Xabbess just send me a private message or email me your postal address, and it will go out in the mail.