Hi all,
Would like to check if anyone has worked with engraving wood slices? If so what wood is best and available to be sourced locally? Also how would I go about sourcing it?
My wife is working on a few Montessori projects for pair daughter and our close friends who are requesting some bespoke pieces to be made. Similar to this:
Wood slices
Thanks in advance
Hi @Yakstar
I did something similar for VHS SHHH tokens once.
I had access to recent fallen branch from some small bushlike plant. I wouldn’t call it a full tree, as it didn’t have good growth rings (which would have been nice).
I found it best to do laser engraving BEFORE any wood treatments (staining, varnish, etc)
I did also find that Etsy and Amazon have good supply. Search for “wood rounds”. Be careful of size. Measure out on a piece of paper the diameter you’re after. Images on these sites are VERY hard to visualize.
For engraving, I found the laser did an exceptional job, but lining up was hard. That was until I found a GREAT way to do it.
I created a series of circles of increasing size as an image on the laser cutter, like a bullseye. I then burned this into a thing piece of scrap that was clamped down.
I was then able to just use the markings to help centre the rounds on the bullseye, and use the laser software to only burn the pattern I wanted, centred on the same spot in software. It was great.
To get the best results, I painted the wood all in black, then sanded away everything except the recessed lettering with fine sandpaper, then varnished the wood.
I didn’t answer your main question.
Locally try “Windsor Plywood”. They have a TON of stuff other than plywood.
A quick google found “https://rileytrees.ca/” who sell them. If you can find a branch somewhere, you can buck it up on the radial arm saw at VHS very easily. Note that it’s illegal to remove anything from a BC park, as far as I remember. I think I looked into this, but I was just googling and you’d be better to do so yourself.
I did this for some wedding decorations I made last year. The wood has to be dry before you cut it or else the wood will often crack and look like a Pacman. Also, sanding each of them is kind of a pain in the butt. Try to find pre-sliced rounds for sale if you can. You can often find these as second-hand wedding decorations for cheap (although this is kind of a bad year for that), or from one of the links posted by others.
Whatever finish you use keep in mind that it will likely darken the wood since it’s end grain, so do a test first.
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