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doityourself07 · 1 year

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Printmaking Jigs With the Laser Cutter

Hi there laser cutter enthusiasts! In this instructable I want to show you how to build a simple jig that can help you reproduce your printed art efficiently. I've used this method to print on stickers, postcards and small pieces of plywood. I also want to show you some variations that can help you print patterns and combine different designs. I really enjoy creating jigs for all sorts of things, and the laser cutter is fantastic for this task. It's versatile and the path between ideas and objects feels really easy. It's like the pencil and eraser of CNC machines. There are several wonderful instructables out there that explore lasers and printing, the ideas I'm about to show you can be combined with many of those techniques.

Gather Your Materials and Choose Your Dimensions

Your basic materials for making the jig will be:

Your choice of paper (such as cardstock or stickers)

0.20 inch thick acrylic (5mm)

Carving block

Acetone

In this example we will print the smallest postcard allowed by the United States Postal service. That is 3.5 inches by 5 inches (8.89cm x 12.7cm). And our printing block will be 3in x 4in (7.6cm x 10.1cm). This is a commonly available size. For this project you need a piece of acrylic that is 6in by 9in (15.24cm x 22.86cm). Since the laser cutter is very precise we want to measure the actual dimensions of the materials. Sometimes the sizes given by the manufacturer are just nominal. My paper was exactly 3.5in by 5in but the block I bought was slightly bigger than advertised on the label, this is normal. My block was 3.07in x 4in. Be as precise as you can but don't worry too much, if the fit is too tight you can manually carve your block later.

So to recap my final dimensions were:

Paper: 3.5in x 5 in (8.89cm x 12.7cm)

Carving block: 3.07in x 5 in (7.79 cm x 12.7cm)

You will need access to the laser cutter for about 10 minutes of cutting time.

Prepare Your File

Once you have chosen the dimensions of your final piece and the printing block that you will use, it's time to draw a 3 well measured rectangles. The process is simple so use the software of your choice, or the software that you commonly use with the cutting machine (Inkscape, Corel Draw and Illustrator are common examples). In a few words: you need to draw 3 rectangles, one that is the size of your block, one that is the size of your paper and one that is half an inch bigger than the paper. Then you align them vertically and horizontally. Here is a step by step in Adobe Illustrator.

Carving block frame: Start by making a rectangle with the dimensions of your carving block. In Illustrator select the Rectangle Tool, click on the art board once and enter the Width: 4in and the Height: 3.07in in the pop up dialog box.

Paper frame: make another rectangle with the dimensions of the paper you will be printing on. Don't worry about alignment for now. Select the Rectangle Tool, click anywhere on the art board and enter the Width: 5in and the Height: 3.5in in the pop up dialog box.

Base: make another rectangle that is 0.5 in (1.27cm) bigger than the previous one in both width and height. In this case Width: 5.5in and Height: 4in.

Align: with the Selection Tool select the 3 rectangles. Change the fill color to none and then go to the Align Objects panel and click on Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center

Our file is almost ready. Now we need to copy and paste the biggest rectangle, that will be our base. In my case I also need to select the color and use a stroke size of 0.001 points. But this will vary depending on the machine that you are using.

Cut Your Pieces

Gther Your Materials and Choose Your Dimensions

I have access to a Universal X-660 (an old work horse) and I can cut directly from Illustrator. Your specific settings may vary. I use 99% power and 1% speed to cut 0.20in (5mm) acrylic, your mileage may vary. You will end up with 2 frames, one base rectangle and a little rectangle. Set the little one aside for now.

Bond the Big Frame to the Base

On bonding acrylic:

Permanently bonding acrylic is really easy if you use a solvent. There are some commercially available acrylic bonding cements but you can use plain acetone. I have used acetone, MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone), and specially formulated solvents like the one pictured. The main advantage of the latter is that the curing time is really short. The performance of MEK is pretty similar to acetone, perhaps a bit better. The trick is to clamp the parts before you apply the solvent. Apply it to the edge of the parts and you'll see it being drawn in by capillary action. It is rather amusing.

Doing it:

Clamp the pieces, make sure they are reasonably aligned and apply just a little bit of solvent to the inside edges. If you are using acetone let it sit for about 20 minutes. With acetone and MEK little cracks may occur but this is OK.

Now we are ready to use our jig!

Using It!

Ready? Let's go:

Place the paper inside the jig.

Put the small frame on it.

Apply ink to the carving block (I'm using a marker in the example pictured, it's lazy but it works).

Place the block in the frame and apply pressure around the entire surface of your block.

You probably had it figured out by now. Anyway, what I like about this method is that I can produce a lot of nicely framed prints without thinking too much about aligning the printing block. Because the tolerances are pretty tight it is possible to reapply ink when the print doesn't turn out so good on the first try. I've found this is really hard to do with other indexing methods.

Going Further: Now that you know the basic technique (measuring and cutting the frames and bonding a couple of pieces) I'm going to suggest some variations.

Printing on Wood

For printing on wood you only need to cut 2 frames (shaded grey in the picture). Both pieces have the same outside dimensions but one of them fits the carving block and the other one fits the work piece.

When printing on wood I have obtained the best results using rubber like materials (such as Speedball brand "Speedy Carve" or actual rubber stamps) and water based printing Inks.

Paper on Top

If your printing block is made out of harder materials (such as wood, linoleum or metal) you will get better prints by placing the paper on top and using a burnishing tool (very often the humble but useful house variety spoon). The jig will be the same as in the previous step, just two frames that share the same outside dimensions. You might have to add a spacer (or thinner acrylic) if your block doesn't have a similar thickness to the base.

Patterns

To create patterns cut a template that is the size of your paper. I decided to cut a grid and a square stamp in this example but really you could choose any shape you want. I also used 2.5mm (0.09 in) thick acrylic because I had a hard time getting the stamp off the template when I used 5mm. Place the template on top of the paper and use it to guide your stamping. I rotated mine 90 degrees each time to make it look more interesting. I hope this Instructable gave you some ideas and inspired you to play with lasers (I'm sure Yoda would approve). Now, go forth and print nicely framed pictures of cute cats!

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r3b3lgrrrrrrrl · 5 years

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A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 40)

"Rockingham, NC"

@lovemythsworld

@creatureofthen1ght-v3

Friday night at the show, The Band is phenomenal. Colson is rapid and on point, as always. The crowd, roaring for them. Acoustics are great and the whole place shakes as they sing all the lyrics to Home, Habits and Lately to him.

Luna's watching side stage with Ashleigh, singing along with her camera. She jams out as Colson RIPS through a cover of Bulls On Parade, grabbing a GREAT shot of him standing on Rook's kit. She then leans to Ashleigh saying, she's going to go get her shit together, will she please watch for her cue. Ashleigh agrees with a smile. Bobbing and singing along to the music.

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Luna's pulling lettered stickers off of a white T shirt she had spray painted a solid line of black across earlier as Ashleigh pops into Colson's dressing room for her. "Can you check me?" She asks her as she slits the bottom of the shirt up to the neckline, carefully through the letters, leaving the ring of the top neckline untouched. Ashleigh watches amused as she's now threading safety pins across the shirt. She hops up and throws it on.

"What do you think?" She asks after adjusting herself, throwing her arms out. Being a bit more conservative, Ashleigh loves Luna's style.

Her hair is loose and wild, eye makeup dark. Lips a deep purple. Littered in tattoos and jewelry, she has on leather lace up shorts with fishnet stockings and 3in, chunky, lace up, hard buckle, ankle boots. The tiny shirt is cut off to her ribs, safety pinned secure, with about an inch open, exposing her flesh. The ring of the neckline and Luna's bare, plump breasts keeping everything in place. Ashleigh grins at the white words flashing through the black spray paint as they line up perfectly.

"That's AWESOME!!! Kells is gonna love it!!" She laughs to Luna's pleasure as they head to the stage.

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The crowd is insane with Colson just finishing up Rap Devil.

"How you feelin' Fam?" He asks to their roars. "I dropped a new song today." More roars as he laughs. "You guys like it? I can tell, because it's climbing the motherfucking charts!! BECAUSE OF YOU!!!!" He shouts to the energetic room. Luna's at the piano. Stage left, crowd to her side. She starts lightly playing the chords to Bad Things.

"It means a lot to me that you guys like it." He tells his fans "Because it's a true story that I wrote with someone I love." The crowd Awws as he chuckles. "Yeeeahhh...." He says blushing "I brought her with me tonight and you guys are gonna be THE FIRST to hear it LIIIVE!!" He shouts again. The crowd goes wild as he calls to her "KICK IT, KITTEN!"

Opening with the piano, she's still in the dark.

🎶I know I'm outta my head. But I haven't lost my mind. How is it that you know the bad things I like? We're so good, I can't explain it. What can I say, it's kismet, ain't it🎶

Luna's vocals are strong enough to quiet the rowdy crowd. The spotlight shines on her as she lets out the next lines. Colson's walking towards her.

🎶All things you say. All the things you do, make me fall more in love with you. Oh, Bunny, I can't escape it. I'm all in, there is no maybe🎶

Rook rat a tat tats before slammimg in with AJ and Baze. Colson takes her hand, as she slides off the piano bench. Lights and smoke explode along with the crowd. His face lights up when he sees what she's wearing. DIABLO blazing across her chest. She knows, he knows, when she sees him beam. Colson's rapping to her, as they bop and dance with each other. Him leading her center stage. Rook knocking into his drums. They're magnetic. Bouncing together to the beat. Lights are flashing.

🎶We both bad, but it feels so good. And you "come" again, like I know you should. And we both wild. And the night's young. You're my drug. Breathe you in 'til my face numb. Drop it down to that bass drum. I got what you dream 'bout, fingers pulling my hair out. Eyes closed while you scream and shout. And you keep me in with those hips. While my teeth sink in those lips. While your body's giving me life and you suffocate in my kiss🎶

She's giving him THAT look, swirling her hips, bouncing with him as his free hand rests on one. He sings to her smiles as she backs him.

🎶Then you said I want you forever. Even when we're not together. Tattooed you on my body so I can take you wherever, Like, I want you forever. Even when we're not together, tattooed you on my body so I can look at you whenever, yeah🎶

She turns so that her back is against his chest. His hand around her waist. Their hips swaying together. Bodies throbbing for each other. She drags a hand down his face as she tilts her head back, exposing her neck. He kisses it. Giving her shivers as she sings.

🎶I know I'm outta my head. But I haven't lost my mind. How is it that you know the bad things I like? We're so good, I can't explain it. What can I say, it's kismet, ain't it🎶

She turns again and places a hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes before dropping it to his chest. Forcing him backwards. Singing only to him.

🎶All things you say. All the things you do, make me fall more in love with you. Oh, Bunny, I can't escape it. I'm all in, there is no maybe🎶

He pecks her on the lips quickly to her surprise, before she turns around. Making her giggle as she skips across stage. They separate as the crowd oozes with excitement. The Band is electric. They're on opposite sides of the stage now. Gravitating towards each other. Bouncing and bopping seductively back towards the other as he raps to her again.

🎶I can't explain it. I love our range. And I love the way your breath numbs me of novacaine. And we are, always high. Keep it strange🎶

Face to face again, Luna jumps in to harmonize with him. They sing in unison. Pushing playfully against each other. Pointing at each other.

🎶Ok, yeah, I'm insane, But you the same🎶

She beams at him, playfully pushing him away. He pulls her back, continuing as she chimes in.

🎶Let me paint the picture. Counter in the kitchen. Taking all your clothes off. Losin' our religion. You're my pretty little vixen and I'm the voice inside your head. That keeps telling you to listen to all the bad things I say🎶

Colson continues. As Luna dances loosely in his grip, both hands in the air. He sings to her again. He controls her whole body with one large hand. A thumb on her cheek bone, large fingers wrapped around her skull. Both of them are raging. She bites her lip. That ONE fucking LOOK.

🎶And you said I want you forever. Even when we're not together. Tattooed you on my body so I can take you wherever, Like, I want you forever. Even when we're not together, we're not together, tattooed you on my body so I can look at you whenever, yeah🎶

Running her thumb across his bottom lip, dragging it across his jawline. Like she did when they recorded it. Making his already hard dick bulge. The drums and the guitar are slamming together.

🎶I know I'm outta my head. But I haven't lost my mind. How is it that you know the bad things I like? We're so good, I can't explain it. What can I say, it's kismet, ain't it🎶

She snakes around him to the beat of the pounding band.

🎶All things you say. All the things you do, make me fall more in love with you. Oh, Bunny, I can't escape it. I'm all in, there is no maybe🎶

She turns to the crowd, her vocals strong and smooth before turning back to Colson. Finger guns flying again, bouncing around, making him laugh. Rook rattles with her.

🎶I'm just a LunaTic, with her Gunn. When we're together, Bad Things happen. The way you touch me, is better than ecstasy. When we're not together, I still feel you coursing through me🎶

The band kicks in hard. They're both jumping around the stage now. The room is hysterical, lights still flashing.

Playing and pushing off of each other still. Luna raises her tattooed arm high, waving it in the air. Beaming at him as they jump up and down, singing. He does it back to her delight.

The crowd and the band are insane as Colson grabs his guitar, killing his solo. Luna belts out the lyrics, skipping back towards him pointing. She comes in belting, his guitar RIPPING through the air with her.

🎶I know I'm outta my head. But I haven't lost my mind. How is it that you know the bad things I like? We're so good, I can't explain it. What can I say, it's kismet, ain't it🎶

As she reaches him, she props her free hand on his shoulder. Dancing on him like a pole as he continues to play.

🎶All things you say. All the things you do, make me fall more in love with you.🎶

Snaking up, she looks up at him, him down at her. Both beaming.

🎶Oh, Bunny, I can't escape it. I'm all in, there is no maybe🎶

Lights and smoke are exploding again as Rook leads them out on a solo.

Both laughing, they end the song with Colson tossing the ax around his shoulder to scoop her up and kiss her. Her whole body is throbbing as she kisses him back. The crowd ringing in her ears. As she trots off stage, waving, she hears Colson yell "THAT BROOKLYN BITCH!!!" to the uncontrollable crowd.

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The band finishes with Rehab and Till I Die. Luna's watching from side stage with Ashleigh. "YOU GUYS WERE GREAT!!!" she shouts to Luna over the music. Luna beams. Hugging and thanking her. She has a joint and a bottle of Jameson. Colson walks off stage, grabs the bottle from her and promptly throws her over his shoulder. The joint stays with her.

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Passing and talking to people, he doesn't put her down until they hit the dressing room, where he plunks her on a table.

"I've been waiting to do this since I FUCKING saw you!" He exclaims. She's lighting the joint as he rips her shirt wide open. Safety pins popping and flying.

Making her squeal "MY OFFICIAL MERCH!!" Them both laughing as she lifts the joint to his mouth.

"I fucking love you." He laughs after hitting it.

"But do you love-Love me?" She teases. Cocking her head.

"Fucking right I do!" He tells her before kissing her hard. They're both sweaty and buzzing from the show.

Looking at him playfully, she hops off the table, walks across the room and bends over another table in front of the mirror.

"Ritual?" She says coyly, over her shoulder. Biting her lip.

Puffing on the joint, he takes long strides to her.

"Take 'em off." He demands with a hard ❗SLAP❗ on her leather clad ass.

"You do the FUCKING same." They both laugh, dropping their pants for the other.

Running his hand up her slender back, he passes her the joint as he slides a finger between her folds. She's soaked, just the way he likes her. He catches her off gaurd when he pushes his dick into her. Wide blue eyes, staring at him through the mirror. This turns both of them on as they begin to fuck each other smooth and hard. Passing the joint back and forth through deep strokes.

"That was fucking HOT tonight!" He pants into the mirror. Agreeing, she slams into his cock harder. After he slides his hand around her throat, it doesn't take much but her begging for them both to explode. After resting on her as they catch their breath, he kisses her bare back as always before popping his head up.

"Ready to party?" He asks her, grinning through the mirror.

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To be continued.....

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