Customized Christmas Ornament With All the Family
Instruction
Here is a neat little ornament for 2024! Don't worry, the names can be changed :)
Get your paint and the bulb you would like to engrave. I used a shiny blue bulb for this project and some white acrylic paint.
If you have not done so already, download the file and open it up in XCS. Focus the laser on the bulb so that the red dot is about 1 mm to the right of the blue. Typically I offset it by 2 to 3mm, but the engraving was out of focus even after cleaning the lens, but a 1mm offset it looked great.
This is a great time to change the names. Ungroup the items, and then click on the names you want to change. You may need to send elements to the front or back to be able to click on the names to edit them.
Make sure that the settings are right for your laser. The settings I used are in the screenshot above, but you will want to verify that they fall within the range of your test card.
You will need to place the bulb on something to prevent it from moving around. You may use a piece of tape to secure it, or some other fixture. Anything that will prevent the bulb from rolling around.
This won't take long to engrave at all, about 25 seconds or so using the F1 Ultra and the settings I used. When you center the image it will look a bit low, but set the framing to outline and enable it to confirm that the bulb will be engraved in the correct spot.
When you are satisfied with the placement, click process, start, and then the green bar on the pad, or whatever button you need to press based on the laser you are using.
Once the engraving is completed, carefully remove bulb. Remove the bulb topper and squeeze some paint into the bulb. Gently tap the bulb to move the paint around to coat the inside of the bulb. Once the paint covers the entire image, you may drain the rest of the paint out, or just place the topper on the bulb, it's totally up to you!
I actually engraved both sides of the bulb, and used white paint on one side and silver on the other, just to compare what they looked like. If you are unsure how colors will look together, using both sides is a great way to save on material cost!
Hang it on the tree, step back, and admire your work. You did it!