Heart-shaped bank with humorous single's messages
Instruction
This is not your typical Valentine. Having been single for the better part of my 30 year adulthood it is more my independence showing. Who knows with enough spare change, a dollar bill here and there and even prepaid Visa's with only a couple dollars left I will have the money to add another laser to the workshop.
Using the shape tool in XCS I drew the interior of the heart to the size I wanted. I saved this file for use in other layers.
Then using the offset I added a heart around the outside I stepped it out 15 spaces.
I found the conversation hearts on Etsy and purchased the file for limited commercial use. ( https://www.etsy.com/shop/StoreByEmily ) I chose the files I wanted and placed them in the smaller of the two hearts. I used the png files to print onto the wood.
I deleted the inner heart and set the file to cut.
For this layer I reopened the smaller heart that I had drawn and saved in the first step.
Once again I offset the heart by 15 steps.
I then grouped the two files and turned them into a compound vector. I opened this in vector editing and drew two lines to give the heart an opening. Then I removed the area in between my lines. Thus, creating a space for money to be deposited and removed.
I then cut this file 3 separate times.
My laser will not cut clear acrylic, but it will score it.
I opened the file for the back piece and made it slightly larger.-I have found it is easier to have a bit more and sand it down than to cut and make a mistake and lose the work. I then set the laser to score the design.
Once the design was scored I used a rotary tool with a cutting blade and I followed the scoring line.
To create this file I returned to the original small heart file I saved and again offset it by 15. Then I cut this file.
This piece was not part of my original design. However, once I assembled the pieces I was not happy with the look of the stacked wood on the inside so this was a solution to hide them from view.
I opened the original small design heart and then copied and pasted another over it. Selecting one I resized until I was happy with the design.
Assembly of this project, I found, is better if it is done in small steps. I began with gluing the back piece to my inner pieces using wood glue. Clamped the items together and let it sit overnight.
For the acrylic I used industrial strength adhesive glue. I glued the piece from the bottom first. Clamped it and let it sit for a couple of hours. Then I attached the outside top piece with the same glue. Let it sit again for a couple of hours.
At this point I started sanding all the pieces until the acrylic and the wood were smooth on the side and the top pieces.
NOTE: Be careful when sanding the top. You can scratch the acrylic and it is difficult to fix.
Once I was happy with the sanding I painted the sides, top and back with acrylic paint.
When that was dry I added the top piece insert with a light amount of wood glue and placed heavy objects on it to cure.
The following day I finished with a polyurethane coat.