Flying Butterfly Mobile
Instruction
Information
I admit, I'm not a big fan of AI. I like to do everything myself. For me, the fun and satisfaction comes not from the product, but from the process. And after these extreme profound insights ;-) I finally get to the point.
I drew the butterfly myself. Based on a photo, of course. It's a monarch (Danaus plexippus). I exported the finished vector graphic from InDesign as an eps file, converted it to svg, and then imported it into xTool. That's how I always do it.
I then sorted and grouped the paths in the xTool program so that the outer lines are cut last.
My settings for my D1 Pro 10W Laser
Mode: Cut | Power: 100% | Speed: 3mm/s
Instruction
Step1: Cutting with Tabs
Fortunately, I discovered the very useful tab function (image with the red circle). Since I place the board on a metal picture frame and therefore cut above nothing, the cut pieces would otherwise fall in, and in the worst case, only half of them would fall in. Then the other part would stick out like the sinking Titanic and block the laser head. With the small tabs, everything stays in place until the end and there are no unpleasant surprises.
Step2: Paint if you like
The butterfly looked a bit dull on the ceiling, and besides, not everything has to have that handmade wood-with-burnt-edges look ;-)
I painted the butterfly a few times with black acrylic paint and sanded it with 400-grit sandpaper in between coats. Now it has a matte finish and you can still see the wood grain. I didn't want it to look like a plastic toy in the end.
Step3: How to attach the wings
When it came to mounting the wings, I ultimately decided to use the same principle as for my Seagull. I use ring wood screws. I drill holes in the wings and use the screws in their entirety. The screws for the body are cut so that the wings can be threaded on at the end.
