Dove Mandala
Instruction
Information
I find mandalas to be calming despite their chaotic nature. I love to design them and draw them. I have quite a few around. This is one of my favorites. It represents the complexity of life on the road to peace.
I wanted to make this as simple as possible for others to use so I set this on a score pattern although there is an engraved version included as well.
What you recieve with this project is:
XCS Plans
SVG Plans
Complete instructions
Instruction
Step1: Before you begin
This is a very simple project in that no glue or other parts are needed. Just set your choice of material in place and score the project.
In the plans, you will find one of the two mandalas is set to score. This is a much faster project, averaging 22 minutes using the provided settings. The other is set to engrave which takes considerably longer to process and will require you to adjust settings based on your machine and material.
Speaking of which. I did this on 6mm birch plywood that was approximately 10" x 10" in size. You can use whatever size material you desire however, the smaller you go, the more the details of this mandala will disappear.
Step2: Prior to Processing
Measure your material and put a single rectangle/square in XCS that matches those measurements. Place your material into your machine.
If using the P2, line this box up using the close up camera with the edges of your material. Once you have that done, line up the mandala design to the center of the box. Delete the box.
If using Birch, like I did, and you are doing this on the P2, then the score settings provided should work just fine. (I processed this twice with the speed set at 80 once. It still turned out pretty good.) If using a different machine and/or material, you will need to adjust the settings accordingly.
Step3: Process
Using the settings mentioned in the last step, process the mandala design. When complete, you will most likely have some overburn. A light sand with 220grit paper will remove that.
Step4: Optional Finishing
You could, if you want, after processing and sanding the Mandala, apply a finish to it. I tried a stain but it was way too dark and made the design very faint as you can see in the attached photos. I applied a light spray of poly to the other and it turned out great.
Step5: If you like this....
I would genuinely love to hear from you about what you think of this mandala. Did you try it and if so, how did it turn out? Post a comment and a photo below.
And if you like this project, you may like some of my other projects. I have a few premium but I have more free products than paid ones. Check out my library here:
