Effective, easy, inexpensive process from Briton James Williamson. James starts with laser-engraved panels, rubs them with black crayon, and removes the excess by buffing with paper soaked in mineral spirits. A few minutes in a low-temperature oven seals the deal. Nice work, James! [via Hacked Gadgets]
16 thoughts on “Engraved Plastic + Black Crayon = High Contrast Panels”
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That one doesn’t go to 11. Defective.
Looks nice, but I imagine it’d be just as easy to use black acrylic paint. Brush it in, wipe off the excess, let it dry.
Cool idea, just don’t let them get too hot! :)
White correcting fluid on black acrylic is also elegant, and the excess is probably easier to remove.
There are products made for this use which are much easier to deal with than crayons. Lacquer-Stik is one good brand. These products are softer than crayon, and easier to clean after. The easiest cleaning solution is to apply masking tape to your substrate before engraving, then engrave, apply the fill and remove the masking tape (which brings the excess fill with it.) For large areas of fill (lines thicker than 1/16″ or so) a liquid engraving enamel is a better choice. Hermes makes good ones.
This one confuses me. I mean, the inlay is creative, and neat, and using crayons is cool. But if you have access to/money for “laser engraved panels”, why would you need to use crayons to inlay the black lettering, why wouldn’t you just order them that way?
I suspect this is geared towards folks who have access to a laser engraver. Say, at a hackerspace for example.
I remember doing this to my D&D dice back in the day.