By Tyler Elks
Recently I’ve been trying to use the laser engraver here at Ignite Studio more often. I had stumbled across acrylic earrings at a store when it hit me–I can make my own acrylic earrings using the tools at Ignite! In this post you’ll learn how to make laser cut earrings.
How To Make Laser Cut Earrings
First you’re going to want to get certified on the laser engraver which you can find under the Fab Lab tab on our website.
Once you’ve gone through all of the steps to get certified here’s what you’ll need:
- A sheet of Acrylic. You can either bring in your own or buy it from us at Ignite Studio. We have a selection of colors.
- Earring hooks and jump rings. You can use our Jewelry Making Kit located in our Adult Kit Library, or you can purchase your own.
- Jewelry tool kit. You can purchase your own or use the tool kit in Ignite’s Jewelry Making Kit
Once you have your certification and your supplies, you can move on to the design. For this you can use an image with a a PNG, DXF file type. Or you can make your own in an art program like adobe illustrator, which is available in our Digital Media Labs.
If you’re using the RDWorks software to create your design, you’ll want to make sure that you choose a design that has a clear resolution with clean lines. If you’ve never used the laser engraver for anything like this before, I suggest you start with something simple like the flower pictured here:
Regardless of if you’re making your own design, using one you’ve found online, or one that you’ve purchased from someone else, each design is going to be a bit different. You’ll want to play around with it to make sure your settings are work for you.
Pro Tip: If you’re not sure how it will turn out, try cutting a sample out of one of our many scrap pieces of wood or cardboard. That way you don’t waste any of the more expensive acrylic.
If you’re having trouble figuring out how to get the cut you want, you’re more than welcome to ask an Ignite staffer for help. We are here to help you troubleshoot! You can even Book-An-Expert for help troubleshooting on any project, where you get 30 minutes of dedicated time from an Ignite staffer.
Once you’ve got your settings right, go ahead and cut them out. When they’re finished you may want to brush them off or wash them with soap and water to get the dust from the cutting.
When you’re satisfied with the earrings, you can head on over to the Adult Kit Library to check out the Jewelry Making Kit. Then you can add any jump rings and earring backings to finish your project
And you’re done! You now have laser cut creations ready to show off in a fun and fashionable manner. Share your creations with us by posting them in our Ignite Community Discussion Board. Happy making!
