DIY Coaster - Easy Peasy!

I want to share with you this project that I'm developing as a college essay. It is, as the title says, about making coasters for yourself!

Manuel and Virginia have been married for 50 years now, and they are celebrating that marriage again with family and friends. In that celebration, they are giving souvenirs for the guests, the coasters! to remember them and that special date.

Since I've not developed this project yet, and it's my duty to share it now, I'm using photos from Unsplash

First of all, we need to choose which type of wood we are using, the measurements, the color and the type of felt we are placing under the wood, to protect the surfaces where put them on. Besides, we are creating the design for the coaster's shape and for the engraving on the wood.

In my case, these are the decisions taken:

- Circular coasters, 9cm diameter, 50 units

- Pine wood, for better results, with a thickness of 18mm, and 50x200cm, from Leroy Merlin

- 9 black felt sheets, 20x30cm from Fieltrozitos

- Wood glue from Leroy Merlin

- Vector design: circles and engraving ("Manuel & Virginia" plus the dates)

Once we've taken these decisions, and the client approves it, it's time to buy everything we need, and to design vectors for the shape and for the drawing. We are sending these to the machines we are using, so we need to have in mind that we are using a laser cutter for the shapes and for the engraving, which means that for this last, we need to develop a design with outer and interior lines, keeping the safe distance between them: more than 2 mm.

To develop these coasters, I am using Salamanca FabLab's tools:

- Plotter cutter, for the felt

- Laser cutter, for the shape and the engraving

Once we have all the pieces, we need to put them together. We are using the wood glue for this. It's important to use help for this part of the project, so we can get better results.

The project's cost will depend on how much we want to spend in the piece of wood and how much does it cost to rent the machinery.