Laser Engraved Playing Cards & Wooden Box

Here's an easy laser cutting project that can be made and then played with your friends!

By Aowlad Hossain and Thanushan Ravendiran

Using the illustrator template given (or your own template), set the art-board of your cards the same dimensions as the material you will be using, in this case 20" x 26". For the remaining cards make the art-board smaller and place them in the corner of the board (in Trotec's JobControl Software), to save material. Engrave the cards using 45 power and 100 speed, with 1000 PPI/Hz. For cutting, we used 40 power, 2 speed, 2000 PPI/Hz.

Materials Used: Black Pegasus Cover stock 260m 20x26

The key here is to know the right settings to set up the laser according to desired result, determined by power and speed of the laser. For example, if you wanted the designs of the cards to be darker, you could decrease speed or increase power. Also make sure the material is taped down to the bed of the laser, as an uneven surface will result in misshaped designs.

Download the Illustrator (.ai) artwork file attached.

We make all the cut lines as red of 0.10 pt weight (or Hairline) and colour in the objects black for the engraving portion. All colours must be RGB.

The box is made of ¼" thick solid maple wood with the dimension of 3.5" x 2.5" x 1.5".

We used 55% power and 85% speed on a Trotec 100w Speedy 400 flexx laser with 500 ppi.

Collect all pieces from the bed of machine, assemble as the interlocking windows match and glue it together.