Hi DMS,
I’m looking for some help with engraving a ukelele. I have the pattern i want to engrave but i have no idea where to start as far as building a rig to hold it or how to setup the file.
Hands on advice would be awesome and i will be bribing with food and libation of your choice.
Thanks,
Max T.
You need an out line of the uke first. I’d try putting the back on a flat bed scanner.
Then you lay out your design within that outline.
You then throw a piece of cardboard in the laser, tape it down, and cut the outline out of the cardboard. Set the uke in the jig you just made and then fire off your engraving with the same home.
Hard part about stuff like this is getting the power and speed correct, generally there is no test piece available. There is a lot of guidance out there for different finish types and wood combinations.
How much engraving are you planning? Just a name or something more elaborate?
Making a jig of some kind to reference the design will be best. The cardboard option Mathew talked about is great because it doesn’t cost much and should help a lot with accuracy.
I also suggest you cover the area to be engraved with painters tape or paper transfer tape. You can do a test pass at 3-5% power and it should only mark the tape. Then you can turn up the power a little and go through the tape. Depending on the engraving, you might want to take A few light passes instead of just one at full power.
The engraving would be the bottom edge of the ukelele with a name and some stripes.