Easy Laser Cut & Engraved Wall Art

Wall art is something you make to make your room nicer and more reflecting of you as a person. I made my wall art of a cat experiencing "Starry Night" using a laser cutter and plywood because I grew up with cats and love to include them into my daily life. On top of that through the use of a laser cutter I was able to incorporate my passion for engineering with cats for decorating my room.

1. Laser Cutter (I used Glowforge but as long as it can cut and engrave it would work)
2. Wood Stain(Based on your preference, I used linseed oil because I thought a lighter color would fit it beter)
3. Clear Rust-oleum spray on protective enamel(Sun-damage protection)
4. 1/8" Basswood Plywood(Safe and easy to use for Laser Cutting)
5. Sandpaper(220-320 Grit -> 600+ grit)

Step 1 is to sketch out the basic shape of the design you want and imagine how it is going to be cut, this saves a lot of time and effort when it comes to creating the svg for this design.

Note*: The lines that are drawn is where the wood will be cut through fully so take into account no part of the design should be free standing

Using Fusion 360 from Autodesk, sketch out the profile you sketched onto paper earlier and choose an image you would like to center on your wall art, if you chose to use a shape that is not a square/rectangle like me, there are many good, free sites that will crop it to the shape you want.

Note*: For computers that can't handle Fusion because of the RAM or storage necessary, I reccomend using Inkscape, it's a free software and is easy to learn for modeling 2d sketches like this one.

Use the "Manufacture" function on Fusion360 to prepare your lasercutting file as an SVG and move over to glowforge (or whichever Laser Cutter you are using) and import the file.

When cutting out 1/8" wood using a glowforge I reccomend using the "Thick Basswood Plywood" cutting preset that it offers as it is reliable and precise.

While this step is optional I highly recommend doing it as it dramatically increases the lifespan of the wall art and its quality. Using ~200 grit sandpaper sand the non-engraved parts of the wood until the surface feels smooth. Once that's done use 600+ grit sand paper for a short time to really smooth the surface for a cleaner look, then stain the entirety of the art with linseed oil or any other stain of your choice. Wait until the stain is completely dry(at the very least the recommend wait time on the packaging), then evenly spray on a clear coat, which acts as a sealant on the wood preventing moisture from rotting it and also limits sun damage.

As you can see in the picture I laid mine against the wall but you can hang or lay yours wherever you feel makes your room look best and enjoy, good work!