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How to cut an adorable miniature sleigh on a Glowforge
- Posted on
matt
- 0
- Categories: All Posts,Glowforge,Laser Projects
This Glowforge Project was made from the amazing design from Pixaroma!
Please take a moment to favorite Pixaroma’s shop! With their file this project would not be possible.
If you prefer a video guide please visit our YouTube Channel for a walkthrough of this project!
We also have 6 Holiday projects that you aren’t going to want to miss! Watch it here!
Go to the product page for "Santa Sleigh 3D Layered Laser Cut File"
The first thing you need to do is support this amazing designer by purchasing their file. Enter “3d sleigh” in the search box and look for the file called “Santa Sleigh 3D Layered Laser Cut File” or you can purchase the file here.
Purchase the design from Pixaroma
Add the design to your cart and proceed to checkout by viewing your cart. Follow the instructions to purchase the file. You can download the file after you checkout or you can always find your files under “downloads” under your account.
Unzip the File
The design file comes in a zip format which is a way to compress files for downloading. You will need to extract the files to use them.
Right click on the zip file and select “Extract All”. Mac users have a similar option but we will be using a PC for this guide.
A dialog box will prompt you to select where you want to extract the files. By default it will extract them to where the zip file is located. This is what I typically do.
Once complete you will see a new folder that is unzipped. This is the folder that contains the project files.
Open the folder and explore the files to find the SVG file format
Pixaroma provided almost all file formats that you could need. They also included some ideas for materials and an assembly guide!
A Glowforge can use many different file formats. For this guide we will be using the SVG files to make our mini sleigh project. Double click the folder that says “Santa Sleigh SVG Files. Open the “Sleigh Multi Layers Spread Laser Cut ” file in your preferred vector program. I use Adobe Illustrator for all my design work and will show you how to edit the file in Illustrator. Note – you could also do this in the Glowforge App but I wanted to show you how to do it with Illustrator.
Edit the file to upload to Glowforge and shrink the size
The file comes in a nice layout but all the parts are in a different colors. If you upload the file in this format, you will have to enter individual settings for each color. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Make it easier on yourself by setting all the parts to once color. Select all the parts using the selection tool keyboard shortcut “v”. Set the parts to the default color by using the keyboard short cut “d”.
Use the direct selection tool keyboard shortcut “v” and left click and drag to select all the parts.
Left click and hold the bottom right hand corner. Drag the mouse to the upper left hand corner. Hold down “shift” to lock the proportions of the design. Release left click when the parts are “shrunk” down to size. Go To File -> Save and save the changes to the file.
Upload the file to the Glowforge App
Head over to the Glowforge App and login. Create a new blank project or you can upload from a file to create the project. Personally I always like to click and drag my file into a new project but it personal preference.
Time to cut!
For my project I decided to use leather for the outer part of the sleigh. Glowforge can cut leather but it has to be Veg-Tan leather not chrome tan. Chrome tan puts of nasty chemicals when cut and will damage your Glowforge.
I used some magnets to flatten out the leather. It is critical your material is always flat. I set the 2 other layers to ignore and dragged the outer layer to the leather. Here are my settings for my Glowforge Pro.
- Speed: 200
- Power: 100
- Passes: 1
If you have never cut leather know that it does smell a little like burnt hair. I love using it though! Totally worth it IMO. I did mask my material to reduce burn marks. You can see what the leather looks like in the example below once the masking is removed.
Cut the remaining layers - wood
I used some 3mm plywood for the remaining layers. If you have some scraps laying around, this project is a great way to use them!
Set the outer layer we just cut to ignore and set the other layers to cut. Here are the settings I used for my Glowforge Pro.
- Speed: 200
- Power: FULL
- Passes: 1
The parts cut out nice and easy. It’s amazing how small and clean a Glowforge can cut material. Amazing!
Note – I cut out way too many inner parts when messing around with the file. Make sure to measure your material and think about how wide you want your mini sleigh to be or Santa is gonna need a wide load sign.
Paint, glue, and clamp
I used some Gorilla wood glue for my parts. I did the inner layers first and let them sit clamped for about 10 minutes. I then added the outter layers and clamped the entire project. If you want to paint the sleigh I would do it before you glue.
That's all folks!
I let the clamp sit over night but that was probably overkill. The final product is an adorable little sleigh perfect for decorations or a mini Christmas tree. I cut a few different examples you can find below.
If you liked this guide please leave a comment and remember to follow us on Facebook!
Remember to support Pixaroma by purchasing the file here!
