Customizable Laser Cut Rug

Your girlfriend's parents invited you over for dinner, and you're desperate to make a decent impression. Sweat dripping from your face, your legs manage to stumble their way up the uninviting cement drive-way. Oh god. Was her address 3226 or 3622?? Panic stricken, your rabid eyes scan the environment for any sort of clue.

It lies there as a beacon of hope. A signal from nature that happiness can exist. A rug inscribed with the letters

"J", "A", "N", "E." -- her last name

A laser cut rug is an awesome addition to any house whether it is indoors or outside. From comical sayings to practical warnings there are many uses for this creation!

Materials:

- A rug

- A computer with Corel Draw installed (or Inkscape is a free option)

- A basic tape measurer

- Some paper towels or a blowdryer

Tools:

- Access to a laser cutter (Check out any local maker spaces or tech schools if you don't own one)

Get your tape measurer, line it up, and record the dimensions of your rug.

We will use this later to laser cut the mat.

Download Corel Draw or Inkscape

These are the steps in which I went about creating a design:

1. Create a new Corel Draw or Inkscape document

2. Make a box with the dimensions of your rug (for me it was 3x2 feet.)

3. Choose a thick font that will be easy to laser cut. I used Rockwell bold.

4. Type out whatever you want the rug to say.

5. Import an image from google if you want. Many pictures will not work. Make sure yours is simple and looks easy enough to engrave on the rug.

6. Trace the bitmap of your image. This will change it from a raster file to a vector file. A vector file is scalable and and replaces the pixelated look with a clearer smooth finish.

7. Arrange your design however you want!

8. Download the final product!

All of these steps are outlined in the pictures!

It is important that you get as much dust and debris off of the rug as possible.

I used a powerful blowdryer, but some paper towels would probably work as well.

It is time to actually laser cut the rug!

1. Lay the rug down in your laser cutter

2. Set the height of the laser cutter to about the width of the rug.

3. Program the settings into the laser cutter that I list below.

4. Connect your computer to the laser cutter and load the file.

5. Press print, and hope for the best!

SETTINGS

Power intensity: 30

Speed: 300

I really love this rug, and I'm sure my visitors will too! Remove that piece of art from the laser cutter and set it up inside or outside your house!!