DIY Fridge Magnets

In this tutorial, we will show you how we've created some cool fridge magnets that you can do on your laser engraving machine.

We've used our Speedy 400 laser cutter and Mutoh UV Printer to make 3 different fridge magnets:

1) The London Magnet is made with our 3mm TroGlass Clear cast acrylic, UV printed on the back with a white-on-colour method and laser cut.

2) The Toronto Magnet is made with our Trotec Solid Wood, where we engrave and cut our design.

3) The Paradise Photo Magnet is made with our 3mm TroGlass Clear cast acrylic, our TroLase Thins and TroLase Metallic to create an interchangeable photo frame magnet.

All materials used in this project can be purchased from our online webshop: www.engraving-supplies.ca

UV print the design for your acrylic magnet onto the 3mm TroGlass Clear. We used our Mutoh ValueJet 426, printing colour on white with registration marks.

After printing, place the acrylic into the laser machine to be cut out. If you printed your design with registration marks, the laser will read them and use them to create a more accurate cut.

Engrave: 100 power, 50 speed
Cut: 100 power, 0.6 speed

Flip the acrylic pieces over so that you can engrave the inlays that the magnets will be placed into. Make sure to measure your workpieces and magnets properly so that you can give them a snug fit.

Place the 3/16" Solid Maple Wood sheet into the machine to engrave and cut out the design for your wooden magnets.

Engrave: 70 power, 100 speed
Cut: 100 power, 0.45 speed

Just like before, we have to engrave the inlays for the magnets. Measure your magnets and be sure to contour the inlays for a tight fit.

Deep Engraving: 100 power, 50 speed

Push the magnets into the inlets and your wooden fridge magnet is complete.

To make the front piece, we reverse engrave our image onto the 3mm TroGlass Clear .

Engrave: 100 power, 90 speed
Cut: 100 power, 0.6 speed

For the picture slot, we laser cut a U shape from our 0.02" TroLase Thins Brushed Silver

And finally, to create the back piece, cut out a rectangle from the 1/8" TroLase Metallic Brushed Silver. Flip it over to engrave the inlays for the magnets.

After cutting out each piece, all you have to do now is assemble. Peel off your 3M adhesive and stick all the pieces together. Glue the magnets into the engraved inlets, place your photo inside, and your photo frame fridge magnet is finished!