Laser Cut Art Shadow Box

I decided for this project I would turn one of my daughters digital artworks into a shadow box. As I am just starting to get into Laser wood working this project has been on my list of something I wanted to push myself and try out so I hope you enjoy and try it out for yourself.

For this project I wanted to use one of my daughters digital paintings. Once I had selected one (And got her permission to use it) the first step was to load it into Inkscape and break down the layers. Once each layer was broken down into a single image I was able to add that to the primary outline and save as a file to send to the Laser. K40 Whisperer uses SVG files and I am unable to provide them here, but I will show you what they look like in the program in the next step.

Now the fun begins...Playing with the Laser. First, a word to the wise:

**CAUTION --- NEVER OPERATE THE LASER WITH THE LID OPEN, THEY ARE VERY POWERFUL AND DANGEROUS** (The photo taken while the laser was cutting was taken with my webcam recording from inside the laser working area)

Now that I had all my files saved from Inkscape, I loaded them one by one into Whisperer. Once I had the image loaded I selected Vector Cut and the Laser went to work. Once each layer was cut I still needed to make a few additional cuts of the outline. These outline cuts would be used as spacers between each of the layers to add depth and also add a space to run the lights.

Now it was the time I had been waiting for, seeing her artwork start to take shape from off the screen and into reality. I layered all the cut pieces to ensure my cuts were centered and where I needed them to be. AS you can see from some of the angled shots there is lots of depth, and now it is time to send it off to paint.

Who better to paint this project then the original artist!! Once the paint had dried I placed the lights between a few of the spacers and glued the layers together. Using the clamps to ensure heavy pressure allowed me to make sure none of the layers moved during this process. Now that the glue has dried it is time to set it up and check out the lights.

I am very excited to show you the final project. Between the day shot and night shot it almost changes the entire look of the artwork. I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did creating it.