The USA Catalog Expands With Blue, Coral Pink And Plum Stained Plywood
Traditionally, when laser cutting wood, the only color options were the natural tones associated with each wood variety. If you wanted something else, hand finishing was required—until now. With the introduction of blue, coral pink and plum stained plywood to the USA materials catalog lineup, there’s a whole new world of product possibilities that you can either sell for profit or use to build your brand.
Design Inspiration: Real Products You Can Make With colorful Plywood
While this plywood looks super cool in sheet form, how will it perform with real laser cut products? To find out, we put our design skills to the test and got the lasers firing on nine really nifty product ideas that you can make IRL. Take a look:
Blue Plywood
The holidays may be over, but it’s never too early to begin planning new products to sell with a soft launch “Christmas In July” promo. This interlocking tree makes a great addition to any décor style, and the blue color is a welcome option for those who want something different from traditional green and red.
Since the wood grain can be seen within the colored stain, you can give contemporary jewelry a vintage feel—without having to do any hand painting. Note that the earrings on the left also incorporate laser engraving, which reveals a buttery golden color.
While we love a clear acrylic Raspberry Pi case so you can see the components, there’s something quite refreshing about using an unexpected material such as this blue plywood. If you love it as much as we do, get the plans at Thingiverse.
Would you be blue if you couldn’t make with this new material? Then get all the details on Blue Plywood here and grab a sample here to see it for yourself.
Coral Pink Plywood
This interlocking, star-inspired tabletop decoration is a great piece for those selling home décor items. Conceptually, you could also take this idea and create a design that incorporates a company logo to use promotionally as an executive gift or as a part of an employee onboarding program to welcome new hires.
Since this is a coral pink plywood, we just had to use a coral-inspired pattern on this interlocking pencil case. But there are soooo many options. You could mix-and-match solid and laser cut panels. You could laser cut or engrave a logo to create unique promotional products. You could even engrave individual names for added personalization—and sales opportunities.
We tried out a detailed baroque-style pattern on this clock to see how it would laser engrave. The golden undertones of the wood pairs really nicely with the coral pink, giving it an on-trend boho vibe.
If you’re ready to make some green by selling products made from Coral Pink Plywood, learn all about it here and pick up a sample here.
Plum Plywood
This interlocking turtle is an ideal interactive toy for kids. But don’t kid yourself, adults love these kinds of puzzles, too. We’d love to see one designed around a school mascot. Could be a great fundraising idea!
Here’s a second look at these earrings. You’ll recall with the blue ones above that there was laser engraving in between each of the triangles so it overall remained a solid piece. For comparison with the plum, we laser cut between each of the shapes. Which do you like better?
If you sell jewelry, why not upsell your customers and offer a coordinating jewelry box with purchase? Of course, you could offer this kind of box in a variety of sizes to accommodate any number of applications. Add a logo to make it a corporate gift, or include laser engraved personalization (names, dates, other sentiments) to increase profits. For even more inspiration, check out the plans on Thingiverse and see the cool designs laser engraved on the lid.
If you think Plum Plywood is perfect for your next laser cutter project, find all the details about it here and pick up a sample here to see it for yourself.
Now Available: Blue, Coral Pink And Plum Plywood
This 3.2mm thick, three-ply material is made from all-natural birch that is stained in vibrant colors. It’s commonly used for making scale models, jewelry, model boats and airplanes, product housings, drones, clocks, prototypes, signs, electronics enclosures, etc. Birch plywood has a smooth finish and is consistent in thickness. It laser cuts with a dark edge and engraving does not go through the veneer.
As with any natural wood product, there may be slight color variations from sheet to sheet and lot to lot. Both sides can have small oval shaped patches that are color-matched to the surrounding material. Tight pin knots, as well as some light mineral streaks, may be present. Inner cores are solid single piece veneers.
Maker Tips: Sometimes sheets of this material may not be very flat when we get it from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, this is the nature of material. The inherent tension in the grain of the wood and the way it is constructed means the panels can warp after manufacturing. Be aware of this when designing for this material. If possible, arrange your designs on P1 sized templates and configure designs in grid format on larger templates. Grain direction will always run horizontally as drawn on the computer screen.
What Will You Laser Cut With Colorful Plywood?
With these new plywoods added to the USA materials lineup, what will you make? Will you try your hand at jewelry or electronics enclosures like we did, or will you branch out into something else? We can imagine some really beautiful wedding decorations as well as unique signage for retail stores, restaurants or even advertising firms. How unexpected would it be to build robots out of this material?
If you plan to sell your products, be sure to get this Guide To Designing, Making & Selling Laser Cut Products so you create with confidence. Whatever you decide to make, share your ideas in the comments below. We’d love to hear about it!
