Custom Oak Coins: 1/8″ 3 mm Thick

Custom Oak coins can be made by CNCROi.com in any size using any mix of imagery or fonts that you want for your special occasion or achievement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrwaf9H-OJ8/

As with anything at CNCROi.com, you are not limited to Oak by the way, you want them in Maple, Walnut, Bloodwood, Zebrawood or whatever endless wood species you want, we can make them for you!

For these specific custom Oak coins, we used reclaimed Oak boards, they have a varnish on one side but it doesn’t matter, these coins will be 1/8″ 3 mm thick and this board is half an inch, so splitting it in half and then planning both sides will produce wonderful stuck for this project.

There are a few ways to split wood but I found the easiest and most enjoyable is to boot-up our awesome bandsaw and cut right in the middle, there will be a little variation but it doesn’t matter, the planner will clean it up in no time.

Of course, CNCROi.com isn’t shy of the big stuff either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZbDwgCE8iw/

The thickness planner at CNCROi.com will make these (now) two boards into the exact same thickness while cleaning-up both sides of them at the same time, these custom Oak coins will then be ready for our CNC laser, having produced a consistent supply of material to feed it with.

When it comes to making custom Oak coins, CNCROi.com had to achieve the right mix of contrast (by burning) and engraving (for depth) on both sides to make something truly amazing.

There are of course, two ways to do this, the fast way and the slow way, at CNCROi.com, I tend to pick the slow way because the fast way requires too many cut corners producing a product that I won’t be happy with leaving the shop.

If you are wondering what other woods look like after being laser engraved and cut, here’s a short series comparing them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v12dcQZCWG0/

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-s_C491KxE/

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6FB0d8y6m0/

Once one side of the custom Oak coins is laser engraved and cut at CNCROi.com, the next step is to flip it around to do the back side, in the exact same position as they were originally, this assures a coin that’s “up” on both sides, though with a slight variation in angle only, not location.

When it comes to laser engraving Oak specifically, this is a dense wood, so each one of them requires just the perfect mix of power and speed to achieve a great result.

As these are also to be used as gifts, I decided to make them slightly thicker than the spec called-upon just give them a little more weight, you want people to feel like they are being given something of value, not a cheap trinket… and like corporate awards, weight plays a significant role in achieving this.

I also have my own custom networking badge, made out of Oak as well… though I haven’t used it much this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UxVo8gv0IE/

I kept the production runs small on purpose when making these custom Oak coins at CNCROi.com, that way, I could check the quality as I was making them and making more if needed as some didn’t come out right, either a knot was present in the wood, it had some natural blemishes or just got cooked a bit too much for various reasons under our beam of energy.

Even though each and every one of these custom Oak coins was to be sanded, I still took the time to mask the front and the back, this produces a higher quality result and greatly reduces the amount of sanding required.

This is why the picture above looks so “dirty”, this is just the masking being stained underneath during the “top” engraving and cutting pass, no point removing this before proceeding with the engraving.

Another great use of Oak is actually bookmarks, they come out great and are highly functional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6w6HncawJk/

I’ve always been impressed by how awesome my Austrian CNC laser has performed through the years, it’s really quite a bit of fun to work with and the quality is second to none on a whole host of projects we do here at CNCROi.com.

You can really see the unique grain pattern in the Oak in these pictures, although each and every of the custom Oak coins is very much identical in laser engraving and cutting, they are each unique in how this is expressed.

After one board of reclaimed Oak is finished, it’s time to mask and proceed with the next one, the process is always the same when it comes to production of these custom Oak coins, it’s just feeding fresh material and having coins released at the end.

Another project I did a while back was wooden dominos using Oak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSpxd8eaZI/

The red mark you see on the masking is actually an integrated laser pointer we have in our laser machine, it’s how we position things accurately at CNCROi.com for this job and many others.

When it comes to your font selection for your own custom Oak coins, they are endless, from Arial to Xolonium.

Same goes to imagery, but make sure to provide a black and white vector for ultimate clarity, these coins may be an inch and a half in diameter but you still want them looking sharp!

Of course, CNCROi.com doesn’t only make custom wooden coins, we also make custom banks to go with them!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5reSwows95o/

CNC laser engraving different wood species does require a change in power, as the results are based on the material density, so a hardwood like Oak would take longer to produce (and be more durable) than something like Basswood which is what they use for model airplanes, and not home construction.

CNCROi.com is now finished this run of custom Oak coins, they may look rough but that’s just the masking that’s stained from the Oak flames.

Once the masking is removed for these custom Oak coins and they are each individually sanded, they are ready to reveal themselves to the world!

These came out great, there is one more step though, and that’s spot sanding and a clear coat over the front and back of these custom Oak coins.

That’s what gives them the shine and extra durability in the real world, while also adding a lot of contrast to the wooden coins.

Want some custom wooden coins? Contact CNCROi.com!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnEluXSJd78/