Novelty Wood Microphones: Laser Engraved & Cut Pine
Novelty wood microphones might now work in real life like their electronic cousins but they do get people’s attention wherever they go.
Although CNCROi.com can produce novelty wood microphones out of any species, for this specific job, we used 3/4″ 19 mm thick Pine.
As it worked-out, I had the perfect piece of scrap Pine in the shop to make these novelty wood microphones come to life, using the laser meant the production was a one step process.
Pine pyrography is great fun, it’s a wonderful way to have a very unique memory to hang on the wall that stands out regardless of where you put it.
The reason for my Pine website being in these photos was that I was taking pictures for my Instagram page at the same time, I just forgot to take it out of the video camera’s view at CNCROi.com.
Regardless of how many of these novelty wood microphones I make at CNCROi.com, you’ll notice that they are all the same design but with a unique engraving on each, I could have also made a bunch at different scales or even unique designs if the client had requested so and make them at the same time.
Regardless of the orientation of these novelty wood microphones, they all come out the same as well, having a great leaser means that I’m not effected by the orientation of the project file nor the size of the design.
Self-defense items are also wonderfully effective made using Pine as well.
The smoke you see in these photos is basically the laser creating charcoal while vaporizing off a layer of Pine (this is real Pine, not plywood or alternatives) and you’ll also notice in the video and photos that some of this settles back on the surface, which is why I then need to sand them.
CNCROi.com has made a lot of custom wooden projects through the years, Pine is probably my most favorite species for most jobs because it’s light weight, incredibly easy to stain and very easy to work with, especially sanding being a softwood.
It’s always fun making custom beer openers for use by our customers, they can be all the same or different, makes no difference for CNCROi.com.
This 3/4″ Pine also cuts very well under my 140 watts of CO2 power, I do a few passes because sometimes there are “strings” of tougher grain to cut through and I’ve learned with Pine to spend a little more time making sure to cut something out rather than guess and then have to spend a lot of time with manual tools to remove the item from scrap.
These novelty wood microphones are pretty highly detailed as well, the nice thing about laser engraving these vs using our router to carve them out is that contrast is created automatically, no secondary painting is required and I don’t have limits of a round bit so everything is sharp.
CNCROi.com works with a lot of other wood species as well, from Maple to Ash, Butternut to Mahogany so the only limits that may exist are your budget and material availability, that’s what is nice about Pine, it’s available year round!
CNCROi.com is also able to transform wood into actual rustic stamps, or add rubber to them to make them all the more functional for any purpose you may have for them.
Laser engraving Pine is a pretty seamless process, what I really like about the process is that it doesn’t flatten the grain, as lasers work off material density, the grain of the wood follows through in the engraved areas, so novelty wood microphones look great close-up as they do at a distance.
Having custom novelty wood microphones cut out at CNCROi.com means that each has it’s unique features, natural materials have variances from tone to grain pattern and sizing.
A fun projects I like making are custom pencil holders using the same Pine as you see with these wooden microphones.
Regarding staining, again, Pine is wonderful, although the customer ended-up using a clear-coat on these, staining Pine to look like Walnut, Cherry or any other species you can think of, is a wonderful way to produce something cost-effectively while giving it a new esthetic to enjoy.
These novelty wood microphones were a lot of fun to make, I guess technically you could also fit electronics in it if I made it with a clam shell design, so the possibilities are really endless when it comes to what CNCROi.com can make for you.
The table I use just about all the time now at CNCROi.com is a grid table, I have others for different applications in the shop but this is really my go-to, especially for projects where I need to cut through material.
Big projects, little projects, CNCROi.com makes them to spec, another popular item we produce are coins of all shapes and sizes.
The outlines of the novelty wood microphones are now being cut out, the engraving process is complete, this ensures that nothing moves during production until the very last minute.
The cutting process is the same as engraving, there is no switch in power, just speed and a narrowing path than you’d see with the engraving process of these novelty wood microphones.
Notice in the image below after production some soot and smoke settled on the surface, not a problem, these novelty wood microphones will be sanded, also notice each microphone has two different names.
CNCROi.com doesn’t only work with hardwoods and softwoods, we do quite a few things using plywood as well.
Pine provides wonderful contrast, the light surface and darker brown engraving really look so aesthetically pleasing that it’s tough to imagine ever spoiling this natural result with paint or other finishes sometimes, for these novelty wood microphones, just a clear finish was really a great choice by the customer.
Notice the amazing power of sanding, from the above novelty wood microphones to the one below, it’s night and day aesthetically, these are a decent size as well, so at a distance, they are still easily recognized as microphones.
This was a small production run of 3 units, CNCROi.com could have made hundreds or thousands just as easily, it all depends on what you want us to make and ship to your door.
Have some custom woodworking? Contact CNCROi.com to make it for you right now!