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My partner and I have obtained a laser cutter, which we are currently using to make personalised coasters and wedding cake toppers etc. Which is cool, but I'm quite sure that it could be used for far more wargame-related ends.

The question is, what do we make with it? I've had a bit of fun running off luscius pattern titan templates for myself, but I'm thinking smaller - terrain, decals etc. It can etch designs onto wood, plasticard, metal and glass, and it can cut through wood, plasticard and card. The cutting bed (maximum size of any given piece) is 30x60 cm.

If anybody can think of stuff that any branch of the wargaming community would appreciate, big or small (especially if somebody else isn't already doing something similar), I'd really love to hear it.
Xenos terrain maybe? Etched vehicle bits? Gaming aids?

Also, because its a bit cheeky asking people to generate ideas for me to make with no incentive, if I get a bunch of ideas out of dakka I'll give the best/most workable one the prototype free of charge

Instead of trying to create terrain that can be wholely assembled from your laser cut stuff, you could create bits such as doors, windows, cornices, corner pieces of buildings, and so on, that can be added to basic blocks of wood or cardboard.

I like that idea are you picturing gothicy and 40kish, or something more generic?

Fifty hit on a great idea. Doors, window frames, vent covers, and other such detailing items would be great. While they exist to a degree in resin, your own products in MDF or brass sheet could find a spot in the market, especially at a lower price point.

Another suggestion would be furniture. Infinity players are always looking for more scatter terrain. Benches, terminals, household furniture, and other such items would be well-received.

Dakka had done a kickstarter and one of their sprues had extra bits to make normal stuff look like terrain:
Other stuff:
Actually there is a ton of lasercraft out there:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=laser+cut+terrain&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI0Yqcv-DJxgIVC1c-Ch1X4g2l&biw=1218&bih=946#imgrc=_
Some thoughts anyway.

-can never go around with bases and movement trays. MDF and clear acrylic are popular choices.
-detailing bits like sujested
-Objective Markers and token's.
-Movement Templets
-display plinths
-Tournament trays.

there are a bunch of laser cut/edged stuff I've been wanting to get made but can't find the budget/time/people to get done:

1/2" laser cut MDF hexes. Undergroundlasers did them in MDF and various colours of acrylic but they're not for sale anymore. Great for Infinity conversions

Adeptus Mechanicus Kastelan order markers (actually I was going to see if I could get them edge-lit and add a switch to flip between the orders)

Plasticard Castellations/Chaos spikes for edging vehicles. Zinge do flexible resin strips but they're expensive for large projects

Icon sheets from extremely thin plasticard (like brass etch but easier to work with)

 Lockark wrote:
-can never go around with bases and movement trays. MDF and clear acrylic are popular choices.
-detailing bits like sujested
-Objective Markers and token's.
-Movement Templets
-display plinths
-Tournament trays.

By 'tournament trays/display plinths' do you mean a solid board with another board on top of it, with holes cut out for all of the models in an army? (definitely do-able)
Or something a bit more complex?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Charax wrote:
there are a bunch of laser cut/edged stuff I've been wanting to get made but can't find the budget/time/people to get done:

1/2" laser cut MDF hexes. Undergroundlasers did them in MDF and various colours of acrylic but they're not for sale anymore. Great for Infinity conversions

Adeptus Mechanicus Kastelan order markers (actually I was going to see if I could get them edge-lit and add a switch to flip between the orders)

Plasticard Castellations/Chaos spikes for edging vehicles. Zinge do flexible resin strips but they're expensive for large projects

Icon sheets from extremely thin plasticard (like brass etch but easier to work with)

Hexes sound easy - I've never played Infinity before; what's the thing with hexagons?

The crenellations/spikes thing would never have occured to me but now I want some. Nuts to the rest of you.

An idea.

Age of Sigmar tokens?

Tokens showing +1 to hit, +1 to wound, +1 to saves, and wound markers would all be neat.

 Thunderfrog wrote:
An idea.

Age of Sigmar tokens?

Tokens showing +1 to hit, +1 to wound, +1 to saves, and wound markers would all be neat.

I am going to have to get around to reading the rules for that game at some point

Gothic architecture bits.

Tokens out the cave!

Since you can do metal, Bass signs and stuff that can be bent and stuff.

Bendable sheet metal add on for orky stuff.

Eldar Terrain. the kind that needs to be bent or stacked then filled to make rounded shapes.

Work stations is a simple one.


Im sure there are way more things to be done

 Desubot wrote:
Gothic architecture bits.

Tokens out the cave!

Since you can do metal, Bass signs and stuff that can be bent and stuff.

Bendable sheet metal add on for orky stuff.

Eldar Terrain. the kind that needs to be bent or stacked then filled to make rounded shapes.

Work stations is a simple one.


Im sure there are way more things to be done

That's a lot of votes for tokens.

Unfortunately, we can only etch the metal, we can't cut it. Limits the design possibilities somewhat (we've done a few dogtags though).

I've seen some good lasercut eldar terrain out there, and I do fancy having a go myself.

Crystal-Maze wrote:
Hexes sound easy - I've never played Infinity before; what's the thing with hexagons?

Hexes are easy - that's why I'm a little annoyed nobody's doing them anymore!

It's an aesthetic choice really, lots of Infinity stuff features hexes, especially bases, kind of makes things look a bit more futuristic

Crystal-Maze wrote:
The crenellations/spikes thing would never have occured to me but now I want some. Nuts to the rest of you.

I know right? and with all the Mechanicus/Knight stuff that has come out I'm sure they'd be useful to a lot of people

The Batman game uses lighting columns and manhole covers for objectives, but the official ones are pretty expensive... I'm not playing that system yet, but if that stuff were cheaper to buy I'd be all over it.

To those people saying 'hexagons', what sizes would be useful? (measuring corner to corner)

How many should come in an order?

Would mdf be a decent material, or would ready-coloured acrylic be better?

1:1 scale bolters, bolt pistols, storm bolters.
The round bits could be figured out and sold in 6" lengths or whatever is applicable to the kit. Same goes for lengths of wire/guitar string etc.

Big fan of using readily available packaging, bottle tops, clothes pegs, diy materials or items to make mdf stuff look less square.

Ooo actually a crashed ship gaming table would be REALLY cool.

Also that one Forge world nid science lab outpost thing.

There is also the ever fun mordhiem stuff and zones terrain to do.

i think necromunda has been covered like nuts though its kinda generic so you could do some more specific designs.

Crystal-Maze wrote:

 Lockark wrote:
-can never go around with bases and movement trays. MDF and clear acrylic are popular choices.
-detailing bits like sujested
-Objective Markers and token's.
-Movement Templets
-display plinths
-Tournament trays.

By 'tournament trays/display plinths' do you mean a solid board with another board on top of it, with holes cut out for all of the models in an army? (definitely do-able)
Or something a bit more complex?

You got the right idea for the tray.

For a plinth just a box or geometric shapes you put on the back of a display shelf to raise the back minis for display. Or even single model ones for display.

I also want to say I love the idea of chaos trim suggestion.

Crystal-Maze wrote:
To those people saying 'hexagons', what sizes would be useful? (measuring corner to corner)

How many should come in an order?

Would mdf be a decent material, or would ready-coloured acrylic be better?

About half an inch (so 12.7mm) is a good size, for quantity it would depend on how many fit on that cutting bed (I'm not great at geometry)

MDF is a good material for basing because it's cheap and light, but acrylic is useful for variety and looks

Oh right

also Custom engraved dice would be awesome.

Chessex sells blanks IIRc.

You can make as many cool dice/tokens as you need
(I wish i had a laser cutter lol )

There is very little in the way of Eldar-y terrain out there, and virtually NO Dark Eldar terrain. I might be willing to pay for that.

I have a friend with a laser cutter (and a traditional routing table). They're really useful for cutting holes into plastic (in whatever shape you want), and cutting plastic into pieces that you want. You can also cut vinyl, which can be useful, but sadly, you can't cut brass etch.

You should be able to set an alternate color (like blue or red) to indicate a lower power setting, which can score the material without cutting it, so patterns like bricks.

Terrain (like walls, buildings) I think would work well. I think paint brush/pot holders seem like a pretty reasonable thing, too.

You can also get PVC that's colored (for example metallic) on one side, and clear on the other. The laser can melt off just enough of the material that it ends up being clear, and then you can paint that side to have cool colored letters/symbols against a metallic side, and clear and rugged on the side facing the user. It could look very cool glued onto the side of a carrying case (for example, with a Khorne or Skaven symbol).

With wood, I think you can only burn it (which looks cool), unless it's very thin.

I'm not an expert at it, but I've had him cut many things for me, including custom faceplates for PCs.

Speaking of vinyl, You can also do Airbrush stensils of various types.

 Talys wrote:
I have a friend with a laser cutter (and a traditional routing table). They're really useful for cutting holes into plastic (in whatever shape you want), and cutting plastic into pieces that you want. You can also cut vinyl, which can be useful, but sadly, you can't cut brass etch.

You should be able to set an alternate color (like blue or red) to indicate a lower power setting, which can score the material without cutting it, so patterns like bricks.

Terrain (like walls, buildings) I think would work well. I think paint brush/pot holders seem like a pretty reasonable thing, too.

You can also get PVC that's colored (for example metallic) on one side, and clear on the other. The laser can melt off just enough of the material that it ends up being clear, and then you can paint that side to have cool colored letters/symbols against a metallic side, and clear and rugged on the side facing the user. It could look very cool glued onto the side of a carrying case (for example, with a Khorne or Skaven symbol).

With wood, I think you can only burn it (which looks cool), unless it's very thin.

I'm not an expert at it, but I've had him cut many things for me, including custom faceplates for PCs.

You actually can cut brass etch, it the material just needs treating first so the laser doesn't bounce off it, but I don't like the finish it gives the brass.

Red is the cutting colour for mine, black is etching (as I said, we've been doing a lot of different stuff with it already).

You really shouldn't cut pvc with a laser, the gas it gives off when it melts is toxic and very bad for the environment. Styrene is much less dodgy.

I can cut through wood up to 2cm thick (partner's parents are laser parts suppliers, the gadget we have is pretty powerful I think).

Laser cut, custom vinyl masking sheets for airbrushing would be amazing

kb_lock wrote:
Laser cut, custom vinyl masking sheets for airbrushing would be amazing

What kind of patterns are people thinking?

Crystal-Maze wrote:

kb_lock wrote:
Laser cut, custom vinyl masking sheets for airbrushing would be amazing

What kind of patterns are people thinking?

Hexs, diffrent types of camo, signs, graffit, aquila, letters and numbers.

probably stuff like that.

yeah, digital camo, icon masks, freehand backdrops, etc

What's special about vinyl for stencilling?

How about generic sci-fi and dungeon walls and doors that can be laid on a table for an instant star ship/factory/lab complex/dungeon/maze?