This will be the second iteration of templates I've created. The first one I used a v-bit that wasn't really pointy enough, so my z-zeroing was off, leaving a splotchy mess.

I wanted to make something that was truly unique as far as acrylic templates went. As far as I know, all the acrylic templates are laser cut, so I decided to go carved instead. Thus I opted for a knurled texture, something a laser could never do.

Here is a closeup of the simulated carve:

That texture is made by engraving diagonal lines with a v-bit, 1mm deep and 1mm apart. Then you do the same thing going the other way. Here is what it looks like on the first pass:

6 hours later, I got this:

So now it's carving the backside now. So hopefully in 6 hours I'll have some more pics to share.

4 Hours...

I fly Empire almost exclusively, I'd love to have a set like that.. looks awesome.

Success! Just need to polish the edges and there are still a lot of stray burs left in the knurled texture

*throws money @ screen* They look so cool! where is mine! xD

These look great.

Wow. Love the imperial font idea. Add me to the want list.

Much want.
I just ordered a set from the Acrylic Hotness thread, but man...I can never have enough templates

Seriously, where can I get these?

I'm not sure if I can make them economical. Mostly my biggest variable is the electricity cost...... the cnc machine I use is.... well, just a little big. It has a 6' x 10' bed and runs on 3 phase. I've ordered a clamp watt meter to measure usage, so I'll keep you guys informed.

So the knurled pattern was a failure.

A) the texture had too many little crevices that captured all the carving remnants

B) the little teeth actually prevented the template from sliding on cloth surfaces.

The biggest issue was the bit I was using. Engraving bits are just really sharp V points. With acrylic, the cut material tends to remelt slightly and collect in the cavity. Even with compressed air blowing, the shallowness of the carve was causing the biggest issue. That, and they're just too **** fragile. I doesn't take much to break a point that .005" wide at the tip.

So I've opted away from that type of texture to one that I can use an upcut ball bit. The result is mk4 and they're really quite stunning. I also vapor polished the templates to get rid of that white haze that comes from cutting acrylic (methylene chloride).... after ruining most of the mk2 and mk3 cuts trying alternative polishing methods.

I used a pattern called silk just to make it not a flat surface. Up close you can see the machine passes.

Each pass was 1/64 of an inch apart.

Here is some detail on the imperial logo. Some of these didn't turn out as well as the others. It has to do with either my table not being perfectly flat, or even the acrylic not being perfectly uniform in thickness, or likely both. We're talking about somewhere in the .1 mm and smaller range.

Here is what they look like on the back side:

Wow! they look great, even better than the others sold online, well done.

So I've been toying with some different techniques. Better bits, better designs, better tooling. I have been focusing on tokens as of late. The biggest problem I was having with the carved pieces was that it lost that slick smooth surfaces on one side. I tried going away from translucent acrylic, and went towards painted clear. I ended up with the same issue. They looked better face down, but the carved surface still caught on the game mat (mousepad).

Then I had a break through. I could carve 2 pieces of 1/16th acrylic and sandwich it together. The results are spectacular. The only issue I have to solve now is the slight hazing. That, and I'm not the most happy with the green. Needs to be a little darker and not so... pastel.

Then I'll apply this same technique on templates.... version 6 or whatever I'm up to.

Wow! Really nice work on these!

Those tokens $D

Fantastic work on the tokens and templates!