The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Plant Markers: Craft Stick Edition

    Inspired by a LightBurn forum post I can no longer find once again tracked down, I tried my hand at popsicle craft stick plant markers:

    Plant Markers - craft stick tests
    Plant Markers – craft stick tests

    You’d have only one name on the end of each stick, with the uncut section jammed into the ground: these are test pieces to demonstrate capability.

    Wood is better than acrylic because it checks all the eco-friendly attribute boxes. Admittedly, craft sticks don’t exactly grow on trees, but we seem to ignore such externalities in nominally eco-friendly products.

    Bonus: a recurring revenue stream from the replacement market!

    The design, such as it is, involves subtracting the letters from a rectangle maybe half a millimeter short of their top & bottom extents and a few millimeters longer than their length. Using a chonky font with generous letter spacing may prevent prompt disintegration by weathering:

    Plant Marker - craft sticks - LB layout
    Plant Marker – craft sticks – LB layout

    Engraving the letters marks their uncut sections outside the rectangle, although we know laser char on wood-ish materials fades in sunlight. The two big sticks have Radish engraved with varying density; the darker version looks better against a lighter background never found in an actual garden.

    Mary thinks they might be a nice fundraiser for the next Master Gardener Plant Sale.

    Outdoor field tests seem appropriate …