Among Us Ornaments

The template in the easel project is for 6 pieces on a 200×200mm stock. It is easy to make more or less if you want. Size and duplicate the pieces in the project accordingly and modify the size of the stock.

The project is intended as a double sided carve. For this to be successful it is important that the registration be accurate. This is what allows both sides to align. I achieved this for myself by setting the work position (X=0,Y=0) to the center of stock, anywhere over the vertical line projected by the three dots on the first workpiece in the project. This works because the intention is to flip the board over along that same line.

Also, it is possible to turn this into a single sided carving. To do this jump ahead to the step called “Begin Single Side Carve”, this avoids the extra challenge of getting the stock aligned and registered.

If you are doing the single side carve only DON’T start here. Instead start at the step below called “Begin Single Side Carve”.

The goal here is to set up the stock so that it will allow for easy mirroring in order to carve the pieces on both sides. The easiest way to do this is to pick the center of the board as the work origin. Once this is done the board can be flipped over after the first side is carved and the cuts on the second side should align and match the first.

The first workpiece in the easel project creates 3 holes along the Y axis. These holes are 5mm in diameter and 75 mm apart so they line up with the holes on the wasteboard. However, DO NOT use them to clamp down the board. After using them to index the stock take any screws out of them because they are in the path of the router’s movement.

Secure the stock to the stock by the edges and carve the index holes.

Use the 1/8" bit first to rough out the larger areas. Then switch to the 1/16" bit to carve the details.

If you set up your indexing holes to line up with the holes in the waste board then simply remove the clamps, flip the board from left to right, OVER the Y axis and lay it down again. Use the clap screws again to line up the index holes in the board to the same holes on the waste board. Then clamp down the stock on the edges and REMOVE the indexing screws.

If the holes did not line up with those in the waste board you can make pencil marks along the X and Y edges of the board that extend onto the waste board. Then when you flip the board over simply line up the pencil marks on the edge of the board to those on the waste board. It doesn’t have to be perfect, these pieces are meant to look as if they are hand-drawn so a bit of offset won’t be noticeable.

If you are doing the double sided carve then SKIP this step.

If you are doing a singe side carve then use the third (last) workpiece in the project, the one with the dark outlines around the characters. This will carve the patterns and also cut them off the board.

This setup is easier, simply secure your stock to the machine’s carving surface along the edges with your clamping method of choice and follow the instructions in Easel to align your machine and start the carving operation.

Switch back to the 1/8" bit if you haven’t done so yet and rough out the stock. Switch to the 1/16" and cut the details. After the internal details are cut, the 1/16" bit is used to cut out the outline of the pieces to release them from the stock.

The edges will likely be a bit rough, nothing that a quick pass with 150-220 sand paper won’t fix.

Finish them up with a bit of paint to make them look as you desire. Then find a hanging material. We used 24 gauge brass wire, but paper clips, thin yarn, string or other similar material can be used to complete this step.