A key fob in solid acrylic
A key shape in thick clear acrylic with the wordmark engraved as a surface: one piece that lets you feel the cut edge and the engraving at once.
The shape is a key, pared back to the essentials: a round head with a large D-shaped opening and a straight shank. A small hole sits at the edge of the head. Outline, opening and hole are all the same operation — the laser runs them one after another, and the part is then finished.
Clear acrylic is the most honest material for a cut edge, because you see it from every side. The laser leaves a smooth, glossy face here; nothing is sanded or polished afterwards. And because the material is thick, the edges carry light: against the black backdrop of these shots they stand out as bright lines while the faces between them all but disappear.
The lettering is not a line but an area. The laser frosts the surface of the letters instead of tracing round them — which is why they read white from above and step back almost entirely head-on. That is the difference between vector and raster engraving, and it is the kind you grasp from a sample in five seconds and never from a description.
- Customer
- Formulor, Baden-Baden
- Project
- Key-shaped fob: opening in the head, small hole, engraved wordmark
- Material & process
- Clear acrylic, solid — cut and area-engraved
More: How the modeller works · How it works
Photos: Formulor