Laser Cut Earrings: Wood and Acrylic Jewelry Project

Laser cut earrings are light, cheap in material and easy to sell in sets. A single sheet of thin plywood or black acrylic makes dozens of pairs.

What you need

• 3 mm Baltic birch plywood, or thinner if available
• Black or dark opaque acrylic. Clear acrylic won’t cut with a diode; see the clear acrylic guide.
• Earring findings: hooks or studs and jump rings
• Pliers
• Optional: paint, sealer

Design rules for small parts

• Keep a hole of at least 1.5–2 mm for jump rings, and leave enough wood around it so it doesn’t break.
• Avoid very thin bridges in cut-out designs; plywood breaks along thin sections.
• Mirror one earring of each pair if the design is asymmetric.

Steps

1. Lay out pairs on the sheet with small gaps.
2. Add an engrave layer for texture or patterns, then the cut layer last.
3. Focus, then run a test cut on a corner.
4. Cut the sheet with air assist on. Small parts can fall into the bed; a honeycomb bed holds them.
5. Clean edges with fine sandpaper.
6. Finish with paint or sealer if desired.
7. Assemble with jump rings and hooks.

Settings

Small parts are where precise focus pays off. Use your machine’s plywood or acrylic cut settings from the settings charts. Black acrylic cuts best with several faster passes rather than one slow pass, which can melt edges.

Ideas

• Geometric shapes and arches
• Botanical cut-outs
• Seasonal designs for holidays
• Layered wood and acrylic combinations

See more small, sellable items in ideas to sell.