Hopefully just in time for Christmas ... A slot together 3Dsnowflake ornament. This is my digital version of John A Nelson's scrollsaw pattern.(Approval gained). Dimensions: 111 x 111 x 111 mm.

It is designed to be laser cut from 3mm Acrylic or MDF. Though I have also successfully cut it from 3.2 mm hardboard and plywood. That would be 1/8 inch. Due to the kerf width and shrinkage the 3mm acrylic version required glueing. In the UK we often use Tensol cement. Superglue would deposit a fine white mist. 3.2 mm hardboard allowed a (difficult) press fit. The files were designed in Pro/Desktop, saved as DXF and imported into Techsoft 2D Design, both widely used in UK secondary schools, then lasercut. You can download both versions. You can also download the files for a corrugated cardboard frame so you can send the 3D snowflake in the post as flatpack self-assembly ornament. The images show some renderings and photographs of the actual thing. The one with the shadow is frosted. I sprayed it with spraymount and then dipped in our plastic powder dip coating machine. This could equally be achieved with spray-on snow I suppose. Of course, they can be painted too (with glitter paint). I would love to see derivatives of this from the community. I am getting a batch produced in 3mm aluminium and I might try brass too. A lot going on for such a trivial project but as I try to impress on my students; if something is worth doing you have to do it well

-Add text such as "Season's Greeting 2010 from ..." -Measure your stock material thickness; remove some of the protective film from Acrylic and measure with vernier calipers. Beware, some acrylics shrink more than others -Set laser cutter to vector cut (and vector engrave for text) -Load material & set height. -Laser cut. -Dry fit. -Apply glue: Acrylic cement with a cotton butt/syringe&needle/fine brush. Woodbased: use propietary woodglue. -Assemble, watch those narrow bits. -Lay down or Hang up Tips: file the corners of the tenons so they slip into their mortices more easily. Don't scale unless you want to spend time redesigning the mortices & tenons!