Presents You Can Make with Your CNC for Christmas

With Christmas getting ever closer, if you haven’t already started on making presents, it's time to get on with it.

You’ve got yourself a YoraHome machine (or maybe just thinking about getting yourself one) and are wondering how to put it to best use. Whether you have chosen the Yora 3018 for carving, or the Yora 6550 with your choice of laser, you have plenty of options of what you can make.

Perhaps you’re already all over this with a Facebook page, an Etsy shop and a regular craft fair gig.  I haven't even looked at light-up acrylic or doing photographs, even so there might be a few ideas here that would be good for you as well.

Firstly, let’s be brutally honest here, the last thing you want when you hand over a Christmas present and someone opens it, is the slight tilt of the head with the rather sympathetic smile as they say, “Oh, did you make it?” Noooooooo! You want the wide-eyed open mouthed “Wow, you never made this did you?”

Secondly, we are not all brilliant at everything, so play to your strengths at this time of year.

If you have hit the “sweet spot” with your Yora 6550 laser on cork, do some cork items for friends and relatives.

There are the obvious ideas such as coasters – special christmas ones, family name ones or favourite animal ones.

Cork trivets are always a welcome gift and perfect for use with Christmas meals and so easy to do, these can be used every year as a reminder of you too.

Maybe slate has been “your thing” this year. Again, coasters, placemats and even Santa trays look wonderful on slate.

Again, I like slate as it’s very forgiving. Check out the blog on slate:

What You Need To Know About Laser Engraving On Slate

Perhaps glass has turned out well for you – glass pie plates with a special message always make great presents, or you could add a message to a glass picture frame. Excuse the grubby bit of glass please, it was all I could find for a quick demo.

There’s a blog on glass as well: How To Successfully Laser Engrave On Glass

Obviously, christmas decorations are an easy option, and you can make them from all sorts of materials, wood, acrylic, paper, and you can personalize them as well. If you’ve got as far as cutting boxes as well, a personalized box for the decorations makes them even more special.

Check out the blog on cutting boxes, it was done using a CO2 laser but the same principles work for diodes, just a few more passes.

Making Your First Box With The Yora 40W CO2 Laser Engraver

Cutting boards or if you’re posh Charcuterie boards or trays can be personalized to any design you fancy, a family saying, one of Grandma’s recipes, or even reproduce a child’s drawing, there are so many options with cutting boards any recipient would be delighted to receive one.

I haven’t forgotten how to use the Yora 3018 (3036) either.

Christmas decorations on acrylic with the Yora Diamond Bit look amazing!

Using the Yora V-Groove Bits, you can turn out some really special pieces on wood as well.

From a simple design to house numbers or names, these bits turn a basic carve into something fabulous that will be appreciated for years to come.

When it comes to carving, there are a lot of files available to make 3D trees, reindeer and sleighs, you can carve, or laser cut most of them.

Going back to the laser again…...

Trying something new myself this year, I wanted to do a Christmas tree topper, but had to figure out a way to attach it to the tree, a few failed attempts then led me to extending one part of the snowflake design I was using and putting a couple of slots in it to accommodate a piece of ribbon – Christmassy huh?

And as obsessed as I am about Christmas, my tree will not be going up for another few weeks, so I've had to lay the topper down to show it.

As they say, Christmas comes just once a year, but most of these items could be adapted to suit most holidays, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and so on. Your only limitations are your imagination.

I haven’t even covered the extra things you could you do with a Yora 3018 Expansion Kit, or Yora 6550 Expansion Kit making your workspace almost double its usual size.

Or, using the Yora Essential Bits to vary the materials and finishes you can achieve.

Or, our rotary attachments (Rotate, TLC, Jig for pens) to make engraving on cylindrical objects possible. 

Your options are even bigger with the SilverBack and our new Yora CO2 Laser Engravers.

You have so many options available to you when you get a YoraHome machine, what starts this year as making a few presents for friends and family by this time next year could be at least a second income!

Happy Christmas Everyone!