Stencil Postcard - UPDATE: It Makes it Through, Sort of

Instead of writing a couple of addresses, just cut them out. This way you can just send a piece of wood and your buddy won't mind that it doesn't literally say anything. The material speaks for itself. Besides, sending an old-fashioned message is what email and IM and text message and cell phones are for.

Step 1 Cut it Out!

Or burn it out. I grabbed the nearest stencil font I could and dumped in a couple of addresses in Illustrator. I then sent that over to a laser cutter and after a few tests with the material I cut out the whole thing. If you do this, it's important to reverse the stencil since the wood can get charred. I could've tried to clean it up a bit, but I like the burnt effect in there so I left it.

Comments

[arpoky]

Great job... ED!

[cooy]

here is why it cracked
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/1Ig0imgc956yg3Akj

[Derin]

Darn .gov,they banned the content This is too much

[pinski1]

In the UK it takes you down to the nearest 6 houses. However in the US I have no clue.

[Full Frontal Graphic]

If you send something to 91344-3523, it will get to me. Nothing but the numbers (and postage) is needed. In the USA, the zip+4 (the "9-digit zip" narrows down to one particular address, generally. Very few exceptions.

[mtritschler]

You could always just mark it "Hand Cancel Only"

[thrudd]

In Canada it usually narrows down to 2 or 4 buildings though sometimes they are unique addresses or whole streets .... A#A-#A# .... makes reverse lookup and address confirmation so much easier. Have you thought of adding a backing material to strengthen the wood card? Maybe add a do not fold lable?

[nak]

Hopefully people will find this cool: http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/zipdecode/

So you can see how each digit of a zip code narrows down.

[fungus amungus]

I've seen that before. It's cool up until you get to the last couple numbers when I wish it would show the boundaries of each code.

[Bam Bam]

The Building i work in has its own post code. But i live in the UK so its irrelevant! HAHA"!

[zachninme]

Thats good! I am curious to see where it cracked. If you really wanted to experiment, you could make a replica(s) of it, and try to snap it while using a gauge to see how much force it took. Then you can see if making it thicker, or out of different materials helps.

[fungus amungus]

I finally got some pictures of it and updated the instructable to include them in a new step. The wood was some scrap at Squid Labs and I doubt that the same piece is still there to test. I'm definitely interested in looking at some more materials in the near future.

[zachninme]

I think it should make it... Any non-standard "packages" are done by people, not machines. :-) (People read all the mail addr., but computers scan envelopes)

[fungus amungus]

Well, it's been three business days so far and it's not there yet. I've heard that unusual packages can take longer, though.

[fungus amungus]

UPDATE: It made it! It split down the middle, top to bottom, but it was placed in a plastic bag and after four business days of travel it got to my friend in two pieces. I'm sure that masonite or acrylic would've made it in one piece, but I was really attached to the grain of the wood. I'll put up some pics when I get 'em.

[SCrid2000]

In the US, a Zip Code can include almost all of a small city, so you're looking at at least several hundred homes. However, US zip codes also have a second part, which narrows things down a lot, but no one knows or cares what theirs is.

[fungus amungus]

Right. I used to live in a town of 30,000 and it had one zip code. In Brooklyn, with tons more people, this should narrow it down to a neighborhood, I'd guess.

[leevonk]

yeah, it's in williamsburg

[fungus amungus]

Not quite. My buddy lives in Red Hook.

[fungus amungus]

Isn't Williamsburg 11211?

[fungus amungus]

Nope. I know that zip code narrows it down, but I have no clue by how much.

[leevonk]

is that sullivan st?