Our scout troop needed new stencils for painting the scout logo as a marker for the location of the flags they put out for the major holidays as a fund raiser.

Instead of cutting them out on cardboard and only get is few uses out of them before they are soaked through and no longer hold there shape, I figured I would go a differnt route since I was a member at TechShop.

What you need.
1.Material. I chose some scrap plexiglass that was laying he shop.

2.Your design drawn up in a vectoring type format. inkscape, CorelDraw, Ai

3.Access to a laser cutter/etcher.

I made this at TechShop. http://www.techshop.ws

Step 1: Draw Up Your Design

I used inkscape to draw up my design and then imported it into CorelDraw to print directly to the Laser cutter. I added some text and I was ready to go.
Some cutters have different requirement for line cuting and etching. Be sure you consult your manual.
I had already taken the Class at TechShop that shows you the basics.

Step 2: Set Up Your Material in the Cutter

I was using some .031" thick plexiglass I found in the scrap bin. I placed it in the cutter and taped it down to make sure it did not move as there is airflow in the cutter.

Step 3: Line It All Up and Hit Print

So after hitting print in CorelDraw and sending the design to the printers control panel I double check my desing placement, moved it arround as need and hit the go button to let the laser do all the work.