Laser Etch a Pumpkin Pie

Intro: Laser Etch a Pumpkin Pie

Etching a design into a pumpkin pie is easy and fun with a portable laser cutter. You will need the following items.

1. A pumpkin pie.

2. Artwork to etch into the pie.

3. A portable laser cutter.

STEP 1: Select Your Graphics

Picking the design is the hardest part. Just let your creative side take over and remember if you don't like the design that you choose you can always eat the evidence! Graphics that work well on pumpkin pies look good as single color images and have high contrast. Line drawings and etchings work well but don't be afraid to experiment.

For now I have selected an acorn wreath.

STEP 2: Setup the Laser Cutter

Since we are using a portable Origami Laser from Red Ant Lasers to etch our pie, we set up the laser on the kitchen table.

STEP 3: Measure Your Pie

We need to know how much space is available to properly arrange and size the graphics. Measure the pie and be sure to account for the crust.

STEP 4: Prepare the Graphics

Most laser cutters come with software that allows you to import graphics and position them on your work piece. In our case, our work piece is a pumpkin pie.

Using the pie measurement from the previous step, draw a circle to represent the pie. This will help with positioning the graphics.

STEP 5: Resize and Position the Image

Import the graphic image and place it within the circle.

When etching a pie it is helpful to set the origin to the center of the graphic. The origin is where the laser head is positioned when the etch is started. In our case it will be in the center of the pie.

Now that we have the image where we want it, we are ready to set the power.

STEP 6: Set the Power and Begin the Etch

Before starting the etch, we need to tell the laser how much power to use and how fast to move. The Origami is a 40 watt laser which is pretty powerful! Like other 40 watt laser cutters, it can easily burn the pie so it is a good idea to do some test etches on a "scratch" pie first to determine the best settings.

Now on to the laser . . .

STEP 7: Position the Pie and Hit Go

Center the pie under the laser head, focus the laser and hit go!

STEP 8: Admire Your Work

We hope that you enjoyed our Instructable. If you want to support pie etching and other cool "outside the box" laser cutting, please support our Kickstarter (http://kck.st/1ykf9zP) or checkout our webpage redantlasers.com.

Comments

[jeanniel1]

WHoa! An out of the box laser printer! How cool is this? I've been just checking out some home use types from Glowforge.com - they're listed at $2500 for basic, out the window venting, to $5,000 for the top industrial use w venting, and feed-through for materials. This is cooler though

[msmeowy]

Are you kidding me? Martha Stewart will now come out with her own laser to do just this.

[Akin Yildiz]

very cool video. a portable laser cutter, the possibilities are endless now.. all my projects require a laser cutter, much more than a 3D printer. at least at this stage.

[Lizwhitewolf]

Check out the Kickstarter if you want your own portable laser cutter. Just search "Origami." Only a few days left, though.

[seamster]

Very cool! I've never seen an etched pumpkin pie before. This looks like a great idea for spicing up (or teching up?) your holiday desserts!