Material:
24x18in 1/8in maple plywood
Wood Glue
Q-Tips

Tools:
Laser Cutter
Illustrator (or any other vector graphics editor)

Step 1: AI File

1.
you need to make a vector file for the laser cutter. The way I draw my images is usually live tracing and expanding images on the internet to turn them into vector / raster.

2.
create box holes in your drawing that are 0.1x0.48in. these will be smaller than the actual fixture dimensions because the laser cutter has a thickness itself and exact measurements won't work and will be loose.

3.
copy your image with the box holes over your background cut and delete the image leaving the boxed holes exactly where you'll attach the pieces on later. Also add a hole to the top of the background piece to allow you to hang it.

4.
then you create your fixtures. the main body i 1x1in with 0.25x0.5 tabs sticking out of both sides. the number of fixtures should be the same as the number of boxed holes you made in your image.

5.
add a pattern to your background / image. i personally grabbed patterns online in live traced and expanded them to add the complicated patterns on my pieces. In this one I just added it over the background.

Step 2: LASER IT!

Set your laser cutting settings for 1/8 ply wood and let it go! You should end up with this general setup.

Step 3: Glue Fixtures

1.
Sand down one of the faces of the tabs so that when you glue it through it won't have a dark box on your image (compare Om piece with Air Jordan piece) It'll look cleaner. But some people like the tabs so if you want that by all means keep it and skip this step.

2.
With your wood glue and Q-tips, apply glue to one side of the tab and attach the back of your image pieces. Make sure this is the tab that you sanded down if you want that clean look.

3.
Once all the tabs are on the image pieces, apply glue to the other side of the fixtures and slip them into the background.

4.
Sign the back, date it, and give it to whomever you made it for!

Hope you liked this instructable. If you like what you see and would like a custom order as a gift for someone or just want to purchase a cool 3d laser cut art, please don't hesitate and contact me with your request.

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