Introduction: Laser Cut Perpetual Flip Calendar

About: Having fun creating more or less stupid stuff

This is my take on a perpetual flip calendar made on a laser cutter.

I've been inpired by this video :
https://youtu.be/VJ1Hv339CgQ

Step 1: Material

Here is the list of materials used:

3mm thick MDF (should be a very smooth one so it slips properly)

6mm thick MDF

12 magnets 6mm radius 2mm thick

1cmx3mm magnets

4 nails

varnish

The magnets are hidden and used so the two flipping parts stay properly up.

I cut everything using my Glowforge. I used the default pressets for "Medium Cardboard" and "Thick Cardboard" materials. Engraving params are detailed later.
If you want your own use my rerferal link :)

Step 2: Laser Cutting

Download the SVG files for laser cutting.

I used 3mm wood for the flipping parts and 6mm for the other parts.

The 3mm wood must be very smooth so the pieces slip properly against each other !


On the "mounting parts" file (the 3rd) there are big black areas. These should be engraved deeply, these are actually places for the magnets. So, it really depends on the magnets you use, but in my case i had to get at least 2mm deep for the rotating parts and 3mm deep for the pedestal parts.

I personally used 3 passes with 100% power and speed ok my Glowforge.

The squares for the dates (4th image) should be engraved both sides.

I used maximum speed at 60% power.m for engraving.

The "18" should be behind the "3", the "20" behind the "5", "Aug" behind "Jan" etc.. The SVG is actually made so you just have to engrave the red values at the exact same place you engraved the black values but on the other side. Just cut the squares and engrave the black values on the first pass, then flip the pieces vertically, and engrave the red values.

Step 3: Assembly

Sadly, i made no pictures whatsoever of the assembly but it should be easy to figure it out by yourself.

The only thing to be careful about is to put the squares in the right order inside the flipping parts.

Make a column of the following pieces with the 1 on top:

1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13

A second column with 2 on top :

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12

Then just put the first column with the 1 visible on one hole, careful to put it the right way. Do the same with the 2 visible from the other hole. Close the box and things should be good !

The months should be ordered this way, "Jan" on top :

Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep

And this way for the second column, "Aug" on top :

Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug

And same as before, "Jan" should be in front of one hole and "Feb" in front of the other.