Acrylic Phone Stand for Dad (Laser Cut and Engraved)

Learn how to make an acrylic phone stand with this laser engraving and laser cutting tutorial for a CO2 laser. The xTool P2 make quick work of this project and I’m giving away a premium file for this DIY.

Make Dad a custom phone stand and learn how to paint fill a laser engraving. You’ll see how fun and easy it is to add this skill to your laser crafting repertoire.

RELATED READING: Make a Laser Cut Highland Cow Door Sign (Free SVG)

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Engraved Acrylic Phone Stand Laser Project 

Here at Ruffles and Rain Boots, I’m working on building up my experience using the xTool P2 CO2 laser and the new, free software xTool Creative Space (XCS). They’ve made a ton of upgrades to the software and it’s making a big impact on many with a laser cutting business or hobby. 

Today, I’m sharing this Father’s Day laser gift idea you can make with any theme, any color, and most laser cut or laser engraved material. Read through the tips below before you get started and be sure to download the free laser cut phone stand SVG file with a BONUS Father’s Day SVG design. 

If you want to make this but can’t get started right now, save or share this page. It will make it easy to find when you’re ready to begin. 

How to Paint Engraved Acrylic 

There are two schools of thought on painting engraved acrylic: paint with the masking on or paint after removing the masking. I have done both and either way works. 

If you want to leave the masking ON while painting, you should seal the item with the masking on it. After you let it dry completely, you can begin painting. Once the paint is dry, remove the masking, and wipe off anything if it escaped (wet wipes or a dampened paper towel can work). 

For this quick xTool P2 phone stand project, I removed the masking on the upper portion so you could see how easily it is to wipe away the paint pen. It’s a very easy way to a) get depth of color and b) fix mistakes because we all make them. 

NOTE: never use oil paints for acrylic, as it will not come off. Stick with acrylic paint and if you make a mistake, you can fix it. 

How to Choose Material for Laser Projects 

Before we get started, I want to mention a bit about choosing the depth of acrylic or wood for laser cuts. When working with something which will be handled a lot, I like to choose a thicker weight such as 1/4th inch (anything between 5 and 6 mm). 

You can absolutely make this (and other phone stands) with 1/8th acrylic or wood, however, a word of warning: they might snap with continued use. We’ve made acrylic phone stands for my daughter and I in which this happened, so I now go with something a bit heftier. If you sell, it might be a good idea to start out by pricing the thicker weighted material to avoid any customer service issues. 

Wood, acrylic, and MDF all come in this standard size for lasers, so you will have no problem finding something to fit your theme. Note: if you paint wood or MDF, use a quality sealant.

Acrylic Phone Stand Laser Cut Video Tutorial 

If you’re a visual learner, watch the Father’s Day laser cut acrylic phone stand tutorial here on YouTube. It’s a detailed look at how quickly this project comes together and I’ll give you ideas on how to vary it up. 

How to Design a Phone Stand in XCS 

In the video linked above, I show you how to create this free laser project tutorial using my phone stand template and an SVG. These cannot be sold or altered and sold and all rights remain with Ruffles and Rain Boots, SND Developments, LLC.

You can either use the coolest Dad SVG or type out text for your own message. If you’re interested in engraving a PNG, bitmap, or other raster image, watch my video on how to vectorize an image for engraving in XCS 2.0.

The sizing for the phone backing (no matter the material chosen) should measure 6.4 inches high and 3.2 inches wide. And the size of the stand piece should measure 3.35 inches high and 2.7 inches wide.

How to Prepare Acrylic for Engraving

As mentioned above, I will paint fill engraved acrylic without masking because it’s less of a hassle and the paint cleans up so well. That said, we are going to leave the paper masking on for this project to minimize any blow back cooling onto the acrylic after it’s engraved.

Reminder: you should remove plastic masking and can replace it with this paper masking if needed. Just apply it so that it’s smooth, fully attached, and without bubbles.

Material Settings Black Acrylic for xTool P2

I used engraving settings of 40 power, 300 speed, 1 pass, and 200 lines per centimeter to produce a deep engraving on 5mm black acrylic. The cut settings were 90 power, 3 speed, and 1 pass.

Load the material and secure with pins or clamps. Once you have the settings in for each processing type, measure the thickness, and position the file using both cameras if near the edge. Send the file to the machine and process. Use masking tape over the engraving to remove the dust, then clean out the engraving.

Paint Fill Acrylic Engravings

I used a white Posca paint pen and varied the saturation for this project to show the effects you can achieve. My daughter wanted it light to dark – kind of like ombré.

Remove the masking for the paint fill areas and use the paint pen to fill them in. To get a very light look, wipe away or pat the paint while it’s still wet. For a very heavy look, paint fill and then let dry. Repeat, if necessary. We opted to keep the sunglasses unpainted.

Finish and Assemble the Phone Stand

Once all of the paint is dry, wipe away anything which overlapped the engraved areas. Polish the stand, insert the base, and gift to Dad!

Have you joined the Laser Group on Facebook yet? It’s a welcoming, friendly, and open space to get ideas, ask questions, and learn from our peers.

More Laser Crafts You Might Like

• Laser Cut Acrylic Cake Toppers – Learn how to prep, design, and cut acrylic cake toppers and cupcake stakes with a CO2 laser (I used the xTool P2).
• How to Cut Mirror Acrylic – Use this free design to cut mirrored acrylic successfully (includes safety tips).
• xTool P2 Project Ideas and Inspiration – Look through all of the projects I cut and engraved with this machine (applies to all CO2 lasers).

Please Save or Share This Fun Acrylic Laser Project Idea

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