[Nathan Slingerland]

I recently came across a company called Ponoko that will laser cut a design of your choice into a large number of materials.

As an experiment I decided to create a reproduction grille cloth backing cardboard for my 16B 'shouldered' tombstone since the original one was pretty shot (looks better than it is in the photo).

   

Here are the steps I took:

1. scanned the original backing cardboard and cleaned it up in Photoshop
   
2. opened the image file in Illustrator and used the 'Image Trace' feature to turn into into vector art
   
3. simplified jagged edges and other imperfections (mostly to reduce cost since laser time = money)
   
4. colored edges based on what I wanted Ponoko's lasers to do (blue = cut, red = engrave stroke, black = engrave area)
   
5. created an account on Ponoko (they currently allow you to make your first product for free - up to $20)
   
6. uploaded the Illustrator EPS file
   
7. selected material (boring old corrugated cardboard)
   
8. placed the order
   

Here is what arrived in the mail:

   

They send you the full piece of material you used - each side covered with white stick-on paper (looks like to protect the material while cutting).

   

Peel off the paper and...voila!

   

Cutting edge technology used to restore a 1935 radio. 

If you'd like to use the design for yourself, here it is (public domain - costs is just materials and shipping):

http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/pr...king-12624

I've attached the original EPS file too in case you want to modify it.