Creating a Wood Laser Cut Photo Album
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PROJECT LEVEL: Easy
I recently attended a wedding and wanted to gift a custom wood photo album to the couple. This project is super simple and I’ve included step- by-step instructions, diagrams and an SVG of the cut file I created so you can recreate this project for yourself. I’ve made note of specific materials and products I used, and made sure to point out how to make some adjustments. Oh, and did I mention the SVG and PDF of this project are available for free.
SUPPLIES NEEDED
(2) Packages of the Vienrose Photo Album Self Adhesive Scrapbook Refill Pages in 11x10.6 Size
(1) 12x24 Leatherette (JPPlus Saddle Collection)
(1) Photo Album SVG
PIECES TO CUT ON LASER
(2) 18cm X 29cm piece of leather or leatherette
(2) 2.5cm X 29cm ⅛” Maple
(2) 23.5cm X 29cm ⅛” Maple
****NOTE**** 5mm and 22mm binding screw lengths are based off using ⅛” wood for the cover and 20 individual sheets (40 pages) of the self adhesive scrapbook pages. You will need to increase the length of the binding screws if you use ¼” wood
HOW ARE LENGTHS OF BINDING SCREW POSTS CALCULATED
Individual Item Thicknesses
One Package of Self Adhesive Scrapbook Paper (10 Individual Sheets)- 6 mm
⅛” Maple Wood- 3.5 mm
Leather/Leatherette- 1mm
If you want to increase the number of pages in the photo album or the thickness of the wood cover you will need to increase the length of the binding screw posts to accommodate the additional thickness. For quick reference:
20 pages of photo album pages is approximately 12 mm
The leatherette is approximately 1 mm in thickness
⅛” Maple wood measures approximately 3.5 mm
Total Thickness (wood & leatherette)= 4.5 mm rounded to 5 mm
Total Thickness (wood, pages & leatherette) = 21 mm and I rounded up to 22 mm since that was the next closest binding screw size
CALCULATING DIMENSIONS
Measure The Photo Album Paper You Intend To Use
Measure out all the dimensions of the photo album pages including hole locations. For this project I used refill pages that fit the size 11x10.6” Vienrose Photo Album. The pages measure 26 cm wide by 27 cm tall and have three 6mm holes. The light blue section represents the clear plastic part of the photo album page where the pages bend.
How To Determine Wood Cover Size
2. The front and back covers each consist of two pieces. For the main cover section increase the size by 1 cm on the top, bottom and right sides. For the smaller piece on the left I added an additional .5cm to the width and 2 cm to the overall length to match the length of the main cover piece. Lastly, I added a duplicate set of holes to the main cover that align with the holes on the left. These two pieces will need to be duplicated for the back of the photo album.
Determining The Binding Size
3. For the binding I needed to cut a single piece that would bind together all four pieces of wood and the pages. I figured out the overall size of the binding piece by first measuring 8 cm to account for the two sets of holes on the front, doubling the 8 cm to 16cm to account for the holes on the back cover and allowing 2 cm for expansion for the pages that will be inserted between the front and back covers.The width doesn’t matter so much as long as both sets of holes are covered. In the diagram the yellow section represents the thickness of the pages that will fill the album.
Assembly
4. Working from front to back with the front side facing down, assemble the photo album by attaching the 5 mm binding screws to the front cover. The 22 mm binding screws will sandwich the two smaller wood binding pieces, the 20 self sealing photo album pages and 4 layers of leatherette. Layer in the following order: small wood binding piece, leatherette (two pieces) , 20 pages of self sealing photo album pages, leatherette (two pieces) and the 2nd small wood binding piece.