Since putting a lid on the glockenspiel case, I’ve been wrestling with exactly how to label the robotic glockenspiel buttons: If I had a laser engraver I probably would have engraved (woodburned) the labels on; sticking paper labels on could look pretty sloppy; decals sounded like a production of their own, with the risk of gumming up my printer; painting the labels would require a steady hand; woodburning by hand is another option; so is gluing on scroll-sawn raised labels.

So today I tried out my new (used) RBI Hawk 220 VS scrollsaw, that I’d cleaned up a few weeks ago.

Looking at the result, I don’t think I’ll go with scrollsawn button labels: the labels look good, but I think they need to be more precise and on thinner wood. I’m also concerned that they could pop off the glockenspiel box pretty easily as I move the box about.

By the way, the RBI Hawk is a sweeeet scrollsaw, far better than my old Sakura (knockoff of a Strong-brand saw). Even as old and worn as it is, it makes a really good cut.

The more I look at the scrollsawn labels, the better they look, but I think traced and woodburned labels will work better for the glockenspiel.

So next I’ll try transferring the labels’ pattern onto the wood and woodburning it.