Voyager gold record inspired playground accessory

We recently built a playground in the backyard (expect a separate post with some time-lapse photography we took during the process), but we had to make one modification to the plans; One of two slides was omitted since it would have required us to extend the new retaining wall further than we really wanted to deal with, and it was already plenty of work…

Fast forward to the ‘finished’ playground, and we had a big hole where the slide should have attached. Not good considering the platform height was 5′ and the kids are still little.

We discussed several options for covering the opening, but most were just too boring sounding. I had my mind set on laser engraving a clear acrylic ‘window’ and mounting it in some sort of frame. Eventually my wife said something about space (I’m not even sure what exactly anymore), but I was soon looking at Wikipedia for information on the Voyager spacecrafts, launched in 1977, and their Gold Records.

I’m glad I found the tongue and groove cedar planks at Loews as it made it really easy to mount the acrylic panel. Hopefully the rest of the photos and captions speak for themselves.

Tongue and groove cedar boards, ripped — Tongue and groove cedar boards were ripped to the width I wanted, using the existing groove for the acrylic panel. I also used the router for the first time to clean up the edges!

Notches and biscuits — This project was the first time I had used a router to put a rounded edge on the boards, and it was also the first time I used a biscuit joiner!

Cedar parts joined together — Notches were cut in the vertical parts to accept the cross pieces.

Test fit of the frame — Test fitting the 4 pieces together after notching the verticals.

Dark Walnut Varathane wood stain — We had this at work from several projects I have helped worked on, and it matched the trim on the playground door pretty well.

Engraved and but not cleaned up — A slightly wider “scan gap” than I I typically engrave with was used to speed up the engrave time. It was still close to 40 minutes…

Engraving after cleaning up the acrylic and removing its protective film.

Glue and clamps — Clamping the frame together overnight after gluing the biscuits together.

Engraved Voyager Gold Record inspired design on a playground. — The tall-dad view from outside the playground.

Frame and acrylic panel attached to playground — The dark walnut matched the existing trim very well, and did not look all that out-of-place when installed.

Overall, an interesting and nerdy addition to the playground, and hopefully one that the kids will appreciate someday (my initial explanation of ‘there is a copy of this on the FURTHEST HUMAN THING FROM EARTH’ was met with puzzled looks).

Lastly, here’s a quick video showing the start of the engraving process on Nova Labs’ laser cutter:

AndBosta – projects and notes by Andrew Albosta

Because Andrew Albosta is too long, and rewAl.com was taken.

Voyager gold record inspired playground accessory

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