Thanks to my current job, I have gain a lot of experience in this topic, that’s why, for this assignment I didn´t have to learn how to use the machines. I have to say that it isn´t a difficult process but you need to practice to learn some techniques that I will explain here:
First of all, for both processes laser and vinyl, you need to design the idea and organize each one of the elements of your desig,n in order to optimize your material. I really like to use Illustrator because it’s a very easy program.
The next step is to place the material in the machine and make surethat it will move straight through the rollers, if you don’t do it, the material will move out of the rollers and will be cahotic. There are some plugins that help you send the project direct from illustrator, so you don’t have to make more things to send it.
The last part of the process, is to remove the material that you don´t need and then , set the transfer to your piece, so you can apply it better to the wall, window or wherever you want to place it.
There is a huge variety of materials that you can cut,evethough vinyl is the most common and easier to use,you can also cut paper for example, but you need at special aide that stick it in order to cut it without damaging the material.
As I said before, first you should design your piece and place it in the program, showing the size so you can have a clear idea of what you are using. To cut in the lasser , you need to set some parameters depending on the material´s propperties, like thickness, type of material ( acrilic, MDF, cardboard, wood) and it has to be equal between power and velosity not to burn the material
I designed a chair in rhino in order to have the parts assembled. Then I exported to illustrator extension to organize better all the pieces on the material.
Unfortunately I have some mistakes because I scale the in a wrong direction all the pieces and I couldn´t put it all together, so I have to rescale everything and cut everything again.
