4. Computer controlled cutting¶

This week I cut something on a vinyl cutter and laser cut a parametric kit.

Individual Assignment¶

Cut something on the vinylcutter¶

Design, lasercut, and document a parametric construction kit, accounting for the lasercutter kerf, which can be assembled in multiple ways, and for extra credit include elements that aren’t flat¶

Learning outcomes¶

Demonstrate and describe parametric 2D modelling processes.
Identify and explain processes involved in using the laser cutter.
Develop, evaluate and construct a parametric construction kit.
Identify and explain processes involved in using the vinyl cutter.

Vinyl Cutter¶

Fab Lab Reykjavik has two vinyl cutters, Roland GX-24 and Roland GS-24. For my assignment I used the Roland GS-24.

Model: Roland GS-24
Acceptable media: 50 - 700 mm (2 to 27.5 in.)
Max. material thickness: 1 mm (0.039 in)
Max. cutting area: Width: 584 mm (22.9 in.) - Length: 25 m (984 in.)
Cutting speed: 10 - 500 mm/sec (4 in to 19.69 in/s) (all directions)

Cut something on the vinyl cutter¶

Working at a Fab Lab I have created multiple vinyl stickers, text labels, laptop stickers, multi-colored layered stickers and more. You can see some examples of previous work in my About Me page.

For this week I wanted to make a sticker in an art style I have wanted to try for a while. Ben-Day dots was originally a printing technique using small dots of color to create effects of shading inexpensively. I wanted to try and recreate this effect using the vinyl cutter.

Ben Day Inspiration — Ben Day Art Inspiration

I created a multi-colored layered design in Inkscape with the letters FLR!, for Fab Lab Reykjavik and exported each layer for the vinyl cutter.

The cloud was made using the circle tool and making many large circles and using the Union tool to combine them into the cloud. For the black dots in the background I found a circular design online and used the Trace Bitmap tool to convert into vector form. I found a comic book font online and used that for the text. The triangle flame stuff behind the cloud was made using the star tool with 12 corners and a little bit of randomization. Then it was a matter of arranging everything and using the Difference tool to cut each layer into shape.

Ben Day Inkscape — FLR! in Ben Day Art style done in Inkscape

FLR! Ben Day Design — FLR! in Ben Day Art style design

Using the Vinyl Cutter¶

To use the Vinylcutter I start by putting in the Vinyl sheet. The vinyl piece needs to go under the two wheels and the two wheels need to be under the white markings. Once the vinyl is secure I tell the machine that I am working with a Piece, then the machine measures the length and width of the vinyl piece. WARNING! do not tell the machine you are workig with a Roll, the machine will roll out the entire roll to know the length. I then simply open up my .pdf file and hit print and the vinylcutter cuts along the stroke lines. Once in a while the knife of the vinlycutter needs to be adjusted. To adjust the knife, to cut deeper or less, you remove the knife holder and adjust the cut depth by rotating the holder and watch the knife go further out or further in.

Vinyl cutter wheels — Vinyl Cutter wheels

Vinyl cutter "piece" — Vinyl Cutter “piece”

To save on materials I used scraps of vinyl and cut each layer with the vinyl cutter. I did not have scraps in the same colors as the original design so I had to use different colors. Here you can see all layers arranged on a single sheet.

FLR! Ben Day Sticker — FLR! Ben Day vinyl sticker layered

Once I had all layers cut I used transfer tape to combine the layers in a single design. Starting with the gray cloud layer I overlayed the black layer ontop of the cloud. The next layer was the red layer, I carefully placed the red layer ontop of the black and gray layers using transfer tape. Finally the blue layer, small dots inside the letters, was a bit tricky. I ended up doing each letter individually using transfer tape to get the blue dots in place.

I then used transfer adhesive to get the design on a wall.

FLR! Ben Day Sticker on wall — FLR! vinyl sticker on wall

Download Inkscape file

One thing to mention is that if I were to use this style again I would use the inverse for the dots, meaning instead of having each dot as a sticker I would have the background as a sticker and the dots as the cut out because I had to spend way too much time on weeding and making sure the dots transferred correctly.