This week we learned about the different types of cutting machines and how to use them. We used the laser cutter and the vinyl cutter to make a construction kit and a meme T-shirt.
Requirements
- Do your lab's safety training
- Characterize your lasercutter's focus, power, speed, rate, kerf, joint clearance and types.
- Document your work to the group work page and reflect on your individual page what you learned.
- Design, lasercut, and document a parametric construction kit, accounting for the lasercutter kerf, which can be assembled in multiple ways.
- Cut something on the vinyl cutter.
Group Assignment
individual Assignment
Softwares 💻
- Fusion 360
- SignMaster
- LaserWork
Group Assignment
In this week, we make the aquainntance of our Laser Cutter. I have been working as a Fab Lab Specialist for about 2 years so I have a lot of experience with operating it but it was good to rego over the basics again and discover features or materials I never used before.
This is The Malky149 Laser Cutter. it's a CO2 Egyptian-made laser cutter.
Technical Specs
- Tube Power: 90 watt
- Working Area: 140 cm * 90cm
- Software: RDWorks, LaserWork, ThunderLaser
Focus
Focus is the focal length of the lens at which the laser is concentrated. We used a test to try the different parameters: cutting, engraving, dotting, and scoring, like shown in the Group Assignment. Then We begane to change the adjusting of the laser's head and make the smallest possible pulse. The focus was 5.5-ish mm.
Material Tests
We used a Material test to identify Kerf and try different possible laser cut materials. I tested engraving a cat's paw on a rock, Linen, and magnetic sheets.
It gave me a lot of ideas about making
Linen
Speed: 350 power: 15%
Cat's paw on rocks
Speed: 300 power: 25%
Material Showcasing
Kerf
Kerf's usually half the laser beam diameter.Each one of us at Fab Lab Egypt Node tested the kerf of a certain material. I tested the kerf of a 5.5 MDF Sheet.The Kerf was 0.142.
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Construction kit
I was inspired by multiple sources to attempt and make a geodesic-type construction kit. I used the pinterest to find ispiration such as this geodesic dome.Also, Julia's Ebert's guide inspired me to play with the angels of the connectors. My idea is to make triangle with some chamfered finger joints and 3 connecters with different angels.
Parametric Models in Fusion & OpensCAD
To help me practice parametric design, we as a group made a parametric laptop holder following this tutorial
OpensCAD Library
Designing
I used Fusion 360 to design the kit. First started with making the parameters that'll be needed like: "Kerf, wood thickness, the size of the triangle, and finger". Then started sketching.
Nesting & Cutting
Exported the files as DXF from fusion and imported them to our software. ML149 operates using LaserWork CAM software. So I just downloaded the file and hit the start button
Showcasing
Vinyl Cutting
I used the vinyl cutter to cut a quantum mechanics meme inspired by this T-shirt I saw on PBS Spacetime merch I have deep passion for quantum mechanics and I thought it would be a fun idea to make a meme out of it!
So i began by loading the vinyl in the Cutter and making sure the blade is in the right position. Then I imported the image to SignMaster. I used the trace tool to convert the image to a vector. Added a rectasngle around the image to make it easier to weed. Then I hit the cut button and waited for the magic to happen!
The I weeded the vinyl and transfer it to a T-shirt using the heat press machine. I used Temperature:120 degrees, Time: 17 seconds.
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Living Hinges: Mobuis
What if the shape of the cosmos was a Mobius strip? I recently read all an article about cosmologists' quest to I was inspired by the idea of making a living hinge in pinterest to find ispiration such as this