Objectives
Group assignment: Do your lab's safety training characterize your lasercutter's focus, power, speed, rate,kerf, joint clearance and types
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.
Group Assignment
Test pieces are made from cardboard, wood and acrylic. Kerf values were calculated. From the obtained kerf values, jigs were made to conduct fit test.Values are noted.
- Cardboard
- Kerf = 0.23
- Wood
- Kerf = 0.245
- Acrylic
- Kerf = 0.125
Find the group assignment page in the below link
Group Assignment Page3.Computer controlled cutting
Logo cutting using Vinyl cutter
A vinyl cutter is a machine that uses a small, sharp blade to cut designs from sheets of vinyl or similar thin materials. It follows vector paths created in design software to precisely cut shapes, letters, and intricate patterns. After cutting, the excess vinyl is removed in a process called weeding, leaving only the desired design. A layer of application tape is then applied to transfer the design onto a surface while keeping it intact. Vinyl cutters are widely used for making decals, stickers, signs, and custom apparel designs.
Roland GX-24 Vinyl cutter machine
In lab I used Roland GX-24 Vinyl cutter machine.
To run the vinyl cutter machine press the blue button on the control panel.Vinyl roll is fed into the vinyl cutter.Feed the vinyl under the pinch rollers and on top of the roller bar and then release the rollers to hold the vinyl in place. We have to choose whether it is a piece or a roll.If piece is selected the size is measured and for rolls,its width is measured. I selected roll. Adjust the origin, force and speed. Run a test cut.
To run the program open mods-master.Fab Mods is an open-source modular digital manufacturing CAM software developed by MIT's Centre for Bits and Atoms to control any machine from a computer. Gave command- bash start servers
mods CE
A screen opens. Right click to select program.
Select program
Open program
GX-GS 24 vinyl cutter->cut
I inserted svg file. In program,Insert svg file→ calculate→ send file.
I downloaded a raster image, vectorized the image in inkscape and exported it.
Now we have to weed the image.Weeding is the process of removing material that you don't want in your graphics. The smaller the features in your graphic, the more challenging weeding can become. Use a weeding pick to carefully pull up and remove the portions of vinyl that you don't want to transfer to your target surface.With your image weeded, the next step to take will be to transfer your image from the release liner to the target surface.A transfer tape is used for the purpose. Adher the vinyl to transfer tape. Fix the transfer tape in the target surface and peel away gently.
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Parametric construction kit using Laser cutter
I sketched pentagons, circles and arch shapes using parametric design. Cardboard was selected for laser cutting.
Thickness of the cardboard was calculated. Thickness= 3.25mm, Kerf= 0.23 After fit test the final value was taken as 2.72mm. Using the final value, sketches are designed accordingly.
I created sketches of a pentagon,circle and arch. Using rectangular pattern multiple images of the same were created.
Chamfer tool is used to ease the fitting of components
To project , I extruded the sketches into solid shapes
The shapes are then rearranged to minimize space usage and projected. Modify-> arrange. Create-> project
I exported the sketches as dxf file for laser cutting. Power is adjusted to 90% and numberof passes is set as 1.
And the result
Challenges faced
Initially the cardboard didn’t stayed at the fixed place, cardboard was bent. Instructor advised to reduce space wastage.
Instead of weeding the logo from vinyl cutter, I adhered it on the transfer tape directly.
Conclusion
This week I learned about computer controlled cutting.I used vinyl cutter and created a logo. Using laser cutter, I made a parametric construction kit. Learned about safty measures, to calculate kerf and to construct parametic designs.
Hero Shot