Week 3: Computer Controller Cutting¶
Week 3: Computer Controlled Cutting
IT’S LASER WEEK BABY.
I MADE THIS BEAUTY.
Lab Safety¶
A quick rundown of the Fablab NoDa Safety Procedures:
- Do not touch or run any of the machines when the instructor is not present.
- Know the location of the fire extinguisher and first aid kit.
- Wear proper PPE
Laser Safety¶
- DO NOT use the laser without the instructor present.
- Make sure that the laser has proper ventilation airflow. DO NOT block the front.
- Make changes to the settings gradually and based off of the given lab settings.
- Smoke is okay, uncontrolled fire is not. If you see a fire, stay calm and stop the print. Open the glass cover. This should automatically turn the laser off. Then cover the fire with the ACM panel that is located next to the laser.
- Make sure to focus the laser properly and that your materials are as flat as possible. If needed, tape down the edges of your material.
I did cause a small fire. I changed the cut settings from 13% speed to 10%. It just seemed like 3% of a difference, however it was a 23% decrease in cutting speed.
FREECAD & PARAMETRIC DESIGN¶
I went through several iterations to get my current model.
To make a parametric design, I create a cardboard prototype with no measurements. Then I map out which lines need to be constrained with each other. All lines that are the same color are constrained to be parallel an equal in length with each other.
Next I went to FREECAD.
s
This is what my design looks like with all of the constraints. Since I have to consider the thickness of the cardboard for my design, it was very important to have exact measurement for everything.
I have improved from last week. With all the constraints my computer was getting slow.
Here’s an easier to read version of the constraints. All lines of the same color are constrained to be equal with each other.
The measured thickness for the cardboard is 6.5 mm. The red lines in the images above are 6.5mm. If I change materials in the future, the length of the red lines can be updated.
This was the perfect amount of tolerance to have sliding pieces.
WHen you cut with a laser, some of the material gets vaporized. This is known as Kerf. From our group work, we know our laser kerf for cardboard is approximately 0.0035 inch or 0.0889mm. For our slot, 6.5mm will become 6.5889mm and this gives us the functional fit needed for assembly.
Originally I did not account for the cardboard thickness material when it came to assembly, but luckily all I had to do was change the dark blue lines and it changed all the measurements.
EPILOG HELIX 30W CO2 LASER CUTTER¶
Our lab uses Inkscape for our laser printer. In general, it is best practice to make your canvas the same size as your cut bed. Our is 24” x 18”.
However, it was input into the document settings as 18” x 24”, and so it will not cut anything beyond 18” width.
Set your canvas to 18” x 18”
Upload your SVG or Inkscape file
“Ungroup” your lines and rearrange them to be space efficient. Do not put them too close together as it can start a fire.
I needed to fix a few alignment issues with the slots. I did this through Inkscape.
Hit Print
Click the printer named “LASER”
Click “preferences” & type in your settings.
Laser Settings¶
| Material | Speed | Power | Freq |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/8” Cardboard | 25% | 60-100 | 500 |
| 1/4” Cardboard | 15% | 65% | 1000 |
| 1/8” Plywood | 15% | 100% | 500-2500 |
| 1/8” Clear Acrylic | 10-40% | 100% | 5000 |
Save, click “Apply”, then “Print”
On the Laser, lay down your material, make ure it is as flat as possible and tpe down the edges if needed.
Close the glass cover
Hit GO
Watch the laser, do not look away for more than 15 seconds
When the laser is all done, you may lift the cover. The material may be hot when you touch it. If you do not think your material was cut all the way through, DO NOT MOVE IT and run the job again.
Now assemble the kit!
SILHOUETTE CAMEO¶
Next up is to cut a nice cover for my project!
Download the Silhouette Program
Use a USB connect the Silhouette to your computer
Silhouette requires a subscription to upload VG, so I used this SVG to DXF converter.
use these settings
Upload your DXF file
My file did not immport as the right size. To make it the correct size, use the line tool to create a line that is 120mm. Silhouette works in inches, so that is 4.724 inches.
Increased the files size to match.
Peel off the cover of your sticky matt. Do not lose the cover, it keeps the matt sticky. Place your paper on the matt.
Load in the matt. Make sure it lines up with the guides on the machine. When it is lined up predd “load” and it will roll up the matt to prepare for cutting.
Set your settings to carstock. Hit send on your computer.
Watch the machine cut, you may need to end the cut early if your cardstock moves or gets misaligned.
When the cut is done, click unload on the machine.
You can tell that it cut through by gently bending your matt at an angle. If your cardstock lift up, it wa a success! Gently peel off the cardstock at an angle.
Cut off the extra bits and it slides right on to the stairs!
Cats¶
This may be a little rude, but I stuck a camera on a very long pole and took a photo of Echo and Shadow! They look a little disgruntled but not afraid of the camera. I feel a little bad for disturbing their rest, but look at how cute they are all cuddled up!
Files¶
Copyright 2026
Source code hosted at gitlab.fabcloud.org