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Week 2

Weekly tasks

Characterize the laser parameters: focus, speed, power, frequency. Find out the beam width (kerf)
Select any object, measure and draw it using CAD
Cut something on a cutting plotter
Design and cut a parametric cardboard kit on a laser cutter that can be assembled in different ways - Take into account the beam width (kerf)

Get to know Fusion

This week we learned how to work with laser and with CAD program - specifically Fusion 360. For the first task I chose something on the simple side - Weight Plate. The sketch consists of 4 circles that were then extruded and a text.

Sticker

We decided that "cut something on a cutting plotter" definately should not be our own hands, so in the first place we got to know the safety measurements of how to work with this technology. I decided to do eight-pointed star in my beloved Inkscape and export it as a .swg and .png files.

NOTE: Cutting plotter did in fact not recognise .svg file, only .dxf. To obtain .dxf file from Inkscape you have to go "save as" (NOT export).

The first step was to cut adhesive sheet, in my case in royal purple colour, into smaller piece. I wanted the final product to be 10*10 cm, so i cut the square about that size. Then I attached this vinyl foil to adhesive cutting mat. Then in Silhouette Studio I uploaded my DXF file and rescaled it. After the cutter had finished cutting, I peeled off parts that weren't part of the star and applied the transfer layer to it. After all this work I proudly stick it on my laptop.

Impossible 3D puzzles

For this task I chose designing and cutting my own puzzles. But 2D puzzles would be quite a small goal so I added one more dimension (yes, I regreted this afterwards).

It didn't make much sense to design each piece individually, so i made a universal grid 15*15 cm with 3 squares in the row and in the column. Because of my intend to compose it in 3D, I couldn't make it as a classical jigsaw puzzle that has anchor-like protruding part so I choose making loops that would go from one square to another. When the grid was done I started to extrude it, part of this process was deciding in which squares should the loop go out or in. By this method were made 3 different sets of puzzles and coppied them.

The next was what makes this construction 3D. For this original 3 sets I made in each piece cut from buttom to center of the piece, for additional 3 sets I made cut from the top to the center of the piece. Afterwards, I export all 6 sets as DXF file and load it to the software connected to the laser. We tried to find optimal power and speed percentage for the cardboard. It seems that the sweet spot was 100% power and 55% speed. We also estimated the beam width to be around 0.2 mm. After the cutting, I got all the pieces out and then the hardest part began.

In a nutshell I terribly overestimated my abilities. Even though I created and designed this puzzle, it took me a horrendous amount of time and mental gymnastics to actually solve it.