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comment by mike
mike  ·  2761 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: DIYski! Lasercutting my own desk

Love it! Well done.

Spent the morning at the nearby highschool (there aren't many nearby highschools in rural Norway) where I'm allowed to play with their laser cutter. Only my second day on it, they've used it only for glass engraving so I'm the guinea pig for cutting plywood. Got some good results today but plenty to learn. I'm prototyping puzzle pieces that will become products - fun and exciting work.

My secondary goal is to develop a clean workflow to go from Sketchup Make to a laser cut piece in the correct size as designed in SU, using freeware programs like Vectr and Acrobat. I can't use Inkscape because it cheats and doesn't export vector graphics.

What software do you use?





veen  ·  2761 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thanks!

Protip: Google [whatever material you want to use +] MSDS to get the Material Satefy Data Sheet. It tells you exactly what kinds of fumes might arise when lasercutting materials. MDF and triplex/multiplex is usually good. Every makerspace keeps a list of materials used (type of material, thickness, cut settings, results) and I highly suggest you do the same, as it allows you to get a good feel for how speeds, power settings and materials interact.

I'm not even doing any 3D designing. Only Adobe Illustrator and imagination here. I kind of like the mental challenge of designing something that's not flat using only flat cuts and materials, but that's just me. By the way, maybe Autocad is something for you? Most lasercutters take DXF, and there are tons of 3D applications that can export to Autocad.