Computer-Controled cutting

Task Requirments:


Laser Cutting

Design:

First i checked some construction kits made by academy students and i got my inspiration from salzberg and Abul-Haggag

Sketching:

I started Sketching my construction kit and making dimensions. My idea was to make a contstruction kit with all possible angles "as much as i could" to allow me to make anhy shape i want, i also was inspiresd by a construcion kit i have but it's in 3d.

Cad Design

I started by entering all my dimensions in the parametric settings in Fusion 360 including the kerf as a parameter.

Then I started sketching all the parts as different components. I made all my dimensions in the design from the previously set parameters to be easy for me to change in the design later on.

I extruded all my parts to material thickness, and chamfered all the corners to make it easier to fit.

I Exported all my parts a dxf and now its time to start my journey with laser cutting.

Machine charecterization:

I started with machine charecterization to determine the speed and power for cutting, that was a part of our group assignment please refer to group assignment for more details.
we found the suitable power for cutting is:75% and speed: 23 mm/s and for engraving is 20%/200mm/s. and the Kerf of the machine is 0.1mm.

Cutting:

Luckily i already set the kerf value in my parameters as 0.1mm so i didn't need to change any parameters so i imported my DXFs to corel draw on the machine PC and added a signature text for engraving and cutted one peice of each part for testing with the previously mentioned characters.

First Failure:

The kerf was ok and the parts fir perfectly but the length of the slot was to tall thus you cant fit more than 1 peice on each peice.

so i had to go back to my design to modify the slot lenght and thsat took me to:

Second failure

Althought my design was all parametric, but when i tried to change the slot parameter the design didn't respond well and after seeking help from my mentor he advised that this happened because my sketches were not constrained well, so i decided to redo my whole design ("")

Back to CAD

I redraw all my cad design only changing my slot length and making sure all my sketches are fully constrained "black color lines" and this time i tried changing the parameters of each part after finishing it.

Back to cutting:

This time i used a different machine so i cut another test samples but the fit was loose i made the measurments and found that the machine kerf is different it's 0.2 not 0.1mm, so i changed the parameter of kerf and cut another test and it fits perfectly.

Finally:

I arranged my parts on corel draw for the best usage of materials and setup the power and speed for cutting and engraving as mentioned before and here we are !!

Areas for improvment:

  1. Shorter connecting walls part to make the construction kit more usable for straight surfaces
  2. adding slots in the corner of the corner part which will open a window for new connecting possibilities.

Vinyl Cutting

Design:

I made a text with my company logo and sized to fit on the sides of my final project, so i can fix it there.
I used Inkscape to right the text and export it to DXF.

Cutting:

The Lab is equipped with Roland CAMM-1 Pro

The PC connected to the machine was equipped with Roland Cut Studio software, I started exploring the software and found designing options in it, so i decided to rewrite my text and size instead of importing the dxf to be able to explore the software.

So i Just typed my text and size it, then click the cut button and hit ok "of course after setting the machine characterestics on the machine it self

Machine Parameters

I tried different speeds and forces and till i had a nice clean cut at Force:150gf and speed:8cm/s for the engraving and Force:210gf and speed:8cm/s to cut throug and remove the whole sheet.

Minor Failure:

I had to redo the cut as i forget to move the roll after making the cutting trials, and here is the final result !!!

Transfering the sticker:

I will use normal sellotape to transfer the vinyl to my desk.

Before using the sellotape i sticked several times to my jeans in order to reduce it's stickness and make it easier to remove it without removing the vinyl

I sticked the sellotape to the design and carefully wrapped it out

I then sticked it to my desk and carefully removed the sellotape leaving the vinyl on the desk

Finally i removed the extra vinyl and here it is !

Group Assignment:

I used the designs made by Haitham to charecterize the laser cuting machine and determine it's KERF

I was assigned to use cardboard material to charecterize the machine for.

Machine charectrization

I imported the DXF file to RD works "machine software" and i assigned a different speeds and power to each square, i made 2 scenarios one with constant speed and one with constant power

and here is the result!

Comb Test:

I Impoerted the DXF to RD works and laser cut the comb, after trying to fit the material to different slots found the kerf to be 0.1mm.