GROUP 3

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WEEK ·3·

COMPUTER-CONTROLLED CUTTING

GROUP ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT 1. Make lasercutter test part(s), varying cutting settings and slot dimensions

MDF 3MM

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LASER CUTTER SETTINGS

We wanted to take advantage of this exercise not only to learn how to use the laser cutter but also to leave something that works for the Fablab Esan. So we decided to make a catalog of cuts for material. We tested different materials. The first one was mdf 3mm thick. The materials do not come with the thickness they tell you in the store so it is important to use the vernier to measure the thickness of each material.

We drew in CorelDraw what we wanted to laser cut. We made a catalog of different combinations between speed and power to test which was the ideal setting by material. We always left Frequency at 500.

The Epilog Engraver Laser Cutter brings its own software to place the printing specifications. The most important thing as a first step (for me) is to click on Auto Focus and place the size of the print area. In our case 600x300mm.

Before starting to print, we must turn on the compressor and then the laser cutter. Once we have the print settings ready we can now give ok to ‘start printing’ button.

It is important to follow up the work of the Laser Cutter to avoid any accidents. The machine has a built-in fan that turns off the flames of fire that are being created during the process.

Once the cuts are finished, the Machine head returns to the upper left corner. We can open the lid at this point.

When lifting the material, we easily realize what combinations were more effective for cutting.

We decided that the 17 speed and 100 power combination was ideal for the 3mm mdf. As you see we had an error typing frequency so we had to re-pass the raster.

Then we made some pieces to define the ideal width of cut by material. This would serve us to test the press fit.

The procedure was the same and we used the chosen settings: 17/100/500

Then we did the press fit tests and decided that for the mdf of 3mm the ideal cut width is 2.95cm. With this measure the pieces do not move and are structured mutually.

Finally we got the first pieces for the catalog of cuts.

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ACRYLIC 3MM

We used pieces of material that we had in the fablab. We found red acrylic 3mm thick. At first we doubt whether to work with this thickness since we had already done tests with 3mm mdf but we decided to do it to compare and know if the values change according to the material. In the photo Eddy is measuring the piece of acrylic to indicate in the CorelDraw file the starting point. I was drawing the templates in Corel Draw.

We removed the protective paper only from the part where we worked not to scratch the rest of the material.

In the photo we see Luis controlling the time and work of the laser cutter.

Work done!

We were pending throughout all the process.

When lifting the material we saw which pieces fell easily.

We started to remove the pieces to prove which combination was the best. As we see in the image speed 8 power 94 and frequency 500 was the ideal combination for this material.

With this material we also tested the cutting width for press fit. The chosen width was 2.60

Finally we obtained the next pieces for the catalog of cuts.

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AEROMODELLING TRIPLAY 3MM

The next material we tested was the 3mm aeromodelling triplay. By this point we knew that the settings depends completely on the material and not just the thickness so we decided to try with this material too.

We removed the pieces to see which combinations were ideal for this material. We decided that speed 36 power 96 and frequency 500 is ideal for this material and thickness.

We also did cutting width tests (ideal width 2.98cm.). The photo shows the raster process.

This photo shows the process of laser cutting and how the built-in fan puts out the flames of fire that are being created.

With this material we realized something very important. As seen in the photo a part of the raster and the cut were not marked correctly. We understood that in materials like wood enters another factor at stake: the veins and knots of the wood. The machine when cutting against the direction of the veins can not perform its work in an efficient way.

It is for this reason that we rotated the CorelDraw template so that the machine can cut in the direction of the veins and thus we achieve an optimal result.

Finally we obtained the next pieces for the catalog of cuts. (In duplicate)

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LEATHER 1.5MM

We found a piece of leather (thickness 1.5mm) and we thought why not? This is not a rigid material so we had to fix it to the machine with a few pieces of masking tape in places where the laser will not fall.

In this image you can see the raster on the leather. The contrast allows a very clear reading.

In this image we see the machine starting the cutting process

As you can see the raster on this material looks great.

We removed the pieces of masking tape to be able to remove the leather and see the result.

The cut was not so easy on this material. There were parts that could not be separated.

This image shows the back of the material where some lines failed to cut well.

Because of this we had to make two test catalogs by increasing the speed and power. The ideal combination for this material is speed 30 power 100 and frequency 500. With this material you can not make press fit.

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TRANSPARENT MICA 0.6MM

We bought some transparent mica. We wanted to try different materials according to thickness, hardness, texture, etc.

In the photo Eddy and Waly review the first raster test (hardly seen, not a good material for raster)

As we see in the photo the raster is almost not noticed in this material not the case for the cut

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FINAL SAMPLE

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