computer controlled cutting

    parametric designs

    most of time if you want to work with parametric design is better to user Rhino and GrassHoppers but they are so complex they need alot of time by focusing on them i decide to explore more feature about parametric design in solidworks to perform parametric design but if your want to desing some parametric shape that have to be sliced into pieces in order to cut them is not easy as in Rhino but is you are working with simple paramatric design no problem you cango ahead

    It is somehow not easy to find a shape which can be assembled and make multiple object. Here I chose to design something that looks like a bird using my parametric design. here are steps how I made it.


    Here are photos showing how I made every step


    Parametric Design Parametric Design

    saving DXF files

    multiplying models in CorelDraw

    process involves in using the laser cutter
    laser can be used in different process like let see the breif explanation of laser processes
    laser cutting is a precise method of cutting a design from any material using Computer Aid Design to guide it, you can found the three main type of laser commonly used in industry CO2 lasers Nd and NdYAG but in most fablabs even our fablab Rwanda have CO2 lasers.
    laser engraving or laser ecthing is a process of marking where the laser head engraves or remove a partion layers from material by moving left to right slow down the material. which is known raster engraving.
    Vector engraving is a method of marking or scoring a material surface. Like the laser cutting process the laser beam will follow the path of vector strokes without cutting all the way through. The width of the stroke is made at the kerf of the laser i.e approx 0.2mm. To engrave thicker strokes, we would need to use the raster engraving method or de-focus the laser slightly.
    3D Laser engraving is a fantastic process that really pushes the boundaries of laser technology. It works in the same way as laser engraving , but when using the 3D setting, the laser will also adjust the power it applies to the material based on the tonal quality of the drawing (lights and darks). Black areas receive maximum power while the white areas do not get engraved. All the shades in between get a varying amount of power giving it a true 3D appearance. The laser adds sloped edges to the engraving at varying depths. It’s a stunning process.
    Metal laser marking is another method that involves the basic laser engraving process. During this process a special chemical marking compound is used. Surface depths cannot be achieved, the surface of the material is marked with permanent black marks. This process is mostly used for metal engraving but it also works well on other hard materials such as ceramic, marbles and stones.
    Photo laser engraving is essentially laser engraving but with a lot more detail. The laser reads the the tonal qualities of an image much like a printer. Black areas receive maximum laser power, white areas do not get engraved, the shades between the two get a varying amount of power. You can achieve some stunning results where we can engrave photographic quality up to 1200 DPI on many different material.
    laser cutter kerf

    Kerf = Width

    Kerf is defined as the width of material that is removed by a cutting process. It was originally used to describe how much wood was removed by a saw, because the teeth on a saw are bent to the side, so that they remove more material than the width of the saw blade itself, preventing the blade from getting stuck in the wood. Kerf width is a measure of how much material is removed.When talking about CNC shape cutting with typical cutting processes, kerf is the width of material that the process removes as it cuts through the plate.

    click here to learn about how to calculate kerf of lasser


    i found some resources about how to determine kerf of laser cut and i followed this process to calculate this kerf of epilog laser mini 40W

After cutting my parametric design, I had to assemple my parts to make an object that has a bird shape


Cutting and assymbling


This is my shape already made from parametric Design.


final Model

vinyl cutter

with Vinyl cutter I my image based sticker for my laptop.

i used both photoshop and inkscape to generate the black and white image i used inkscape at the beginning becuase inkscape is free vector design program and those not required some advanced skills like cuttout, image settings like photoshop

i tried to use my image which i downloaded from my facebook account but the result of cevtors in inkscape was not good and i decide to remove background on it by using photoshop

and i tried to create the threshold image image in photoshop

and at the same time i do the some task in inkscape so that i can campare both result

i made same zoom to see the difference of both images in resolution

photoshop detailed image

inkscape detailed image

I saved all file in and compoter both image either by size and by resolution

comparison by size

comparison by resolution

after that i used fabmodules to generate our tool path for our vinyl

fabmodules.org

so idecide to use other option which does not offer many setting where i sed Cutstudio(windows application)
starting vinyl cutter importing image into vinyl after importing place your image with relative the favorable origin with respect to the sheet genrating edge vector of image send comand to vinyl by clicking on cut setting in cutstion it is easy to modifier the size of image

starting the vinly

remove unwanted parts from sticker

use transfer paper to move you stick to desired location you want on my side i put this sticker on back side of my laptop

my face on my PC
processes involved in Vinyl cutter.

Download files
all files used in this week assignment