Weekend Builds: Laser Slicing and Engraving

In the case of digital fabrication, MatterHackers is your one-stop-shop for all of your tools and materials wants, like laser cutters and engravers. Whereas we feature a number of totally different machines, this text goes to give attention to the FSL Muse and the companion software program, Retina Engrave 3, just because I’m most aware of that laser cutter and its workflow.

There’s loads of various things you may truly do together with your laser cutter after you have it, greater than I may even consider. To present you an concept of what you are able to do, I’m going to work on three totally different initiatives round three totally different ideas: reconstructing a 3D mannequin, engraving a sample, and creating customized packaging. Let’s get to it!

Laser Slicing a 3D Mannequin

Autodesk has a very helpful program that can take an imported 3D mannequin and slice it into layers that may then be despatched to your laser cutter or reduce out by hand: Autodesk Slicer for Fusion360. Whereas this slicer works very equally to a slicer for a 3D printer, it’s options and performance are tailor made for laser reducing.

You begin off by importing your 3D mannequin, which is able to pop in a bunch of latest settings like how huge would you like your completed object with a preview of it on the proper facet. The very first thing you’ll want to do is choose your “Manufacturing Settings” which is the dimensions of your materials in X, Y, and Z. You possibly can both choose from a drop down of fabric choices, or you may create your personal materials. You want to be very particular on the thickness of your materials, in any other case a sphere might look extra like an egg by the point you’re completed.

When you’ve bought your object and materials settings proper, you may select your development method.

• Stacked slices works virtually precisely like 3D printing; it cuts your object into layers that may then be glued collectively to recreate your form. The “decision” of your end object is restricted by your materials thickness in the identical manner. This would be the methodology I give attention to in the present day.
• Interlocked slices cuts your 3D mannequin in two perpendicular planes, then provides slots to the silhouettes. All of the items will slot collectively to kind your object, nevertheless some fashions might not work on this methodology, resulting from both overlapping slots with oddly formed fashions and even elements that find yourself too small the slot into something.
• Curve is like interlocked slices, besides the second set of items are at an angle as a substitute of parallel with an axis.
• Radial has interlocking slices begin from a central level on the 3D mannequin.
• Folded Panels takes the polygons of your 3D mannequin and flattens it out so you may print it out and fold it again collectively to create your object. This actually solely works for fashions with a decrease poly depend fairly than something with excessive element.
• 3D Slices appears to be a strategy to slice you mannequin into layers with out altering or estimating its geometry, however you may’t truly use or export this.

Stacked slices will carry essentially the most element out of your 3D mannequin, at the price of extra materials and time, however the finish end result will look that significantly better! You possibly can select so as to add dowels via your mannequin for rigidity, however in my case this deer head doesn’t have sufficient area for a dowel to do a lot good. I also can change the slice path to get extra element, similar to rotating a mannequin for 3D printing to prioritize element. As soon as I’m glad, I’ll click on “Get Plans” to be prompted to export the cutouts in sheets as DXF, EPS, or PDF. DXF goes to be the only option for laser reducing in my case, however your laser cutter’s software program might choose a distinct file format. In that case you should use an internet converter to get to the proper file kind. Ensure to avoid wasting this venture so you understand how to assemble it later; there will likely be loads of items!

Now that I’ve the plans for it, I can import these into RE3. As soon as it’s been processed I can take away the total picture layer (which may very well be used to raster/engrave this onto my materials) and ensure my sizing is right, as a result of typically that may get misplaced transferring from one software program to a different. You’ll want to do some check cuts first on some scrap materials to see the mixture of energy, velocity, and present you’ll want to chop via your materials. For the FSL Muse, I used 25% energy, 100% velocity, and 100% present for 3/16” cardboard and that labored rather well.

As an increasing number of items have been reduce out, the immense puzzle started to return collectively. Checking backwards and forwards between the meeting steps and what I had reduce out, I used to be in a position to put collectively subassemblies because it progressed, till lastly the final sheet was executed and I may scorching glue and tremendous glue the previous couple of items collectively.

Engraving an Picture

This is likely one of the easiest venture you are able to do on a laser engraver. The one prep work that’s wanted is to measure out the fabric you’re going to make use of and provide you with a plan of what you wish to engrave onto it.

From there, you may both leap into your favourite picture modifying software program, make the most of the instruments inside the laser cutter software program (primary instruments like textual content and shapes) or import a photograph to transform and engrave inside the software program. Dylan threw collectively a fast design to commemorate our Neighborhood Hex Wall which I may then import into Retina Engrave 3 and tune my engrave settings. I’m going to be engraving on a bit of Cherry MatterHackers Undertaking Wooden and with a pleasant piece of wooden like this, I don’t wish to be too aggressive it, for concern that it’s going to burn too strongly. As an alternative, with one thing like this the place you don’t have an opportunity to do some assessments, it’s higher to begin with a decrease energy setting and do a number of passes.

For this plaque, we ended up doing two passes at 50% energy and 100% velocity, and that gave it a pleasant contrasting coloration with some good depth to it. Engraving took solely a half hour, together with the time to design it, prep the laser cutter, and prep the settings wanted for the design. If this have been one thing you needed to do batches of, it will be even faster to perform after you have the method all the way down to a science.

Customized Foam Packaging

I’ve had a bit software case for over a 12 months now that I needed the right use for, and with the Nintendo Swap being such a enjoyable and fashionable merchandise proper now with Tremendous Smash battles no less than as soon as every week within the workplace, it made sense to make it a case for a Swap controller.

Venegade on Thingiverse designed a very cool grip for the Joycons that I’ve printed and would make designing a case very easy. All I needed to do was import some Swap controller stand-ins and line them up within the controller case, coloration the fashions black to make it simpler to hint, then take a screenshot from a entrance dealing with view. From there I may move it off to Dylan to create an SVG, or vector, file utilizing Adobe Illustrator.

Simply the identical as all the remainder, I may import this SVG file into RE3 and set the laser energy for the packing foam in it, and similar to the Undertaking Wooden, I solely had one piece to make use of for testing and ultimate model. To play it protected, I set the laser energy to fifteen%, velocity to 100%, and present to 100%, and surprisingly it reduce via the froth like butter after the primary move. A pair dabs of tremendous glue and now I’ve a customized case the securely protects my Swap Joycons for gaming on the go.

Whether or not you’re seeking to create your subsequent hit product or simply one thing enjoyable to place collectively, every of those initiatives ought to hopefully get some gears turning and encourage you to strive it out. Share with me on Twitter what you’ve got created, I would like to see it!

Pleased lasering!