Laser Cutting

In week 5, there was a CPDD practical on Laser cutting. We first had to undergo a compulsory competency test using the group's SOP, followed by printing our parametric construction kit. The team did encounter certain issues and challenges faced along the way. However, we managed to solve them before the end of this practical. Continue reading and let me explain the small and crucial details that I managed to take note of while learning how to operate a laser cutter.

To begin, I would first be showing you the part of the improved SOP that includes certain little details and notes that I managed to jot them down while the FabLab TE was explaining.

As seen from the picture, you can see that there are little details or steps that I have missed out on. Let's dive deeper into what I wrote or observed. 

Firstly, the first and most important mistake to avoid after importing and selecting a file, is to NOT DRAG the drawing. Why? This is because it alters the original dimension of the file, causing it to be either bigger or smaller than the original scale of the drawing. Below is an example of what might happen if one were to drag the mouse on the dashboard of corelDRAW.

For this example, I would be using a heart to describe the problem with dragging the mouse. As evident from the picture, there is a huge difference in terms of its size if one were to drag the mouse onto the dashboard of corelDRAW. Unfortunately, I did not manage to picture the outcome of my test piece that I got. However, if I were to show you virtually, it looked something like this

This is the result of dragging the mouse, making the scale bigger and the small piece of acrylic provided contributed to this outcome

Moving onto the the next thing that I jotted down to remind myself is that engraving does not require the "Hairline" setting. In other words, I have learnt that "Hairline" is equivalent to cut.

Photo from graphics-pro.com

From the picture above, looking at the top left side, in order to engrave, "Width" is to be set at 0.2mm instead of setting it on "Hairline". This is an important thing to take note of as it can affect the desired outcome. An additional thing to note is that Vector Cut is to be set as Red Colour, while Engraving is to be set as Green Colour.

Parametric construction kit

This is the parametric construction kit that my group, "Garage Engineers" manage to laser cut. There was supposed to be two different pieces for the kit. However, due to technical difficulties in not being able to export the file correctly, the team only managed to laser cut 1 piece twice. Unfortunately, this problem was not solved during the duration of the practical.

To conclude, above are the 2 main important things that I missed out on while using corelDRAW. In my opinion, it was a fun and fruitful experience for me as it was my first time using such machinery. I feel that learning to use such machinery saves a lot of time as the laser cutter operates faster and more accurately as compared to humans.

 

Adding on, learning how to navigate through the basic functions of corelDRAW is also CRUCIAL as it is an important step before being able to laser cut the components that are desired. If I was given another chance to learn, I would definitely take up that opportunity and ultimately hope to incoporate such skill in my life/ job.