Laser Cutting (Article)

When making things, the details can change between making the world look clean, polished and rushed.
To do this, it takes many hours to cut the exact holes or edges.
However, with the increasing popularity of industrial technology, people\'s daily life is more and more likely.
The laser cutting machine is such a tool, which is a shortcut that everyone should try.
This article is one of a series of guided articles on DIY technology.
You can see the complete list here.
Laser cutting machine through high focus-
Drive the laser onto the material.
The beam is focused to a small point-
It can burn, melt, and even evaporate the material it encounters.
What type of material can be cut depends on the intensity of the laser.
The 30 W laser can cut the paper, acrylic resin and cardboard, and the 10 W laser can cut the 1 inch thick stainless steel.
To control the path of the laser, all you need to do is create a vector file and send it to the laser cutter.
Many programs can create these files, such as CorelDRAW or Illustrator, and can even open them for free-SOURCE Inkscape.
Once the laser cutter has its path, it can cut out everything you want cleanly.
This is a direct path from the idea to the real object without worrying about all the cuts or confusion along the way.
Laser cutting machines have been used for industrial use for quite some time, but they have become more affordable in the past few years.
Finishing laser now sells the retail price of the laser cutting machine for $7,995.
It\'s not cheap enough for casual builders, but it\'s affordable for small businesses, and many craftsmen have invested in making their own work to sell.
Such a business gives people the option to print files elsewhere.
The website Ponokospecializes specializes in this kind of printing.
Anyone can submit the documents, choose the material, and Ponoko will charge them for it.
The best part is small, one
Fragments can be made so that the builder can upload the file, send the file to print, and receive the mail after a short period of time.
In addition to cutting, the laser cutting machine can also etching materials.
In this mode, the laser cutter Burns images to the surface of the material line by line.
The effect of each material is different.
On acrylic, the etching area looks like it will Frost, while the wood can get the texture etching area because the laser will burn a different amount depending on the density of the wood anywhere.
One of our favorite etching materials is anodized aluminum.
Etching it and getting the image has a ghostly mass.
Depending on the angle, it looks brighter or darker than the surrounding area.
Another good trick is to do vector cutting but use very little power.
This technique can etching the groove into the material so that it can fold easily the way you want it.
Robert Lang did it with his complicated and gorgeous origami, and it worked very well.
The result is not only clean, but it is easy to save him hours of folding time by scoring.
In many ways, laser cutting machines are very useful for moving quickly from ideas to reality.
They will surely become more and more accessible in the future.
We have an Epilog Laser cutter in our office that is often used for cards, housing, panels, etc.
After years of use, it is still one of our favorite tools to use.
Useful link: Ponoko-
Cut and ship your design laser to youEpilog laser-
Universal Laser System-laser cutting machine
Laser cutting machine/engraving machine manufacturer
Dan shares the place of laser cutting and 3D design from the universal lampshade polygon building kit.