Laser Cutting
Laser Cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, but is also
starting to be used by schools, small businesses, and hobbyists. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high-power laser most commonly
through optics. The laser optics and CNC (computer numerical control) are used to direct the material or the laser beam generated. A commercial laser
for cutting materials involved a motion control system to follow a CNC or G-code of the pattern to be cut onto the material. The focused laser beam
is directed at the material, which then either melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high-quality
surface finish.
Making the press fit comb and model
First I calibrated the thickness of the material – in this case the MDF board. Then I created the scale to check the size of slot to be created to fit another piece of same material.
Since the board was of 2mm dimension I created slots of 1.7mm, 1.8mm, 1.9mm 2.0mm, 2.1mm, 2.2mm on one piece of board.
Importing the model
I created this in 2D using Autocad and saved the same in DXF format.
After importing the files in Corel Draw I set the origin to the top left edge of the page. Then I selected the drawing and set its top X axis coordinate to required position.
I set the selection to hairline thickness and adjusted the power to 50 and speed to 15 and focus 100.
After which I put on the exhaust and initiated the print command.
Issue faced- Since the dimension text was also set in hairline there was an etch created in the dimensions which was not needed. So I reset the printing format and put
the dimension width to none.
Preparing the final model
After this test I had the required dimension for printing and I created my Shape and its slots using this dimension in Autocad.
After creating the drawing and placing it to prevent wastage of material on the board I imported it to corel draw and adjusted its placement and set to print.
Issue faced- At the beginning in some places double lines were created that led to double etch. I cancelled the print and corrected the error and placed it for printing again.
Issue faced- Since the dimension text was also set in hairline there was an etch created in the dimensions which was not needed. So I reset the printing format and put the dimension width to none.
After creating the drawing and placing it to prevent wastage of material on the board I imported it to corel draw and adjusted its placement and set to print. Issue faced- At the beginning in some places double lines were created that led to double etch. I cancelled the print and corrected the error and placed it for printing again.
