FA 3 - Computer Controlled Cutting

Fab Academy 3

Computer-Controlled Cutting

Process:

Main properties:

Materials:

Process:

Main properties:

Materials:

Process:

Main properties:

Materials:

Check that the ventilation is On before turning on the machine. The burning of materials like acrylic could generate some toxic gases, and also contaminates the mirror so it wont work as expected.
Turn on the machine with the lid closed and wait for the bed (Z axis) to go down until it stops in the bottom. Then raise the bed again until it´s about 200 mm from the tip of the nozzle.
Add the material and check that it is not lifting in the corners. If it is bending up, maybe you could solve it by turning it around. Remember that the upper side, is going to be the side that will be raster. You can also add some paper tape to prevent it from lifting.
Calibrate the machine with the tool, by hanging it from the nozzle and manually moving the Z axis up slowly until the calibration tool falls, right after slightly touching the material. In that exact point, you will have your machine calibrated.

You can create previously the file in Illustrator or Inkspace, and export it as a DXF. Then open it in Rhino, in the computer connected to the machine.
Generate a rectangle the size of the machine to check if your file fits on the cutting space, check that the file you want to cut fits in the rectangle, and erase the rectangle:
- 1000 x 600 mm / Trotec 400.
- 600 x 400 mm / Trotec 100.

***if you don't erase the rectangle, the Trotec software is going to recognize it as an enormous image and it is going to give you wrong time estimations.
Check that you have separated the layers in colors, depending of the actions you are going to do, and the order in which you want them to happen:
- Raster, inner cuts, outer cuts... (Black, Red, Blue, Green...

***If you are having trouble changing the colors of the materials you are going to need to first Explode, Join and Make 2D the material before modifying it.
Send the file to print (CTRL+P) and the Rhino printing setup window will pop-up.
MAKE SURE THAT:
- Aspect ratio is 1-1
- When you press Setup, the file is in the corner of the canvas. If not type "MOVE" and select te corner of the canvas and the corner of your file. If you don't type MOVE first, then you will resize the file and that is not what you want.
Press Print. The file will open in the Trotec Job Control, the software that this Trotec laser uses for "pre-cutting".

Click in the button in the lower right corner to connect the software to the machine.
In the Laser machine, move the laser with the jog to the place on the material where you want to start cutting. A crossbow will appear on the software screen, according to where the laser is located.
Drag your file and align it with the laser.
Open The Material Database Window (Ctrl + M).
Select the material you are about to use in the options.
Define the processes for each color of the line traces on the file. (skip, cut, raster)
Define the Power, Speed, and PPI/Hz. Depending on the material you are using and the process wanted in each color. Ask this in your lab and do previews tests to define the intensity you want.
EXAMPLE: 4mm Plywood:
CUT: P 75 - S 0.5 - Hz1000
Check that the machine is focused,
with the lid closed,
the vent is on,
the material is in the right place and ready to cut.
Check in the software the time, to see if there are no missing parts or strange times. Check the material cutting/rastering settings.
Click play button to send the file to the cut.

First you have to create on Rhino the kind of notches you want, and for that you should take in count the thickness of the material and also it's rigidness, because it works pretty different in cardboard, wood or even acrylic for example. For this project, after some test, I used common rectangles with a little chanfle on the edges.
In Gasshopper, first create a CURVE. We RIGHT CLICK on it and select SET CURVE from the menu. And we select in Rhino the notch we want to use.
A good practice is to rename the things you add to Grasshoper so you know which is which.
Create a BOUNDING BOX component, we connect the CURVE that has the notch to it in the CONTENT slot (C). RIGHT CLICK on it and select UNION BOX. This maps the geometry of the notch.
Create a DECONSTRUCT BREP component, we connect the BOUNDING BOX from the upper BOX slot (B) to it in the BREP slot (B).
Create a EVALUATE SURFACE component, we connect the DECONSTRUCT BRE from the upper FACES slot (F) to it in the SURFACE slot (S). This will evaluate the pints in the surface. Add a PANEL PROPERTIES module to select the point in which you want the points to appear. {0.0, 0.5, 0.0}, and then you have to RIGHT CLICK on it and RE-PARAMETRIZE. That defines the UV parameters to be from 0.0 to 1.1
Create a RECTANGLE object, and then add a domain with CONSTRUCT DOMAIN. This will generate an area around the object.
Add a number value and connect it to the DOMAIN START (A) and DOMAIN END (B). After then RIGHT CLICK on the A, CLICK expression to open the expression editor and write -X, so that the values goes from negative X to positive X. Then connect it to the X SIZE slot (X) in the RECTANGLE.
Repeat the instruction number 8 to generate the Y SIZE value. Whit that you will decide the sizes of the sides of the RECTANGLE.
Create a EXPLODE component and connect the RECTANGLE (R) to the CURVE slot (C).

Fab Academy 3

Computer-Controlled Cutting

INDEX:

Here you will find an Index with links to easily navigate through the section content.

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2

3

4

5

6

7

1 - Laser Cutting:

What is Laser Cutting and how it works.

2 - Types of laser cutting machines:

Laser cutting machines can be divided into three, based on the type of laser they use. FabLab BCN Wiki

CO2 Laser cutter machines:

Neodymium laser cutter machines (Nd-YAG):

Fiber Laser cutter machines:

3 - How to Laser-Cut:

Here is a tutorial I created to Laser-Cut in the Trotec 500/1000:

Machine and Lab setting:

Setting File in Rhino:

Trotec Job Control

4- Laser Calibration:

5 - Laser Testing:

6 - Kerf testing:

7 - Modular Parametric Toys:

8 - Vinyl Cutting Stickers:

Created in Adobe IllustratorDXF File

Silhouette Cameo Setting:

Illustrator Design:

To design this file, what I did was taking a picture of a Tatoo I have, then oppen it in Illustrator, design some paths around it to create the vector with a black fill inside, check that the paths where closed, save it and export it.

9 - Reflectionsand considerations:

Created in Adobe Illustrator

DXF File

9 - Reflections
and considerations: