Calculating the measurements and designing the files for press fit can be done with a bit of patience and trial and error. This document is intended to get you to the point where you can make parts that can be pressfit together on the lasercutter. Once you have a decent grasp on the technique, you can add your own creativity to make something more interesting.

materials:
epilog laser cutter
open office
fabuntu
cam
perspex or plexiglass
measurement tools, caliper or ruler

Process

Molding and casting is used in Fab Labs to create 3D objects that are often made by expensive additive rapid prototyping machines in industry. Rapid prototyping machines are typically very expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, and require expensive materials. The time it takes to make a mold is about the same as it would take a rapid prototyping machine. However, you can usually make many parts with a mold and the end result will have better resolution (more detail).

Materials used:

When working with the lasercutter, it is too easy to misplace your design on the cutting bed. As a result, you can run the laser into the edge of the machine, sometimes causing damage. This writing is intended to make it easy to place your design on the cutting bed so that there is enough room around it for a safe cut. It also gives some examples of settings that may work for you to etch and cut materials.

The Epilog Laser Legend 24 T has a cutting bed of 12" by 24" 0r 304.8mm by 609.6mm. You will need to make your design smaller than the cutting bed.

Here is the Hello sign workflow.

http://dhsfab.pbwiki.com/HelloSign

This was originally posted at http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/MIT/863.06/people/anna/MiniMill.html .

from Neil Gershenfeld's How to Build Almost Anything class

The objective of this project is to develop circuit boards quickly and cheaply (less than $1) without the use of etching chemicles common in today's PCB fabrication processes.