Lasers and Knives

Refer to Notes and Protocols for how to use the machines.

Vinyl Cutter:

After playing around with bitmap images from the internet, I decided to try to design my own sticker I have a few scratches on my laptop, so I made some bandages to cover them up. I used OnShape to CAD up a simple bandage desgin. After exporting as a .dxf and I had some difficulties with trying to open it in Inkscape. I think it was because I didn't have the appropriate plugin to work with .dxf files. I couldn't find one that I liked, so I converted the .dxf file to an .svg file using an online converter. I was then able to open it in Inkscape and saved it as a .png that mods was able to use on the laser cutter. I ended up transferring to MS Paint to fill the background of the object (I am an Inkscape noobie, in case that wasn't clear). It was able to cut with relatively few problems.

The first sticker didn't come out exactly as I had hoped. Because the image ended at the edge of the outline, the vinyl cutter didn't actually cut out the parts that were touching the edge of the image. After adding a border around the image, I was able to cut multiple bandage stickers from scraps of vinyl. In the end, I had a some of the bandage stickers in each color.

Laser Cutter:

I made a simple design, again in OnShape as a parametric design, and saved it as a .dxf. I was able to open it in Rhino and cut it out of cardboard. I adjusted for the kerf by making the width of the cardboard 3.7 mm in the design even though the carboard is actually closer to 4mm. The results was a pretty snug fit. But in my design, I forgot to account for the perpendicular direction. I will revise that for the next version!