Week 2: Project Management and Cutting

Fabrication techniques and parametric design

Week 2: Project Management and Cutting

Vinyl Cutting Assignment

Here is black and white image of a cute cat from studio ghibli. I used the vinyl cutting machine.



Laser Cutting Assignment

Individual Assignment

I made a modular shelving kit that you can reassemble. The kit is composed of 2 main shapes, hexagons and rectangles. Here is the Fusion 360 CAD.

Laser Cutting Measurements

The kerf for the laser cutting machine was measured by subtracting the measured of the indent after laser cutting to the one set in the dxf file, shown above. The kerf is 0.3429 mm.


Here are some images of my parametric construction kit prior to cutting. In my design, understanding the kerf of the laser cut machine was important since my construction kit consisted of joints that needed to fit exactly together. I considered the kerf by making the cuts slightly larger than the carboard width (1/4").

The shelfs are for displaying small figurines, like these Totoro paperweights!



Group Assignment

For the group assignment we learned the following:

  • Power - 100%
  • Speed - 16%
  • Kerf - ~.34mm
  • Types Cut or Engrave
  • Focus Z axis of the laser is ~1.1in