Laser Cutter/Background
Contents
Introduction
What can you cut?
With a < 100 Watt LC, you can cut pretty much anything but metal sheet, and you can mark many kinds of metal sheet, if you muck around with coatings and masks and etching agents.
Via lasercuttinginc.us:
- Materials we Laser Cut:
- Acrylic (Plexiglass, Lucite)
- PETG
- ABS
- Nylon
- Expanded PVC (Sintra, Celtec)
- Polycarbonates (Lexan)
- Polyester (mylar)
- Wood (solid & plywood)
- MDF Medium Density File Board
- Laminates (Formica)
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Textile Fabric (Cloth)
- Rubber (neoprene & silicon)
- Acmetal, (Delrin, Celcon etc.)
- Depron
- Fluoropolymers (thin gauges)
- Fiberglass
- Kapton
- Linoleum
- Silicone Bonded Mica
- Polyethylene
- Polypropylene
- Polyurethane
http://www.lasercuttinginc.us/index.php/services/lasercut
What can't you cut?
Metal. Shops use a >400-600W laser to cut stainless steel and so on. Hypothetically, you might be able paint a metal sheet with a mask and burn of the mask where you want cut lines, and then electrochemically etch the metal, but it's tedious. Model railway folk do this all the time with conventional masks and photolithography. Fab lab folk have done similar work with etchants and pcb (printed circuit boards - copper plated fiberglass) but this is a cheesy hack as there are better ways to do it.
Who makes them?
Chinese White Box
Epilog
Kern
What Can You Make
Jewelry
n-e-r-v-o-u-s
Material industrial wool felt and silicone
These bracelets and necklaces would be tricky to fabricate in small quantities using another technology. Even a craft knife would probably give crappy toolmarks and finish. As such, I regard these works as some of the best motivation for purchasing these tools.
Design concept: generative art-yay! Aesthetics: meh.
- http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20080415/organically-grown
- http://www.n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/shop/product_tags.php?tag=silicone rubber
- http://www.n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/shop/product_tags.php?tag=wool
More Etsy stuff
Paper
Cupcake wrappers, etsy - beautiful
- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35059401
- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35336549
Boxes
Plywood boxes
Acrylic Boxes
- http://www.curiousinventor.com/blog/27
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Designing_for_Ponoko_Laser_Cutting_with_SketchUp
Lamps
Acrylic sheet
Polygon made from HDPE or Acetal (delrin) sheet
This is a direct (and acknowledged) copy of:
Body Modification
Human skin in vivo - LC (quasi?temporary Tattoo)
airbrush temporary tattoo with LC stencil
Stencils
Acrylic sheet (etched, although it could be LC cut as well)
(Note: Try using the 'autopager' extension for the instructables website.)
Sticker
On Laptop
Mechanisms
Fabricative
Locomotive (Strandbeast)
Timepieces
Gear Trains
Power Transmission
Robotics
Clothing
Wallpaper
Again, a triumph of concept over aesthetic.
- http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20050816/wearing-your-wallpaper-to-work
- http://www.pelloverton.com/
Architectural models
Victorian Doll House Birch plywood Laser Cut Kit 2
20" high, cut from 1/8" baltic birch, selling on etsy for $88. This might be a little pedestrian, but a kid would love it, and I think it has charm. Aside from LC, it would have to be die cut or scroll saw cut. From a fabricator's perspective, after doing quite a bit of work on the design, it is now very easy to make multiples and changes.
- http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=vl_other_1&listing_id=37183106
- http://www.andrewblum.net/typepad/2006/07/behind_the_curt.html
Structures
Dome
Plywood dome, 6' tall, 6' wide, cut on 32" x 18" LC, designed in Grasshopper (Rhino)
