The goal of this assignment was to design and cut a box using the laser cutter. I used https://makeabox.io/ to create my file for my laser cut box. The dimensions of my box was 7in x 5in x7 in. I used a kerf of 0.01. After I made my file, I wrote my name, class, and date on the file in Illustrator for the laser cutter to raster on the box. Since the file I got from makeabox included a top side to the box, I had to edit and remove the finger joints on the top of the box in Illustrator because I wanted my box to be open.

At first, the laser cutting process was going very smoothly for me. However, after finishing the run, the laser cutter went back and started to vector cut my name after it had already cut it, as seen in the picture below.

A good amount of the box was also not cut all the way through, causing the wood to chip after trying to pull out the pieces. Although the finger joints lined up very well and tightly, the box aesthetically was unpleasing because of the charred edges and the messed up name label.

After a few days had passed, the laser cutter was cleaned. After fixing some settings in illustrator so my name didn’t get vector cut again, I decided to try again. I also added a picture of a saxophone to add some personal flare to my box.

As you can see, my second box turned out much better than the first. The finger joints once again fit together very tightly, and the raster turned out smooth and clean. There were some sections of the box that got chipped from the laser cutter once again failing to cut through the wood all the way. However, it was definitely not as noticeable as the first time around. I used a setting of 3 speed, 100 power, and 10 frequency for vector cutting, and 100 power, 80 speed for rastering. I learned that the laser cutter can be inconsistent sometimes, especially if the wood you are using is warped, and that there is some trial and error required to find the right settings. Overall, I am happy with how my laser cut box turned out.

Cost Analysis:

2 1/8″ thick 24″ x 32″ sheets of plywood from the OEDK = $10

Laser cutter machine time (30 mins at $12.73/hour) = $6.37

https://fsmdirect.com/cutting/laser-cutting/75-co2-versus-fiber-laser-cost-to-cut-a-part

Labor time (3 hours at $12/hr) = $36

Total: $52.37