Design

For this assignment, I decided to do the beginner version, as I was low on time. I went on makeabox.io, and put in some dimensions that appealed to me (a flat box felt cooler than a square one). Once I had my auto-generated design, I added the engravings I wanted, and sent it to the laser cutter computer.

cutting

The suggested wood settings for the laser cutter were not quite right. I think the power was too strong, as the wood was literally catching fire every couple seconds, and the speed was probably too high, since my first pass didn’t cut all the way through. I did another pass. Then, as I was assembling, I realized that makeabox had done me dirty. Two of the sides had fewer tabs then the rest, and didn’t fit right. I had to recut those sides. Unfortunately, the kerf I used was also too big (0.0024), even though it was the same one that a classmate had used successfully. I had run out of wood at this point, so I had to resort to adding some tape to keep it together. I ended up liking the taped edges better than the burnt wood look so I added tape to all the edges.

cost analysis

Machine upkeep: At $0.15 an hour, this box cost $0.30 of machine upkeep.

Wood: I used about half a sheet of 3/16 inch wood, or $2.25 of wood.

Labor: This project took me about 2.5 hours, and at my rate of $21 an hour, $52.50

Total: $2.55 before labor, $55.05 after