For this project, I decided to do the beginner level as I had no laser cutting experience prior to this class. 

I began by taping my wood so that there would be less charring from the laser. I then cut a 1x1in square in the corner to ensure that the settings I used for the laser cutter were correct for my wood. Next, I cut a kerf box to work out the kerf of the laser. I measured it be to around 0.01in but decided to use 0.007in as the successful template box used that and I wanted to ensure that the pieces fit together tightly.

I measured the thickness of my wood to be 0.196in and used that along with the kerf of the laser to use Makercase to create the drawings for my box. 

I then used Adobe Illustrator to format them further, add text and my college crest. 

I was planning on cutting two of the sides first to ensure that the kerf that I had selected was correct but once I had cut them I realized that I had not checked that they were two of the sides that connected together! This was when I learned my first lesson! I should have cut one more side to check that they fit together but I cut the other four and then realized that I got the kerf completely wrong.

I entered in the kerf into the box maker website wrong by 1 decimal point (0.07 instead of 0.007) resulting in the kerf being way overcompensated for and my pieces didn’t fit together. 

Another mistake that I made was setting both the stroke and the fill to black for the engraving of my name. This resulted in my name being both engraved and cut. I learnt that for engraving I should only set the fill color and for cutting only set the stroke. To prevent making this mistake again I noticed that I could check what was being engraved and vectored in the preprint settings.

I learnt from my mistakes, adjusted the kerf to 0.007in instead of 0.07in and fixed the stroke and fill. I printed two pieces that would join together to ensure that the kerf was correct and once I had verified that they fit I printed the other four sides.

I press-fit the box together and took off the tape.

Cost of Production 

The material cost comes from the plywood at around $25.78 for 1/5″x4ftx8ft from Home Depot. The board we were given was 24″x24″ and I used 2/3s of it giving the cost of my wood used to be $2.15.

I spent 2.5 hours working on this project including the design and fabrication time which brings labor costs to a total of $37.50 at the rate of $15/hr. In the future I would hope that I could do this a lot quicker now that I have learnt so much.

Total Cost of Production: $39.65