Another box?!

We just made a box, but we’re back with another-laser cut edition!

I was a complete beginner on laser cutting, so this was a pretty fun experience for me to figure out how to laser cut. I downloaded a makeabox.io pdf for 2 1x1x1 boxes to test how big of a kerf is ideal. I used their recommended setting first which sets the kerf at 0.0024 inches, which ended up with a box too loose. So I looked around the OEDK and found the example box on the wall behind the printer-it said to use a 0.0125 inch kerf. I tried this, but it ended up being so tight that I snapped some of the fingers trying to assemble it. I decided that somewhere in between the two kerf values would be ideal, and settled for 0.006 inches.

I also tested for what speed to use to make the best cut with small test boxes I made in Adobe Illustrator with the Rectangle Tool. I tried 4, which didn’t end up cutting through, so I tried 3, which ended up working perfectly.

Next, I moved on to doing the actual box. Using makeabox.io again, I made a 5x5x5 box with 1/4th inch thickness and a 0.006 inch kerf. I uploaded that pdf to Adobe Illustrator, then went a bit ham on decorating all sides of my box with cool things! I used thenounproject.com to find all of the shapes except for the McMurtry Yurt, which I found on Google Images.

I assembled my box, and here’s the final product! My favorite side is definitely the Yurt. Go Murt!:)

The total cost for this assignment would be about $37, assuming I had free access to Adobe Illustrator as well as the Epilog Laser Cutter. Adobe Illustrator costs $21/month normally.

Labor: 4 hours*$8 wage=$32

Cost of 32-24-1/4″plywood sheet: $5

 

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