PROCESS

To fabricate a laser-cut box, I used makeabox.io to create the Adobe Illustrator file, setting the tab width to 0.25 and the kerf to 0.008 for an initial trial run. I added my name and class information to the bottom face of the file, and an image of Lovett Hall for the top face of the file. There wasn’t a large enough section of the wood to print all six faces together, so I sent an image of just the top face of the box to the laser cutter and used the jog tool to set the laser to a 4.5” by 4.5” inch space. I set the laser cutter to the following engraving/cut settings and started the print.

 

 

 

 

 

However, despite the laser cutter making its motions, nothing was engraved or cut. I sent the image to the printer again and began the print once more, but nothing was printing the second time either. I paused the print halfway through, opened the lid, pushed down hard on the right edge when closing it, and restarted the print. It then began engraving and cutting the piece out, leaving a half-engraved piece.

   

There were 8-9 tabs along the edges of the piece, which seemed like they would make assembly difficult, so I readjusted the tab width to 0.5. Because the initial image of Lovett Hall was very zoomed out, I also decided to try a new, more close-up image of the hall, and changed the engraving settings to match some that were on the wall of the laser cutter room. This time, I was happy with the print.

I printed one of the side pieces next, and ensured that the two pieces fit together. Then, I printed the remaining four faces one by one, with help from Almudena to determine the locations of the laser pointer for each.

When assembling, the top and bottom face seemed like they would fit better if they were upside-down, with the engravings facing the inside of the box. This didn’t seem to be an issue with the kerf but rather with the design of the box or the way it was assembled together. I pushed the pieces together as well as I could, but there is a slight gap in the bottom face of the box.

Here is the completed product!

DIFFICULTIES AND EXCESS TIME SPENT

The main difficulties were getting the laser cutter to work properly and choosing different open areas of wood to print on. Also, getting the top and bottom pieces to fit into the sides was very difficult, especially because it seemed as though they would fit very smoothly in an upside-down orientation. If I were to repeat the process, I would use one piece of wood with enough open space to print all six faces at once, and try putting them together again. If that did not work, I would potentially use a different program than makeabox.io that would create a box that would fit together better.

COST

• Machines/Equipment
  • Laser cutter rental 1 hour at $25/hour: $25
• Materials
  • Plywood: $3
• Labor
  • 1.5 hours at $15/hour: $22.50

Total: $50.50

For the other projects, labor was the most expensive component of the cost, but in this case, it is using the laser cutter. This high cost is offset by the speed of the machine. If the perfect settings are known from the beginning and the laser cutter does not behave weirdly, this box could be cut within 5 minutes, reducing the machine cost to around $2.