Learning how to laser cut on the machines was super fun. I didn’t really have trouble with Adobe Illustrator, as I’ve used other Adobe programs before such as InDesign and Photoshop. I think the main thing that I struggled with for this project was figuring out the kerf. I did the kerf test and it was about 0.00054 inches. I tested a myriad of different kerfs, from 0.013 , 0.0095, 0.007, and 0.004 inches. You can see the many different tests that were done for the kerf. I started getting closer around 0.005 inches where I was actually able to slide the finger joints together. I tried to get a better fit with 0.004 inch kerf, however that was too loose. I finally tested 0.0045 kerf, and that fit well where it was snug but not too snug.

When I finally lasercutted the box, as it was cutting I realized that the outline for the Martel logo was a vector. There was one portion of the outline that wasn’t cut, so the logo stayed attached to the box. I used comic sans text for my name, ENGI 120, Spring 2024, and the date because I really like comic sans.

It was a small struggle to get the box together, as it had to align perfectly with all four sides.

Here are my before and after clean work spaces.

My materials would have been about $7 for the area I used (home depot for 1/4 inch wooden board). The machine is about $300, but we will say that I used it about 12 times, so that would be about $25 per use. For just the box, then it would be $25. For labor, Texas minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, but let’s say that the boss is generous and gives me a whopping $9 per hour, and I spent about 4 hours on it; that would be $36 for those hours. The total cost will be $58!