I started off this project by laser printing the kerf testing box.

Using the digital caliper, I measured the total kerf to be 0.1″ (or 0.01″ per cut). I set up my box using the makercase website. I set the dimensions of the box to be 4″x4″x4″. I measured the material thickness to be 0.186″ and set the finger size to 0.58125″. I printed out a small box to test my choice of using 35% speed, 100% power, and 10% frequency for the vector cuts.

After adding my name and the baker logo to the box, I laser printed my (spoiler alert) first attempt at the box. After removing the box from the laser cutter, I had to pry some of the pieces from the board because they were not fully cut out. Then, when I tried to fit the pieces together, they would not fit.

In order to account for these issues, I set the speed of the vector cuts to 30% and changed the kerf to be 0.0094″. In order to avoid printing the whole box and having serious issues again, I printed just two sides of the box to check that the kerf was accurate this time. After a success print of those two sides, I reprinted the whole box using my new settings. The kerf must have been slightly inaccurate still because some of the pieces would only fit together after a light sanding and an arm workout, but I was able to assemble my box.

Overall, I really enjoyed using the laser printer even though finding the correct kerf was challenging. I love that you can produce intricate designs will minimal effort from the user.

Here is my cleaned workspace:

Cost Analysis:

Wood: $5.48 (according to home depot)

Labor: 2 hrs at $12/hr: $24

Laser Cutter: 2 hrs at $30/hr: $60

Total Cost: $89.48

In the future, the cost for this project would be significantly reduced because with more experience working with the laser cutter, I would have been able to print the box correctly the first time (saving materials and time).