For this homework, I decided to add to the prototyping library instead of creating a box. I have been interested in the items in the prototyping library since I saw it, so I thought I’d make some of my own. My initial choices were the 1D hinge and the Raster, as I wanted to improve my engraving skills and see how I could make mechanisms like a hinge out of wood.

Image 1: Setting up wood

First, I found some wood and set up the Epilog Fusion Pro lasercutter. I am more familiar with the M2, so I used this one for a bit more of a challenge. I set the bed level and home position, and measured the wood for later. I also oriented it to give myself a clear edge to start with.

Then, I downloaded the files from the prototyping library website and edited them to match what I wanted to do. First, I cut out a few small rectangles to confirm the settings that the TA’s found were correct for the Epilog Fusion Pro. I started with 55s, 40p, and 50f, going for 4 cycles. I didn’t see any fire, but the piece had more laser burn on the edges than I would’ve liked. Since it was cutting over four times to prevent fires, the laser was leaving behind vary dark lines anywhere it cut. I tried a few more settings, turning the power down and then turning the speed up, but most of them looked the same.

Image 2: Tests of vector settings

In the end, I ended up choosing 55s, 35p, and 50f for 4 cycles as my vector setting. I waited till later to test raster settings, and used 50p, 100s, and 600dpi for my hinge. To the right I have an image of two of my test cuts.

For the 1D hinge, I started by changing the settings on the file to make sure it could cut properly. This included setting the different line strokes and colors. I also redid the text to match the settings, laser, and wood I was using. I also adjusted the positioning and size of the lines. The first time I attempted to cut it, I messed up the file a bit in the print settings and ended up cutting over my engraved words. An image is below.

Image 3: Messed up hinge cut

I adjusted my file again and cut it out. It worked pretty well. My only complaint is that cutting over wood 4 times means that there is a lot of laser burn, so the center part where the hinge lines are cut out over and over ended up being very dark. While it is a bit annoying, it didn’t affect the functionality of the cut or the engraving, so I was happy with it.

Image 4: 1D hinge file

The cut had some wood chipping off the edge, so I sanded the edges slightly with 120 grit sandpaper. I think this helped it look a lot cleaner as well. I thought my second hinge cut would get messed up, because when it cut, it cut the outer square out first and the wood piece fell down onto the bed. I’ve put a picture of what I am describing below. It’s not super easy to see, but the hinge square piece is below the rest of the wood.

Image 5: Second hinge cut falling through wood

It continued cutting the inner hinge lines after that, and I thought they would be worse than the first piece due to the part falling, but it was actually pretty clean. These two pieces were also super fun to mess with just because they bend and stretch. Now that I had cut out my two hinges, I moved on to cut my raster pieces.

Image 6: Completed Hinge piece

For the raster piece, since I had not engraved any images before, I started by using the one from the prototyping library website.

Image 7: Raster image file

]I simply checked the settings and printed it to engrave. However, it didn’t quite engrave the image. The words engraved fine, but the image didn’t really engrave. The laser just kind of engraved a whole square out. This is where I ran into a few issues with my laser cutting homework. I couldn’t really figure out why it wasn’t engraving the image and why it was just engraving a filled in square.

Image 8: Raster image attempt

I tried making the image a path with the Image Trace tool, which I’d used to trace logos for my metal cutting project. I also tried changing the stroke and fill of it. I did some research and didn’t find much either. I also couldn’t find any lab assistants or TA’s in the OEDK at this time of day, so I decided I would try a few things myself and move on if needed. I decided to try a different image and see if it gave the same result. I pulled up an image of an album I like and pasted that into Adobe. I used the image trace on this image as well, and set it as a High Fidelity Image. I thought it would be a pretty cool image if it was engraved (for any interested, the name of the album is Clancy and its by Twenty One Pilots). I printed this image with my text and it worked a bit better. It’s very hard to see in the image, but running my finger over the piece, I could feel that it had engraved a bit more in areas where there was shading.

Image 9: Album image raster

I wasn’t sure why it wasn’t making the image darker, so I checked some raster pieces in the laser cutter room to see if they listed any settings or how dark the images were. Some of them had a setting called “Brighten” dither listed on them. I did some research on dithering, and then changed the different dithering options in the Epilog settings. These also didn’t make any difference. At this point, I was getting close to spending 2 hours on this project, so I decided to try a different prototyping library item. I hope I can get more raster experience in the future, maybe with the help of a lab tech. I think some of the images that the lasercutter makes are super cool, and I’d love to use them to make some cool things.

Since the raster didn’t work out, I decided to try out vector cutting settings. I downloaded the prototyping library file for vector cutting and set it up to try multiple different power settings on the lasercutter. Since the TA’s told us to try values between 35 and 45 for power, I decided to make a vector cutting test square with those values. I went from 25-50, including a few values outside of the 35-45 range to see if some of the lines wouldn’t cut all the way through. I only had one value above 45, as I didn’t want to burn anything down.

Image 10: Small vector test cut

I edited the file with different percentage values and new text. In the print settings, I assigned each line the correct settings. My first cut for this was way too small, and the percentage engravings were not visible.

I sized the cut up and spread out my lines a little bit to make sure each cut and each percentage was visible. Once I had my new file ready, I cut out the square and it worked great. I filed this one down as well. I cut out the second one with the exact same settings, moved slightly over, and it was even better than the first. This piece was interesting to look at because on the back, you could see which settings didn’t cut through, which cut through nicely, and which really burned out a whole bunch of wood. Below is an image of my two finished vector pieces.

Image 11: Finished vector cut tests

Finally, I cleaned up my work area, which was just the laser cutting computer. I have included an image below.

Image 12: Clean Workspace

For this project, I used up part of a sheet of wood, the laser cutter, and two hours of my time. In terms of materials, this project is very simple, and it is pretty cheap in terms of cost.  Overall, this project costed $17.83 and 2 hours of machine time. I have included a cost analysis below, with the cost of the plywood coming from Amazon.

Overall, this project was pretty fun, and I feel like I have contributed to the lasting legacy of the prototyping library. It was cool to explore a few different ways the laser cutter can be used besides just cutting, and I’d love to do more with this in the future, whether it be engraving on different surfaces, engraving complicated images, or making mechanical models with only laser cut mechanisms such as the hinge.