For this press-fit box assignment, I began by setting the bed height and cutting a test box with the settings 37-100-50 on the M2. There were no flames, so I proceeded to the kerf box. I used the file provided in Canvas to cut out the box, then calculated the kerf and got a value of ~0.008. I also took a moment to measure the thickness of my wood, for which I got a value of 0.169. 

Then, I put my numbers into MakerCase to get the box sides. I chose 4” for the edge lengths and set the tab sizes to 0.75.” Once I got my box pattern, I opened the file in Adobe Illustrator and separated two of the sides from the rest to test the fit. I cut out those two blank in case there were any issues, but they fit perfectly, so I proceeded to cut out the rest of them with engraving on them. I used 40-40 for speed and power on the engraved parts.

I did a dry run before I cut out each pair of sides to make sure it would do both the engraving and cutting properly. Luckily, everything ran smoothly, and I didn’t have to redo anything! 

After all my sides were cut, I pressed them together! They fit very snugly.

Cost:

• Labor: 2hrs x $7.25 = $14.50
• 3/16” thick plywood: $12.89 for 2’x4’ on Home Depot
• Equipment: the Harris County Public Library offers free laser cutter usage and orientation classes so $0

Total cost = $27.39

Here is my clean workspace by the way.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this project. There are so many things you can do with laser cutting/engraving, and this little peek into the possibilities has me absolutely hyped for the midterm project!