Individual Laser Cutting/Engraving Project
The first laser cutting project I worked on was the water bottle. I had to fit into a 5.5 inch by 9 inch canvas on Illustrator. I decided to put a hawk on it, and my last name, Hauke, above the hawk. I planned on making this for my dad, and giving it to him for a present. I found an image of a hawk, and saved it on my computer so I could place it in Illustrator. I added the text, and my first project design was done.
The next project was my 3-D object from Thingiverse. After searching the site for a few minutes, I found some files for two 3-D laser cut cats. I choose to make these cats, so I downloaded the files, and opened them in Illustrator. However, they were not together, so I had to merge the files together. Then I had to change the outlines to red, and the line thickness to 0.0001. The second design was done.
My last project was my notebook covers. This project I would give to my mom for a present. I decided to find some nature themed images, like a marsh and some birds flying. I then put Hauke above the birds again, like I did with the water bottle I decided put the birds in red outline, and changed the line thickness to 0.0001 again. The rest of the design(the marsh and the lettering) would just be engraved into the matboard. The back would be almost identical to the front, but the birds in different positions and no lettering. I made sure the notebook covers would also be cut out, and with that, I was ready to start making my projects.
After I downloaded all of the files to my flash drive, I started on laser cutting my cats out. Putting the flashdrive into the laptop, I set everything up, put in the cardboard piece, and hit the green button. However, it didn't take long for the cardboard to ignite into flames. I rushed it into the sink, and decided to got and make the cats larger so the heat would be more spread out. It worked this time, and the pieces were cut out in no time. I gathered up the pieces and put them together. The end product was well done!
The next project I cut out was my notebook covers. Luckily, the matboard didn't burst into flames, as I was afraid it might. Like with the cats, it didn't take for the covers to be done. Next I measured the sheets of paper and cut them out using a large cutting board. Then I took my sheets of paper over to a hole puncher, and got them punched. Lastly, I threaded the spiral spine through.
The water bottle was the last project that I needed to work on. The rotational jig had to be in place, so the water bottle could rotate while being engraved. I put the metal water bottle in, set up the files, and watched it go. It took a bit longer that the other projects, but not too long. Once that was done, I had completed all of my rotations.
I learned how to engrave and cut different materials with lasers and use the rotational jig. I also learned how to use the hole puncher and a paper cutter. I never knew that some many things could be engraved and cut with lasers!