9 layers cut out of 3mm ply. Design puchased on Etsy for 5 or 7 pounds. My thoughts and findings:
there is a substantial variability from one sheet of ply to another… some are actually 2.7 or I think 2.5 mm. Also the density is different… so that led to some experimentation.
there was quite some warp in some of these pieces which caused some issues, but I could pick the best ones, and hopefully the others will straighten out w/ the weight.
kept experimenting w/ the cut speed… considering how thin the piece was, I think even at speed 1.5 it was cutting ok… but JUST barely (at that speed some of the pieces didn’t fall right out, they had to be pushed… but almost all of them took no force at all to push out). I think that’s probably the top speed for (this version of) 3mm ply.
using Ruby, the laser disconnected several times… we tried the old pull the USB cable out, but that only worked sometimes. Turning the laser AND the laptop off and on seemed to work all the time.
My experience of purchasing materials through the shop was pleasant. A bit annoying not to be able to select how many sheets of ply I used at the time of adding to my basket, but not the end of the world.
That’s all I can think of for now. Thanks to @Brendon_Hatcher and super thanks to @asander1 & @Julia for spending hours w/ me at night sorting this out!
Not bad for a “first” session. The last thing to say is that I had an absolute blast… this machine is soooo fun!
Yes, when we buy the laser ply from SLEC the variance on thickness at the smaller thicknesses is significant, not sure much can be done and some warp on the sheets causes some laser focus issues but we could maybe look at some sort of metal frame to ‘pin’ the sheet to the bed to avoid the warp issues.
I know @petra is aware of this and has some ideas for clamping the sheets to the bed so I’m sure we can come up with a solution? Maybe the metal techs could make a low profile frame that holds the material flat? It is only an issue over larger areas, once cut not a problem…
I suppose the answer is some sort of low profile edge clamping that does not interfere with head movement or too much loss of usable area, I’ve had issues with ply deliveries mostly in terms of warp but with the right inventiveness I think we can mitigate this?
Regarding your thingie being simplistic and mine fancy… there’s one difference. I didn’t make this design, I bought it! Yours is still amazing. Hey… actually… just thinking out loud here, what stops us from taking your design and offsetting it a few mm once, and then a few more mm a second time, and thus creating a 3-layer version of each tile? I think it would look amazing! I’d be happy to give it a whirl if u wanna give me one of your tile files. (oh… thinking about it… it may not let enough light through… hrm. Let’s see!)
Regarding the warping, yeah a low-profile frame sounds like just the ticket. Agree that once cut it’s not a problem. The low profile is the thing that worries me… I was thinking of maybe drilling holes, and driving 4 flush bolts through and attaching it at the bottom under the honeycomb somehow, which solves the low-profile problem, but then the laser will definitely hit whatever we put under which could be unsafe. We could just have a small washer/wingnuts hold it down, but it would be annoying to reach under the honeycomb and tighten everytime. Also, this method kind of sacrifices a lot of material because you’d have to avoid the bolt by some safe margin… actually you’d have to avoid the washer underneath + safe margin… kind of loses a lot of surface. Dunno.
Yeah, it could be quite nice to layer some of my designs maybe 3-deep and in 2mm so only total of 6mm (ish)
Might give that a go at some point or send you the Illustrator files for you to have a play? I’ve not done anything on the laser cutter for a while so maybe I’ll book a session some time and we can experiment?
In terms of the warping, I might be over-thinking this a bit but a variation on the u-clip approach that Petra mentioned could be made in metal to be usable by anyone?
I guess if it’s possible to get something to slip under the bed and over the top like half of photo here which are door hangers for clothes then that could work and not block too much usable space, or…
or if we could fasten anything to the bed frame at all then we could have rotatable spring clips something like the next photo which would sit flat out of the way but could be turned inward to press on points to apply pressure to remove a warp maybe?
Wow this is absolutely stunning.
Is it still in the space? I’d love to see it in real life, and I should be around this week.
I’ve not yet made anything with a laser cutter that layers like this.
No, it’s not in the space, but I was thinking of bringing it in. I still haven’t glued it because I was studying how the offsets were designed. I guess I can bring it some night this week? I can wait for the glue.
By the way, which supplies did you use for the mandala because we didn’t have an 2mm ply in stock afaik and 3mm stock is still showing same amount we had the other day I think?
I’m not checking up on payment but just working out if we need to replenish any more laser ply stocks for when I create a new order?
Ideally if stock is used it’s best if paid for via the online shop but of course some people just put cash in the honesty box?
