4. Laser Cutting¶
Lasers are used for many purposes. One way they are used is for cutting metal plates. On mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminum plate, the laser cutting process is highly accurate, yields excellent cut quality, has a very small kerf width and small heat affect zone, and makes it possible to cut very intricate shapes and small holes. There are many laser cutting types such as CO2 laser cutting and vinyl laser cutting. Each process has a different type of machine.
CO2 Laser Cutting Work¶
In order to do a CO2 laser cutting design you have to keep in mind that your design is parametric. which means that the dimensions are parametric. the type of the laser cutting parts we are going to do is press fitting. The idea for the press-fit is to design an object part that can be assembled in many ways. The functionality of the design is the key to this assignment. So I have started to look up for different design inspirations. 
By this I have picked up to replicate the design of the light fixture; the one down to the right.
Design¶
The design should be a 2D design, where this 2D deign then converted by the laser cutting software into reality. the dimensions of the cardboard has a thickness of about 1.15 mm. the width and the length are shown in the following picture 
. My design consists of three main parts named as: Upper ring, lower ring, lamp part. All these parts are shown in the following drawing.
Parameters change¶
To change the parameters of the design we selected the orange line shown in the picture of the design to be parametric, to change the thickness to the desired fitted thickness to join the parts together and be fitted.
So while having the test to see the preferable thickness of material. As shown in the following pictures: a two blade design made to see the perfect fit of the joint in the selected work material.
By this, I have found that the perfect joint is with a thickness of 0.55mm shown in the pictures. After checking the perfect fit for our design we change the value of this dimension in the parametric table as stated in the following picture. Where the previous highlighted line in orange is
Using INVENTOR, the parametric table is located on Manage>Parameters. You add a user parameter named as you select, then type the value that you want to change to; my design had a thickness of 1.15mm and my desired value is 0.55mm. To change this then we go to the sketch and tap the dimension tap, select the line you want to change by writing the name you select as the user parameters named after, which in my case is thickness. The following picture demonstrates part of the steps.
This operation is done for each part in my design.
Setting the Machine¶
After completing the parametric design of the light fixture parts, I have set the machine to my desired speed and power which will be responsible to run the machine with the working piece material. There are no specific or perfect operations variables to be considered as each one of us cut the piece to his or her desire. In the following picture you can see the speed and power that I have chose to perform the design, and this parameters were suitable to perform the cutting operation perfectly.
Cutting the Parts¶
On the following picture you can see my parts that are already cut by the laser machine. 
Problems¶
Some of the problems I have faces is some of the fitting of each piece was burnt in order to solve this problem I have to have less power percentage to the machine. Thus, the feed rate of the laser could be constant while changing the other parameter. In order to compare each cut to the other. When I have done the design on the fitting piece I have not noticed this issue that’s why I took the step into doing some of the pieces, the burnt have been shown in some only, that’s explains the dirty hands I have while assembling the project. As shown in the final assembly heading below.
Assembling the Parts¶
I have assembled the parts as one of many assembling ideas. the following pictures document the process of assembling the parts. 
Vinyl Laser cutting¶
Which is the other type besides the CO2 laser cutting. The vinyl cutting in definition is a type of computer-controlled machine. Small vinyl cutters look like a desktop printer. Like a printer controls a nozzle, the computer controls the movement of a sharp blade over the surface of the material. This blade is used to cut out shapes and letters from sheets of thin self-adhesive plastic (vinyl). The vinyl can then be stuck to a variety of surfaces depending on the adhesive and type of material.
Procedure¶
The procedure to do the vinyl cutting is very simple. The detailed steps followed to do the procedure is linked on the group assignment as we did it in one group. Thus, moving to the application of the vinyl cutting; first I have designed a 2D design through Inkscape. There are many software were you can choose from in order to do your 2D design as I discussed previously.
Steps¶
Steps after doing the design in Inkscape as shown in the following picture. I have added a “N” letter in the Mercedes logo.
Open the program which is linked to the printer used. The program called as “circuit Laser Design Space”.
The following steps show the step-by-step procedure in order to print the design.
Upload the picture
Then click on cut image
We choose the basic cut
Place the design on the left of the canvas
To make the cut, set the machine as followed
Final Product¶
I have decided to put my design on my laptop as shown in the following picture.
