Laser Cut://

Went down to the woodwork department the other day to get an induction on using the laser cut machine. This was relevant to my research into design for print as it is an area of design that I've always wanted to look into. Also the cover of my ninja catalogue needs to be negative embossed so I needed to get the 'plate' cut out that I could use to emboss with.

Aswell as teaching us how to use the laser cutter, there were quite few examples showing us the type of things and quality that it could produce://


This intricate design demonstrates the small detail and accuracy that can be produced, aswell as it being able to cut through 2mm acrylic sheets.


One thing I didn't know about what that even images can be engraved onto a surface. There were quite detailed settings to the cutter, that can be adjusted depending on the stock, and what kind of quality you're trying to achieve. This one in particular was set to a high laser velocity, which makes the image quite dark with a fairly deep cut into the stock, creating an almost 3D texture to it.


The machine can cut pretty much any material that can fit under it except, metals and any direct mirrored surface as this would bounce the laser back and potential burn through the machine itself. Rubber was one that was not recommended eventhough it can cut through it due to the toxic fumes of burning into rubber. The example above shows a negative image that has been engrave onto a piece of wood, which would act as a stamp.



A plate showing examples of the different preset cutting settings.