25th September, Laser cut and Stencils, Fonts and Images

25th September, Laser cut and Stencils, Fonts and Images

Researching laser cutting

We will be following….

-       The design process
-       Technical process
-       Materials aspect

The laser cutting process

-       Laser cutting is a precise method of cutting a design from a given material using a CAD file to guide it
-       3 main types of lasers are used in the industry, C02 lasers, Nd and Nd-YAG
-       C02 machines involve firing a laser which cuts by melting, burning or vaporizing the material. This achieves a fine level of cutting detail on a wide variety of materials. C02 lasers can’t cut metals and hard materials but they can engrave them.

Laser head and tolerance

-       The beam is emitted from the ‘laser tube’ and is reflected by mirrors into the ‘laser head’
-       Within the ‘laser head’ is a lens that finely focuses the beam onto the material surface for cutting or engraving
-       The kerf refers to how much of the material the laser takes away when cutting through. This varies from material to material and is also dependent on the laser beam tolerance.

The design process

Step 1: Preparation of Artwork

The design is made and sent over to the cutters, they will then check the design to make sure the machine is able to cut it. The machine will read vector strokes of hairline thickness in red or as thin as the customer makes them.

Step 2: Laser cutter settings configured
The chosen material is laid in the machine bed and the machine is configured to cut the artwork. The Power, Speed and Frequency is adjusted to suit the specific material. Cutlasercut have 3 laser cutters with the possibility of cutting something as large as 2400mm x 1200mm.

Step 3: Job is processed
The machine then follows the path of the drawing strokes within the design to cut out the different components. Depending on what material is being cut they will use a protective backing that will prevent any burn or heat marks being made.
Designing the artwork
-       The printers require vector files compiled on drawing editing software, once the design is made it will need to be set up to meet specific requirements. Guides are given on how do to this through their website.
-       The programmes that are used are Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD, CorelDraw, Inkscape and TurboCAD

Material Options
-       Clear acrylic
-       Coloured acrylic
-       Flourescent acrylic
-       Frosted acrylic
-       Mirror acrylic
-       Abs
-       Styrene
-       Polypropylene
-       Zotefoam
-       Wood sheet
-       Veneered MDF wood sheet
-       Paper & Card
-       Fabric
-       Rubber

Engrave Only materials
-       Ceramic
-       Glass & mirror
-       Aluminium
-       Trophy Aluminium
-       Brass
-       Stainless steel
-       Stone & marble


Types of engraving and cutting
-       Laser cutting, using lasers to cut through material
-       Raster engraving, method of marking where the laser head engraves by moving left to right slowly down the material.
-       Vector engraving, method of marking and scoring a material surface, similar to laser cutting the beam will follow the path of vector strokes without cutting all the way through
-       3D Laser Engraving, similar to laser engraving instead it will adjust the power it applies to the material based on tonal quality of the drawing, black areas receive maximum power while white areas do not get engraved, all shades in between get a varied amount of power giving it a true 3D appearance.
-       Metal marking, a special chemical marking compound is used marking the material permanently in black.
-       Photo Laser engraving, essentially laser engraving but with a lot more detail.

Barnbrook - Corian awards

The laser engraved Corian awards really show the opportunities that can arise from laser cutting and engraving. The ability to engrave on cubes shows how many materials of different shapes and sizes can be worked on. The amount of specific detail achieved is also very impressive and it makes it look as though the awards were hand engraved rather than being done by a machine.

Laser cutting also opens up a number of different avenues within art. The processes allow artists to look into different ways of cutting and shaping materials to suit the ideas they have. This has led to designers like Melvin Galapon to create his laser cut art using acrylic tubes.  

Design Task

I am going to look into redesigning certain furniture using different materials and shapes. This will bring a modern and practical look.




My design shown above includes an all-in-one dining room set along with a living room sofa. This gives a modern practical feel to a room whilst making the most of tight spaces. Laser cutting can be implemented in order to help cut out cut holders from sofa side arms or engravings of logos and designs can be made into the furniture.

Afternoon Lesson

How fonts work with Images

Within the industry designers will face many different situations. During some projects designers may find that they will have a limited amount of say in what they can apply to a design, whether this is colour or images. Today we were looking at how we can still create an impact within a design piece without having total control.

Specifically, we were looking at stock images and how we can use font and colour to give a design piece more impact. We undertook a number of exercises which involved selecting an image and quote to match and present appropriately.

The image I produced (shown below) used a rustic font that represented the words sweat and sacrifice. This was paired with the image of the man with a stern face. His serious expression symbolizes determination and grit which is needed in order to succeed. The construction and position of the text is positioned to shape around the individuals body giving a more visually pleasing look.  





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