Fun on the Laser Cutter

I have always liked laser cutters. I mean, how can a maker not like them. It is my favourite machine to work on by far. So today I got unrestrained access to one for a very long stretch of time. I had spare acrylic lying around, I had access to a laser cutter and I had time. Sounded like the perfect way to spend the day. I decided to make some much-awaited merch and refine my skills. I had never used the laser cutter in IDC before this. The laser cutter in TATA Lab (TATA Centre for Technology and Design, TCTD) was my first experience with one and boy it was phenomenal! A loud shout out to the guys at TCTD, IIT Bombay for letting me hang out there and learn all the amazing things that I did. It was also the place where the first major equipment breakdown happened for me. It was an Epilog Laser system. I was focusing the head when all of a sudden it started travelling across the sheet and out of it and then decided it was time to take a plunge into the metal honeycomb below. The Plunger got stuck in the mesh.

The Plungerrrr…

 

I freaked out a bit and thought that pressing home must reset everything. I was so wrong. I saw the stuck plunger assembly and I saw the CNC frame move above it. Till the time I processed that it would break and react, it had already broken. I looked at the technician on duty, Sanket. We had become great friends because of the laser cutter. He was the operator/technician for the laser cutter there and was interested in design. I was the enthusiastic person who liked to see the wonders it had to offer and test its limits. He was really excited about trying out new materials and processes on it as well. Coming back, Sanket knew the plunger had broken. We went to the office of Dr Suhas Zambre. He looks after the workings of TCTD. He listened patiently to what happened. Asked if I had learnt how to operate the cutter well from Sanket. Looked towards him for an answer. Sanket nodded. He said that all equipment here is for students to learn on and break if it so happens. And to be a little more careful from the next time onwards especially if an unknown situation arises. I left his office. Sanket came out a bit later with a big smile and told me that I should do extra hours here “Officially” (using air quotes) and help other people make their projects to give back to the lab. He knew I spent most of my free time there anyway and I would be more than happy to stay as long as I could and work on all kinds of things.

Back to IDC.

I had no clue what the power settings on this one looked like. It is one of the custom made ones without any documentation. The lab was open for use in our prototyping module. And since it was the weekend there was no one to guide us. We knew how to use the machine and change the parameters but had no clue on what power/speed to put. Hence, began the experiments. First with the engraving.

Unlimited Power!

Still overpowered

Too underpowered

Beauty!

After all these iterations I figured out the power/speed settings for the perfect engraving. And cutting, yes. After running multiple passes of the laser for cutting through the 5mm frosted acrylic, I also figured out the power/speed setting to perfectly cut the pieces as well.

Then came the Batman Logo. That was a charm to make. The laser just beautifully cut through the 6mm black glossy acrylic. While it was being made, it looked so perfect and precise that it felt like Morgan Freeman would walk in any moment and say “whoa! Batman will really appreciate those.” We made three of them out of a “used up piece”. One of those blank spaces left in a sheet after the required parts have been cut out. I was proud of the efficiency with we had placed them to get the maximum size and number.

 

Concept Sketches and Batman ❤

 

Next came the longest project for the day.

 

The R2-D2 Keychain

 

This one took 4 iterations and a few hours to perfect. Well almost perfect.

 

R2-D2 v1.0, 2.0, 3.1, 3.2

Between v1.0 and 2.0 we changed the pattern being engraved, to bring out the three-dimensionality of the droid better. But we realised in v2.0 that the loop up top is too thin to sustain through everyday use and hence would break, so we made the boundary thicker.  v3.0 didn’t cut through properly and broke while taking it out. An increase in power fixed that. The one that was finally meant to be the one also got screwed up because of an error while placing the acrylic. If you notice, you’ll see the top right corner cut off arbitrarily in v3.1. v3.2 did not disappoint at all. It was perfect and exactly how we wanted it to be. So we made two of them and were the happiest geeks in the department. I wanted to finish my long pending/due Arc Reactor Replica project as well, but I ran out of frosted acrylic to be able to finish it. Big thanks to Tarun Mugunthan aka Boju, my fellow lover of all things superhero, cool and techy.

Oh Yeah and I almost forgot. The reason why we got a Laser cutter for the whole day to ourselves in the first place. More on this one later.

Until Later.