Laser Cutting Optimisation
Want to know how to get the most out of your laser cutting?
We chat to one of our Digital Fabrication Technicians - Gracie, for the best laser cutting practice.
Hey Gracie, what are some handy tricks for getting the most out of laser cutting?
1. Doubled up linework
If your design has duplicate linework, the laser will cut multiple times, which will result in longer cutting times and more material burn. To remove doubled up linework use ‘SelDup’ or ‘Make2D’ in Rhino. Always handy to do a quick check before you put your job on to cut.
2. Unjoined lines
Join Join Join!
Often students will come in with files that have 6532 individual curves, once joined their design is simplified down to 591 curves. This will be quicker to cut as there will be less stopping and starting for the laser. If lines are not joined even vector ordering will not speed up your cutting job.
So always remember to join curve within the same layer. How do you do this? Right-click on a layer, choose ‘Select Objects’, type ‘Join’ in the command bar.
3. Nesting
If you’re paying for a sheet of material, wouldn’t you want to get the most out of your sheet? In order to save money and material waste in laser cutting, we always recommend nesting your elements. Nesting is the process of laying out your design closely together and if possible even sharing cut lines. By nesting your elements you will get more use out of the material and because all your elements are closer together, your job will cut even faster. It’s kind of like a game of Tetris!
Student Suyeon Cho’s laser cutting nesting
Want more laser cutting tips and tricks to incorporate into your model making and prototyping process? Check out when our next inductions are available here. Digital Fabrication resources are available to all students in their second year of their Bachelor Degree or in all Postgraduate courses.
