[sdiy] Laser cut enclosure advice needed

[KA4HJH]

On Sep 22, 2012, at 3:17 PM, Tim Parkhurst wrote:

> What material are you planning to use? I'm not quite sure what you mean by leaving polished surfaces.

Transparent acrylic. I'm not sure of the color scheme yet.


> Also, I'm pretty sure Ponoko won't cut metal, but they can probably to plastic and (thin) wood.

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to take a close look at this.


> If you're thinking of plastic, you might check and see who Olivier Gillet uses for the Shruthi and his other projects.

Definitely looks cut and engraved with a laser.


On Sep 22, 2012, at 3:03 PM, Mike Beauchamp wrote:

> Hi Terry,
> If you do your design in any vector program (inkscape, illustrator,
> etc.) or any CAD program you should be able to send the files to a laser
> cutting service.

Drawing it will be the easy part. I'm on top of that.


> Off the top of my head there is ponoko.com, and they
> are located in Wellington New Zealand. I'm not sure if they ship from
> Wellington, but it could get a bit pricey.

Well, New Zealand is a bit further away than I was hoping for. Somewhere in the US would reduce the cost of shipping a bit.


> Seems like there are a lot of
> places online now actually that do laser cutting. Depending on where you
> are, there might be a local laser cutting place that you could talk to.
> Those guys might deal in very specific file formats and expect customers
> to have proper CAD files and all of that, but it might be worth a try.
> Another option might be a nearby "Tech Shop" or maker space that would
> have a laser cutter and some people with experience doing what you're
> doing.

This is precisely what I'm looking and the reason why I'm asking. Getting the right drawings will not be a problem but good communication reduces the possibility of mistakes.


> You could definitely do finger joints, box joints, slots and other
> joining methods with laser cut pieces. Some joints allow you to use nuts
> and bolts as well.

I hadn't thought of finger joints. That would work if rabbeting isn't possible. Not that I really need that type of joint.


> Laser cutting acrylic does leave nice edges, but if
> all you have available is CNC routing then polishing up the edges is
> very easy with a torch (lots of youtube vidoes showing this and how to
> properly bond acrylic).

Yeah, I've done it a couple of times.


> Laser cutting has the advantage of a really
> really small kerf, allowing more intricate shapes.

This probably won't be too fancy.


On Sep 22, 2012, at 3:11 PM, julian fincham wrote:

>> Has anyone done this? Can it be done? I know I could just have the whole thing CNC milled but laser cutting leaves polished surfaces.
> 
> Terry,
> 
> What edges are you wanting 'polished'?

I'm just saying that it would be nice for the outside, visible edges. It would save me the trouble.


> Also, remember that, well, virtually all metals will  change
> appearance as they oxidise, so dont pass up options for a short-lived
> effect?

I've thought about doing that as a detail but it isn't necessary for the main body of the enclosure.


> Im not selling, as im not cutting for the next week or so anyhow, but
> here are some examples of the sort of works you may be after, all done
> with tungsten carbide cutters -

Very nice work but I really want this to be transparent. I'm not cloning the Gleenman Petanphonic but still...


> Can laser cutting be used to create recesses?  I mean when the
> material is only cut half of the way through?  Im asking - i really
> dont know! : )

It should be but I haven't found any good examples of it yet.


When I finish drawing it I'll post it somewhere for comment. Thanks everyone for the ideas.


Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"