For my Drone Machine project with the 21st Century Studio Practice unit, I had to visit the 3D Workshop at LCC in order to make a wood enclosure for my device. This wood case consist on a wooden box which will be closed on a “puzzle style” cutting; and this needs to be done with a Laser Cutter. There are many designs online in terms of wooden boxes for laser cutting, but finally I found a website called MakerCase where you can make your custom design which will fit within your preferences.
The rest of the design has to be done on Adobe Illustrator, and lately this archive will be opened on the cutting machine’s own software (Ruby) where it will be finally cut. These archive have to saved on RGB colour, and this is because the different colours will perform different actions inside the laser cutter; for example blue for external cut, red for internal cut, and black for engraving. This was my final design seen from AI.
Then I just needed to book a slot at the 3D Workshop for the laser cutter and run the software. I also had to buy on the eStore from UAL and Plywood surface, from where I’ll be able to cut the pieces of my wood case. The files are then loaded in Ruby, and after setting up some preferences, the machine is ready to cut. The wood board also need to be settled with tape to the machine (Wood is a natural material and the surface could be a bit bent), I closed the top lid and the Laser cutter started the procedure. The 3D workshop was a really good experience that I’d definitely recommend, the stuff was always helpful and training was provided.