PREPARATION

Preparing From Artwork To Cutting On The Laser

How do I Get My Art Work On To The Laser For Cutting?

Drawing:
Usually I start with a clean black (fine tipped pen) on white, line drawing about 8x5 x11”, though I can scan up to 11 x17”. Often I draw it, scan and print it out and then redraw it several times until I'm sure it is a clean drawing (one without extraneous lines). Cut out pieces can also be scanned.

Computer:
When I am happy with my initial Drawing I then scan it into a variety of drawing programmes, and then I have a “photograph” of the drawing. This is usually something you can do for yourself and come to me with the image already in an electronic format. Often it will be a file on disk, CD or email. If it's a large drawing you may want to zip it down using WinZip (.com) (to download your own copy). Usual suffixes are JPG., TIFF., & BMP. It is a raster drawing at this point (like a picture drawn with small tiles. It must be Rastered (point to point lines) in order for it to be able to be read by a machine. If you have AutoCAD, Macromedia, or Adobe Illustrator you can do this work and save it as a DWG or DXF file. This is the least expensive way for you to have an image burnt onto something. If you don't have this available you'll have to have someone translate your “Photo” into a number driven line file (DWG.) I offer this as a service here, and can usually do work quite quickly. I charge $45.00/ hour Cdn. for drafting time. There will also be an initial small fee for translating the file into its final state for the laser usually $10 to $30 depending on the complexity of your project. I'll finish the drawing save it give you a copy on disk and schedule your job for cutting. Usually this is the same day. Normally, you provide the materials, or I can for a 15% “up charge” fee. If you have a material I'm not familiar with I may need some time to do some research on it to learn the optimal cutting speed (this I do at no cost to you except for materials), so I may need some sample material.

Which Materials Can Be Cut On The Laser?

        I can cut most types of Wood up to ¾ ‘” thick. Common model material we cut is Aircraft plywood, & Door skin. It cuts most Plastics including Acrylic, Delrin, ABS, Polyester, Polycarbonate, Mylar and thinner Phenolic and Polyamides, & Circuit Board material. We also cut Metals including Steel, Tool Steel, Carbon Steel and Stainless Steel has been cut up to 1/16”. Miscellaneous materials include Refactory wool, cotton, man made fibers, Cardboard, Paper, Duroid, Rowmark Plastics, Stanford, and even Rubber. It does not cut aluminium, copper, brass, and glass, though there are techniques for engraving and embossing them. . Plastics that are laden with PVC I do little work with as the gas it gives off “eats the machine”. Some people have an unrealistic belief that a Laser can” cut anything”. Some lasers are stronger than ours, some are weaker. We can't cut ¼” steel plate. We can cut thin Stainless steel though, and even ½” Acrylic