TECHNICAL STUDIES; A LOVE LETTER TO LASER CUTTING -By Meg Evans
(Inspired by Tom Sachs ‘Love Letter to Plywood’)
It’s clean, it’s clever and it’s efficient. The assassin. The laser cutter.
Requiring time, thought, mathematics and precision. The laser cutter starts in a similar way to it ends; in a clean and controlled manner. Designs formed require thought of assembly and savvy use of a simple software. Simple, once one has had time to tame a beast such as Rhino. Simple geometry is realised in a manner that fits with the visual user and allows creations of the weird and wonderful, as well as the pragmatic and the essential. Anything from the smallest chess piece to a chair. The only restrictions being the size of your ambition and the size of the laser bed. The assassin is truly the most diverse and adaptable tool in the designers set.
The Rhino’s accomplice goes by a name fitting for an associate of the assassin. Slicer. She is yet another tool that makes such a precise process tangible to the failed A level Mathematics student but plays to the strengths of the visual thinker and aspiring designer. Able to deconstruct and restructure 3D forms into slices that can be cut by the beast itself, Slicer pairs perfectly with Rhino, particularly for shapes with no clear net, it offers an alternative route to assembly – cross sectional pieces. This dexterity brings a level of class to such a functional tool.
Slicer however does not just lie down and play a slave to the user, she demands attention to detail. The material must be correctly defined, both in dimensions that will fit within the laser bed, and that specify the thickness. If forgotten, the assassin will turn, and destroy the material presented in a clinical and barely noticeable death that renders the pieces unusable in assembly. Other details that must be remembered along the way are the slot offset and tool diameter. Choose wisely, as this must correlate with the material thickness and the number of pieces in the design. A perfect balance, just like in a blade, must be found. If the Slot offset is too high and has too few pieces, the construction will be too loose, if the slot offset is too low with too many pieces, it will be too tight to assemble.
Taking pity on the user, Slicer has one last offering to the feeble design student. An assembly video. The penultimate tab shows how each of the slices would fit together, both a saving grace, when all the pieces look similar after cutting, and a tool to assess whether assembly is possible. Blue and red highlighted pieces can sometimes be ignored if the user knows something that slicer doesn’t. However, proceed with caution. Slicer is experienced.
Via PDF the plan of action is sent back to Rhino for the final touches before its execution. There are a last few attempts by the sneaky software twins to foil the creation. One must ensure on importation of the file back into Rhino, that the units are preserved. 1mm in the PDF must equate to 1 Rhino Unit and Rhino itself must be set to millimetres.
The final orchestration of the plan then falls down to the user. Now one must colour code the lines, one for cut and one for engrave, and check that all the lines are set to hairline. Hairline as there is nothing more beautiful that the precise, accurate and unforgiving incision this creates.
Drawing a box, the size of the material into Rhino, the pieces can be laid in a manner that will make the most of the resource. Rotating and moving the pieces into place results in maximum efficiency as only a few millimetres are required between each cut. It’s as if the process is playing a game of Tetris with the creator, challenging them and toying with their spatial imagination. When all in place, one can again play with the scale of the object or even make multiples by transforming the pieces in a uniform manner.
Then it’s time to take on the beast. First you must choose your weapon. There are 3 lasers, each with their advantages. The size of the laser bed and the cut it makes must all be considered. In the final stage of printing you must first determine what each coloured line means, then programme the power, speed and frequency of the laser to get your ideal cuts. The slower the speed and the higher the power and frequency the more dense materials can be cut.
Now finally, the plan is ready. One must now focus the assassin. The orders have been given and the mercenary must be put into the mind-set to complete the mission. Using the focussing tool and moving the laser bed, the laser is ready. The extraction is switched on to consume any evidence of the precise and calculated torcher about to be inflicted on the positioned material. Once all is flat in bed and the conditions are appropriate; the button is pressed; the laser is released and the surgery begins.
Finally, once the fun has finished, the pieces can be removed. The next step is assembly. Following the Slicer instructions and the branded tattoos on the small wooden limbs results in ease of production. One has made the product.
Such a beautiful gift to humanity is the laser cutter. The harnessing of raw energy into a wave that when respected can help us build whatever we desire. But it must be understood and properly used to prevent an angry lash out of material destruction.
I myself must thank the laser cutter, for allowing me to guide its intense energy for the creation of objects to my own gain. Within the objects I created during Technical studies, objects for a set design and the creation of this essay itself.
The laser cutter, an assassin, a dangerous thing to love.
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