Activity: Cut and Engrave Something

We’ll explore designing your own object in DF105. For now, show that you’ve learned how to operate the laser cutter by downloading and opening this Illustrator file. The challenge is to design a glider using a 20”x10” piece of foam core. The white space is your workspace. Find a course instructor to orient you to the template. After you have moved the pieces into the workspace, start to shape the fuselage, wing, and horizontal stabilizer by editing the nodes. Use this sizing guide. When you have ready to send your file to the laser cutter, select all the lines by pressing Crtl+A on your keyboard—then pressing Shift+Ctrl+F to open the Fill and Stroke menu. Change all the lines in your design to .001″. The vector settings for the laser cutter need to be as follows – 80% speed, 100% power, and 1000 Hz. When you’re finished cutting and engraving (and flying), take a picture of the object and submit it below.

Note that there is a quiz that follows this activity. Once the instructors have approved your upload, then click on “Activity: Introduction to Laser Cutting Quiz” in the toolbar to the left to take the quiz and complete the module.

Remember, you must be logged in to be able to submit your picture.