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In the SmartXp we have a Lasercutter for cutting and engraving materials. This facility is mainly educational projects within the faculty, but we also facilitate other (private) projects.
We have some rules;
- You have to pay for materials.
- Your design should send to smartxp-laser-3d@utwente.nl.
- Maximum size 990x590mm - but this depends on the material.
Design rules:
- Hairlines are lines with a thickness of less than 0,11 mm.
- Cutting-lines must be RGB red [255,0,0] hairlines(vector). These lines will be cut all the way through
- Etching-lines must be RGB blue[0,0,255] hairlines(vector). These lines will be cut halfway through
- Placement-lines must be RGB green[0,255,0] hairlines(vector). Nothing will be done with them, they can help with placement or other info
- Other lines thinner as 0,11mm are considerd to be hairlines even if they are not red and will be cut.
- Engraving parts are greylevel lines/parts or bitmaps. Black [255] is highest engraving power, white least [0].
- fileformats: cdr, dxf (only single parts or proper Fusion exports), eps, ai.
- Mention details like material and thickness, preferably in the file. You should mention theses sizes to avoid conversion errors.
- The order in which items are cut is back to front. In Coreldraw: the items on the objectslist are cut from bottom to top. When cutting “nested” objects, the inner objects will be cut first
- Avoid double cutlines! so check for them!
suitable materials:
Acrylic - max 10mm
PETG (Copolyester) - max 2mm
Birch Plywood - 4 & 6mm - for delicate parts and decorative purposes
Poplar Plywood - 8 & 10mm - for structural parts and sturdy prototypes
Cardboard - max 4mm
Woodboard
Paper
Not allowed materials:
Polystyrene, Polycarbonate, Delrin, PVC, MDF and Hardwood plywood
Be carefull when buying Acrylic plates in shops. Sometimes they sell you Polystyrene or Polycarbonate plates instead off Acrylic.
Other materials in agreement with technician: please ask before buying anything.
Materials that the SmartXP can facilitate
Payment only via your Proto Omnomcom-account, purchases entered by the Technician
Plywood 4x570x190mm Birch € 2.50
Plywood 4x570x750mm Birch € 9.10
Plywood 6x570x190mm Birch € 2.85
Plywood 6x570x750mm Birch €10.80
Plywood 8x590x190mm Popular € 1.50
Plywood 8x590x990mm Popular € 9.00
Plywood 10x590x190mm Popular € 2.00
Plywood 10x590x990mm Popular €11.50
Gray cardboard 1,20x700x1000mm €1.03
Gray cardboard 1.75x700x1000mm €1.59
Gray cardboard 3.00x700x1000mm €3.05
Pelkarton 1.25x700x1000mm €1.66
Ivoorkarton 200gram 700x1000mm €0.32
PETG plates 1mm €0.0175/gram
example: PETG plate 620x200x1mm weighs 160gram
Acrylic plates €0.015 /gram
example: Acryl plate 300x100x5mm weighs 190gram
Acrylic plates can also be bought at the TCO selfservice workshop
or at several places on the internet like perlaplast-kunststofshop
Need some inspiration? A comprehensive guide for the lasercutting novice, written by Philippe Tuinman
Want to make a box?
You can use online tools to help you out. It will give you a pdf file which can be loaded in Coreldraw where you can add holes and the engravings yourself.
Want to make a cardboard folding box?
Joinery inspiration
- Ideas on connecting plates can be found at cnc-panel-joinery-notebook
Don't have the proper software?
you can use Coreldraw on one of the SmartXp desktop systems or ask a technician.
Do you think we are missing a tool/inspiration source? Do tell us!