Laser Cut Design Laboratory: August 2015

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Create a board game with your laser guest post for Trotec Lasers

for more information please visit : http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Laser-Samples/Promotional-Items/Pages/board-game.aspx

http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Pages/Laser_systems.aspx
Required Material

board:

50 x 50 cm TroLase walnut/white1.6mm

Acrylic(red, blue, yellow, green) 0.8mm - adhesive tape on back side

figures:

Acrylic (red, blue, yellow, green) 3.2mm

stickers:

TroLase lights gold/black 0.1mm

Used Trotec Laser:
Speedy 360, 80 watts, 2 inch lens

Tip: white acrylic grating

Step 1: board

First decide what size board you would like. We are using 50x50 cm pre-cut acrylic for our extra-large board game. Adapt the design as you wish and send the file to the laser.

Tip: For the best results and less cleaning effort, the board should be engraved from bottom to top. You can easily change the engraving direction. Open "plate" and click on "plate setup."
Step 2: colorful dots for the starting area

Cut five circles per color from 0.8mm acrylic to indicate the players areas.

For best results, we recommend using the white acrylic-cutting-grid, leaving the protective foil on the material during the cutting process on the material.

You can order the acrylic with an adhesive film on the back and then you just have to put the circles on the appropriate places. Make sure the board is clean before you apply them.
Step 3: figures

Now you need the red, blue, yellow and green acrylic (3.2 mm) for the figures. Cut out the characters and the matching discs (standing feet) per color and plug them together.

Again, it is important to leave the protective foil on the material during the cutting process for a brilliant cutting edge.
Step 4: decoration

We used some stickers to make the game board look less empty and more fun.

We engraved TroLase Lights and used our Kiss Cut parameters to "cut-in" the material. Only the adhesive film is cut and the support material remains unblemished. Then the sticker can be removed easily.

It is important to also engrave the stickers from the bottom to the top (see step1).
used laser parameters
We worked with a Speedy 360 80 watts power and the parameters listed bellow. You can download the JobControl files and import them easily into your parameters database ( see download link bellow ) .
Board - TroLase 1,6 mm
Engraving : power: 80% - speed: 100% - frequency: 500 ppi-air assist: ON
Z- Offset: 1.5 mm
For best engraving results, we've activated the "high quality" function and set 1.5 mm Z- Offset.
Dots - Acrylic 0,8 mm
Cutting: power: 33% - speed: 1.2 % - frequency: 1.000 Hz - air assist: ON
Figures - Acrylic 3,2 mm
Cutting power: 45% - speed 0.4% - frequency: 1.000 Hz - air assist: ON
Z-Offset: 0,6 mm
Here we also worked with 0.6mm Z-Offset for a smoother engraving.
Sticker - TroLase Lights 0,1 mmthicker - troLase Lights 0,1 mm
Engraving : power: 35% - speed:50% - frequency: 500 ppi - air assist: ON
Z- Offset : 2 mm
Cutting : power: 20% - speed: 2% - frequency: 1.000 Hz - air assist: ON

KissCut: power: 8% - speed: 2% - frequency: 1.000 Hz - air assist: ON

We also recomend that you activate the "high quality" function. The laser process takes more time, but the perfect result is worth it.

- for more information and vector files for board game download visit :
- http://www.troteclaser.com/en-US/Laser-Samples/Promotional-Items/Pages/board-game.aspx

Monday, August 10, 2015

FabCafe Bangkok

There is something really special about Fabcafes and Fablaboratories.

I always like the nice atmosphere and interior design in which you have enough space to get inspired and make your ideas tangible.

While exploring Bangkok I got familiar with FabCafe Bangkok. They are located in Ari neighbourhood just a few minutes from the BTS station. They have great facilities, courses and selection of food and coffee. One can indeed spend their whole day there, researching, exploring and creating fab ideas.