From the course: Laser Cutting: Design for Fabrication

Interlocking parts

From the course: Laser Cutting: Design for Fabrication

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Interlocking parts

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- [Narrator] One of the most complex types of laser cutting project involves interlocking parts. When working on a 2D part, the primary focus is the face of the design. When working on interlocking parts, careful measurements of your sheet material and kerf are key. To review, the kerf is the measurable space burnt away from vector cutting. The simplest project to start with is a finger joint box. I've generated my plan using this online box generator. In this tool, you can plug in values for the size of the box and material thickness to generate a working box design. This is a great place to start making three dimensional work and demonstrates all the values you need to keep track of. I've chosen my settings, and as you can see, the preview updates as you change the values. Once you're happy with the preview, click here to download the plans. I chose to download SVG. And I can open up the plans in Illustrator. Because the basic box generated is all vector cut lines, the file only has one color to keep track of. In every project, it's best practice to order and label your cut types by layer. I'll demo that now. This makes it easier to keep track of which distinct design element is assigned to cut and when. Even though this is a box generator I trust, I always recommend checking key dimensions before cutting. One way to do that, is to create a box in Illustrator that you specify to measure against your part. Another way is to check the ruler settings. When arranging multiple parts, I prefer to nest them a bit further apart than they are right now. Nesting refers to the layout of multiple parts, usually to make the best use of your material. In some applications, parts have to be oriented in regard to grain direction to enhance aesthetics. While nesting, keep an eye on your edges. Most graphic design programs will not tell you if your lines are overlapping, so you have to make a visual pass over each part to make sure your cuts aren't interfering with each other.

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