OUAN406 - Laser Cutter / CNC Router

Throughout this project I have had to learn a range of new things due to the processes involved in the making of the set. Aside from the software, learning to use new tools and machinery has been an integral part of the crafting process in creating the physical components of the set. Using the software package AutoCAD I was able to design and cut various details including; gothic style windows, a book case, stairs and other parts of furniture. This process allowed me to make authentic looking pieces and details without having to buy them or cut them by hand, it also meant that I could have unique designs that I could create myself. The only draw back with the laser cutter is the time it takes to cut the designs, especially on the more intricate ones. For example, something that I tried and decided not to pursue was using the laser cutter to raster on images of rust to the walls of the set in order to give the illusion that there was decay or corrosion on them. However, it took around an hour to raster the image on to one of the smaller walls meaning it would have taken upwards of ten hours to complete all of the walls, this ultimately was not a viable option. Below are the finished laser cut pieces which include the assembled book case, gothic windows, and buildings for the scenes representing the city. The laser cutter gives them quite an elegant burnt effect around the edges which works quite well and fits the aesthetic of the story and its themes.



The machine I used to cut out the walls and base of the set was the CNC router. A CNC is a computer controlled cutting machine used to cut pieces of material to a high quality, and is incredibly precise when it comes to the measurements of the final cut it can be used to cut thing such as A CNC router can be used in the production of many different items, such as door carvings, interior and exterior decorations, wood panels, sign boards, wooden frames, musical instruments, furniture, and so on. So it is an incredibly versatile piece of machinery. I used a 6mm cutting piece when I cut the walls out meaning I had to expand the walls by 3mm either side of the centre line which is used as a guide for the CNC to cut so that it remained the correct size when it was complete. In order to prepare the files for cutting, after the adjustments were made to the drawings they were imported into AlphaCam. AlphaCAM is an example of CAM software which makes the CAD drawing into a code called g-code. This is a code that the CNC machine can understand. Whilst in AlphaCam a set of instructions were embedded into the drawings to that the CNC knew which lines to cut and how deep to cut them, for example when cutting the base which was made of 12mm MDF wood, the CNC was told to only cut through 6mm to form the trench where the walls could sit in. Another consideration that had to be made before the CNC could cut the wood was how many passes it should do over the wood so as not to damage either the material or the cutter by cutting through 12mm of material at once. Once the file is opened in the CNC's virtual environment there are some simple adjustments that have to made in regards to the axis, specifically the Z axis, which has to be adjusted to fit the thickness of the material used.

The photographs below show the CNC's interface and virtual environment where the instructions are read and executed as lines of code. It is helpful to know where the procedure is up to by checking how many lines of code have been completed, in the close up image below it says line 61 of 99.



The images below show the finished base of the set, as an example of how the CNC can cut very cleanly. The only thing about using the CNC to cut angles like shown is that they leave a rounded edge at the corners, these can easily be removed using a chisel and pressing it down on spot where the wood joins at the corner to remove the excess wood. The base is now ready to be painted and prepared for the walls of the set.