LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

I follow Kevin and have learned a lot from him in the month I was away- this is his latest how-to that I modified for the new signshop owner- he likes this kind of thing and I wanted to see if I could modify it to my liking. I originally intended to export the text and cut a top layer on the laser from .060 colored plastic but ended painting the top layer with a chrome paint pen- should have used something else that did not show the layers. Hint- change the sketch with his name to whatever you like.

. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju247tQHKso

Another option would be to expand on the basic design idea and cut the letters away from the plinth.

Use the 'offset plane' command from the face of one of the letters. I picked 5mm.

Use that offset face to then use the 'Split Body' command. This leaves the plinth and letters that could be printed separately face down (best on glass for a mirror finish) and re glued to the plinth. Done in a different colour would maybe add some bling and you could change the depth from a 0.4 face only to whatever you like.

Or the Laser option Export the Letters using my favorite plugin https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Det ... =en&os=Mac to produce a DXF with a Kerf allowance already done for you. Drop this into your choice of software and cut for gluing.

Using the cut option will mean absolute accuracy of the letters for re attachment.

Tim- do you use the Mapboards or Mapboards Pro version? I finally exported .dfx to cut on the laser but it took a lot of dead ends to get there.

Just the standard version of Mapboards at this stage. It isn't perfect at nesting by any stretch but as I run my dxf fles through Inkscape to add some colours for the Laser I do a little manual arranging on the way.

The extra features of the Pro version I am tempted by as in theory I could skip the extra Inkscape step but as yet I haven't seen the need.

For exporting text or other items with cut outs you want to position relative to a larger body (so 0, 8, B, Q etc) you need to add a thin bridge manually to keep their centres (turns them into a single body again) in place if you want to engrave them or to make alignment easier when cutting to glue later.

I printed another one in blue and at 125% scale and extended the 'sweep' a bit farther as my machine will handle 50% overhang very well- then cut .060 brushed alum letters to match the new size with 3M 467MP adhesive applied to the back and had a younger man apply them. Still would have been better with a non reflective finish as very subtle differences in angle really show up. This is how we learn.

.[attachment=0]AM final.jpg[/attachment]