Laser Cutting

Hello :) back with blog 4 and it will be about laser cutting.

We all know SP has 3 kinds of laser cutters - Epilog,Universal and iLaser and for this handphone stand project I used the universal laser cutting machine.

My main idea for this hand phone stand was to ensure that it is being to be used with a portable charger. I was inspired by my brother, he ALWAYS has to watch shows when he is eating and since he is always on his phone - his phone is always dying which means he is bringing his portable charger and thus, watching him sparked the idea in me HAHAHA. And that was to create a phone stand with a base rest area to allow hi. to place his portable charger.

I used his phone's dimensions for the phone stand and it was 151mm by 75mm by 12mm and thus my phone stand had to fit these requirements which were pretty easy as I used the line function on my Fusion 360 and the kerf function. The kerf function helped me with stabilising the top portion of the had phone stand and prevented the top from being shaky unlike my bottom portion ......

For the image that I had to use for the engraving I used the website rapid Reiser where I downloaded the image of the Nike swoosh in JPEG format to SVG . Then all I had to do was ensure that I adjusted the size onto my drawing after I imported it into my Fusion 360. I used the kerf to enhance the stability on my hand phone stand. I set the cut the same dimensions on both the piece that would fit in and on the slit at the side body. This also provided a snugly fit which greatly helped with the stability of my product. My workflow was very simple I just followed my SOP that I created I the prior lessons after I converted my sketches to DXF file.

Finally my Learning Reflection.

I honestly do feel that my phone stand is not great because the bottom part is not stable, it came apart during the 2m drop test . I should have added in another parametric design at the bottom area of the phone stand. However since my main idea was to fit in various sizes of portable chargers on the base I need it to be adjustable and I didn't know how to achieve if it were to fit in place and not move. However, after thoroughly looking through I realised that I should have used the kerf tool and created a snug fit so that there will be more stability for my product. I have also become more confident in using the laser cutting machine and realise I don't need someone to teach me step by step on what to do next. From the practical not only have I sharpened my Fusion 360 skills but I am also motivated to take on my own personal projects using the app and what I have learnt throughout this experience. The kerf tool Is now my favourite aspect as it can serve as a very crucial and useful tool if I do plan to take on any projects using my own design sketches laser cutting machine in the future.