Laser cutting

While laser cutting machines are not all that cheap at the moment they have certainly come down in price over the past few years and they are improving in accuracy and quality all the time.
The model you're looking at here cost just over $2000 Australian dollars as of December 2017. It is basically a cheap Chinese laser cutter with a bunch of features and a powerful 50 watt laser tube which is perfect for the hobbyist.
You might be wondering if you could find a use for such a machine and they are certainly not for everybody, they can be quite large in size and they are often noisy due to the external air and water pump and they also produce a lot of smoke depending on the material you're cutting.
With all those negatives you're probably wondering what's the point "It's expensive, noisy and smells!" however the positives far outweigh the negatives!
If you've ever walked through a shopping center the chances that you saw some products made using a laser cutter is extremely high! In fact you've probably seen hundreds of laser cut products and didn't even realise it! Below are some of the projects I've been working on: 

Old Gold Mine structures - Coming soon

The plans and files for downloading the mine elevator, lift and shed are being fine tuned so they will be easier to laser cut.
Some of the structures require engraving as well as cutting so it's important that all the registration points on the drawings line up perfectly in order to accurately reproduce the buildings.

​Stay tune over the next few days as these files will be uploaded to this page soon. 

MOE'S TAVERN

This is the second project that I've been working on for the upcoming video on designing, cutting and constructing laser cut products. The biggest learning thus far is most definitely using the vector drawing program CorelDRAW x8, I've been used to other programs like Adobe Illustrator however the laser cutter I'm using interfaces with CorelDRAW which is one of its limitations. 
Learning to use the program wasn't all that difficult, I simply watched an online learning course and once I had the basic grasp of how the tools and functions worked I was off and running.
There are a few reasons I chose to model Moe's Tavern...
It's an easy shape, basically it's a simple rectangular  building with simple windows and doors which means it's easy for me to model with my limited experience using Corel Draw.
The sign across the front is also easy to replicate and it will also give me a chance to test the engraving capabilities of the laser cutter.
I also chose Moe's Tavern because I grew up watching the Simpsons as a kid and it brings back good memories.
Even though I perceived Moe's Tavern as being an easy build I was quite surprised at how many separate features needed to be draw and designed in order to create a model that I would be happy with. 

The Drawings:

As of writing this column I only finished drawing the design for Moe's Tavern an hour ago! It only took two days (in between my actual job that pays the bills)...
The CorelDRAW file will be available for you to freely download should you wish to attempt laser cutting this model however be warned!!! I haven't had a chance to cut these drawing out myself yet so some measurements may or may not need adjusting, the hope is that they are perfect but you just never know.
The design of Moe's Tavern involves the use of 3 different types/sizes of materials, I use 1.3mm width plywood, 0.75mm width plywood and 3mm MDF.
You can basically use any type or thickness of material you desire however the roof and base pieces will need adjusting to allow for the different thicknesses of the material you chose to use. The reason I chose those particular width plywood was basically because that's what was available to me at the time.
This first set of drawings is intended to be cut using 1.3mm plywood and the MOE'S sign is meant to be engraved.
This second set of drawings is intended to be cut using the 0.75mm plywood however any thickness plywood can be used here without the need to make any adjustments to the main structure of the building
This is the last set of drawings and form the roof (the piece with no notches cut out), the piece with the notches cut out forms the inner floor of the building and is the for structural integrity.
The file will come as one complete page, the pieces are grouped as they are shown in the above images and all you'll need to do is select which ones you want to cut depending on the material in the laser cutter. To give you a better idea of how the pieces fit together here is a compiled image with the pieces stacked.
The three items at the bottom of the image make up the roof details and there is an furnace grate shown on one of the pieces at the very bottom of the image. The closely spaced lines are the grate and will be etched.
​Two different files are available to download - one is the file with everything separated into individual parts ready for laser cutting and the other file is all the pieces compiled together one on top of another giving you an idea of the final look of the building.
This file incules all the components spread out ready for printing.
moes_tavern_separated.eps
File Size: 914 kb
File Type: eps
Download File
This file includes all of the individual pieces that make up Moe's Tavern stacked on top of each other giving a better idea of the final result.
If you use this file for cutting you'll need to separate the pieces into groups first.
moes_tavern__pieced_together.eps
File Size: 548 kb
File Type: eps
Download File
I'm very excited to build this model and I'll certainly post updates to the progress here in the near future.

Vallejo Paint Holder

After purchasing the laser cutter I needed a project that wasn't too difficult and at the same time I wanted something that I'd be able to use.
Something I'd been considering on many different occasions was a paint rack to hold and store all of the Vallejo paints I'm using, at the moment the paints are stored in a small storage container which has been working quite fine however sometimes it can be difficult to sort through the colors especially for the paints not visible from the edges of the container.
As you can see in the above image, although you can somewhat see the colors it is not as easy as I'd like it to be. I have seen some paint small dots on top of the lid of each paint bottle which is a great idea however I wanted something a little bit more visually appealing.
After doing a little bit of research I discovered paint holders are quite popular within the hobby community and there are a huge variety of home made designs and structures out there with instructions and plans. I did notice one very common theme among the commercial paint holders... and that is they are almost all laser cut in one way or another!  
Here is a DIY paint rack made with ply wood and wooden dowel. It's a simple and easy to build design and is functional. It might not look as pretty as some of the commercial ones however if you're on a budget and you're after a paint rack that gets the job done then building something like this might be just for you.
Full instructions are available here for this DIY version:
​https://warmaster40k.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/diy-paint-standholder/
Then on the other hand you have a huge range of commercial paint racks available from most good hobby stores. They come in a huge variety of sizes and are usually paint brand specific however there are a few commercial paint racks out there that are somewhat universal for certain brands. Just be sure to carefully read the description of the particular paint rack you're interested in to make sure it supports the paints you have.
As you can see from the commercial paint rack above it's a pretty basic laser cut design using readily available 3mm MDF. So with that in mind I opened up my version of CorelDRAW and began designing!
The most difficult part of learning any new skill especially when it involves computer programs is understanding the multitude of available functions and how they all interact with each other! I was brand new to CorelDRAW when I started designing this paint rack however instead of stumbling around the program until I eventually figured out what to do I purchased an online learning course to fast track my knowledge and get it right the first time!
If you're interested in knowing what I used to learn the ins and outs of using CorelDRAW x8 here is a link to the website, it was $30 well spent:

The Design

Above is the final drawing of the paint rack, it is designed with the intention of using 3mm MDF and slots together. All up it can house 48 Vallejo paint bottles. I actually have a few more than 48 Vallejo paint bottles so I'll need to laser cut a few of these to fit them all. 
Depending on the accuracy of the laser cutter that is used, the pieces should fit together quite precisely however I expect that the final assembly will need to be glued. Given that the paint rack is constructed with 3mm MDF standard wood glue should be fine and rubber bands can be used to hold the paint rack together securely as the glue dries.  
If you'd like to download the file and give it a try on your own laser cutter and even make modifications to the design you can download the original file here:
​
This file includes all the components to laser cut your own paint rack. It is designed to be cut using 3mm MDF and only supports Vallejo 17ml paint bottles or other similar sized brands.
vallejo_paint_rack.eps
File Size: 4887 kb
File Type: eps
Download File

Fine Lattice Fence Panel

One of the reasons most model builders want a laser cutter is not only to design and construct buildings fast and easy but to also push the limits of detail. A laser cutter is a great example of dealing with both speed and detail that is hard to beat... however it does have it's limits and that is something I'm continuing to push.
This lattice fence panel is a perfect example. Lattice can be very intricate however with some careful designing the laser cutter has handled it with easy. Granted it is a basic cutting pattern however  to build this by hand using strip wood would take ages! I'd certainly choose the laser cutter as opposed to hand crafting lattice especially if you're making a lot!
Basically the lattice design was cut in two parts, a front and a back.
Once the two sections had been cut from the 0.5mm plywood sheet I lightly sanded them using some steel wool.
Just be very careful rubbing them back as the 0.5mm plywood is extremely thin and it doesn't take much to break! The reason for rubbing them back is due to the uneven burning from the laser which results is very small flakes of ash and burnt plywood along the edges, to the naked eye it looks insignificant however when you place a small HO scale figure beside the lattice panel those small imperfections suddenly look quite large...
Once it's been lightly sanded I glued both sides together using some spray adhesive then with everything in place I coated the panel using Rustoleum Flat White Primer spray paint. 
Then to get that old weathered look (if that's what you're after) I once again lightly sanded the painted lattice panel with the steel wool until I had the desired result.
The EPS file includes what can be seen in the image, the thicker lines indicate areas that are etched. I've found for really thin lines that need complete removal I get better results etching them as opposed to cutting. The process takes longer however for intricate detail I find the results are better.
The outer perimeter line is a cut line which allows the lattice to be removed from the plywood panel.
I encourage you to experiment with different cutting methods, depending on the quality of your laser cutter your results may vary.
The plywood used was 0.5mm marine ply.
lattice_design.eps
File Size: 80 kb
File Type: eps
Download File

Wooden Fence

Making a wooden fence like this by hand could take in excess of 15 minutes cutting all those individual planks of wood from strip wood and spacing them apart at just the right spacing! With a laser cutter you can have a great looking fence in just 3 minutes.
The fence is cut using two different thicknesses of plywood, the slats are cut using 0.75mm plywood and the main supporting structure is cut from 1.3mm plywood. 
A prototypical thickness of plywood that would better match a wooden slat fence is a little closer to 0.5mm thick however for structural integrity and appearance I think the 0.75mm wood works well.  
The slats are designed to be slightly see though as can be seen in the image above and they have little tabs at the bottom of each plank, they are there to hold all the planks together while the main supporting structure is glued to the back of the planks. Once everything is glued together and secured you can use a hobby knife to cut each of the tabs and then if required you can sand and paint the fence the desired color.
You can see in the above image that the fence has been constructed and I have used strip styrene (2mm X 2mm) for the upright posts. Even though it has not been painted in this photo the fence still looks quite good, it would be very easy to simply paint the upright posts a wooden color and maybe apply a stain to the plywood section of the fence to get a good looking older style fence. Airbrushing the fence is recommended over hand painting to avoid getting blotches of paint filling in the very fine gaps between each plank.
This file includes all the components to laser cut your own wooden fence. The slats are cut using 0.75mm plywood and the main supporting structure is cut using 1.3mm plywood. The upright posts are made from 2mm by 2mm evergreen styrene and added after the fence has been assembled. 
wooden_fence.eps
File Size: 74 kb
File Type: eps
Download File