LASTER CUTTING MACHINE [ technical/tools - #DES100 ]

A design machine that I was very interesting to me and something I would want to use more is the laster cutting machine. On the 20th of March, 2020 I was able to have a chance to attend a laster cutting workshop, during this workshop we were able to learn the basics of the laser cutter and how to use it.

A laser cutting machine is a machine that can be used for engraving and cutting materials like plastic, wood, denim etc. Many companies use laser cutting as a way to produce their products such as Levi's. Levi's introduced their new Levi Strauss & Co. project to help create ethically produced jeans using the laser cutting machine. "a digitising technique that uses lasers to ethically create designs on its jeans in place of manual labor" (Ong T, Mar. 2018). As the technology is developing, the use of laser cutting is being more developed and well made.

The advantages of a laser cutter is that it is faster than usual engraving, it is safe, very detailed and is compatible with any vector software, however, there are also disadvantages of it such as it is harder to cut thicker and it will take much longer, it concusses a large amount of energy and with some materials such as plastic it creates toxic emissions which means that it isn't environmentally friendly.

This is a video of the machine cutting up the piece of plastic that our group designed.

And this is the final outcome from the laster cutting workshop.

Overall, it was a very fun experience to use the laser cutting machine and it would have to be my favourite design machine as I am very excited to use to machine later in the future.

Works Citied

Genaro Ponce. (Aug. 2019). Laser cutting - Advantages and Disadvantages. all3dp. https://all3dp.com/2/laser-cutting-advantages-and-disadvantages/

What are laser cutting machines? (April. 2015) ShapeCUT https://www.shapecut.com.au/blog/what-are-laser-cutting-machines/

Ong, T. (Mar. 2018). Levi’s will use lasers to ethically create the finishes on all of its jeans. THE VERGE. https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/4/17061656/levis-jeans-ethic-clothing-labor-design

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