5 ms·

Boxes.py – Create boxes and more with a laser cutter

88 points by ale42 4y ago

Ninjinka 4y ago
Hug of death?
paulhart 4y ago
Internet Archive version: https://web.archive.org/web/20220809073511/https://festi.info/boxes.py/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220809073511/https://festi.inf... Github.io: https://florianfesti.github.io/boxes/html/generators.html https://florianfesti.github.io/boxes/html/generators.html Also see the Hackaday Project: https://hackaday.io/project/10649-boxespy https://hackaday.io/project/10649-boxespy
icyfox 4y ago
I first used a laser cutter ~eight years ago. Our printer's UX relied on sending designs with special colors to an attached usb driver. So you'd make something in Illustrator, open a regular print dialogue, and get out a precisely cut acrylic piece a minute later. It was pretty incredible. This was back in college so we had a manufacturing lab that was chock full of them. They're a bit harder to find in the wide world - but highly recommend the experience if you can get your hands on one.
- lightedman 4y ago
  Any Chinese K40 Laser Engraver paired with K40 Whisperer works exactly this same way. Red for cutting, blue for engraving, black for raster-sweep printing. This is how I run my setup.
- jfim 4y ago
  Laser cutters are pretty cheap nowadays. There are diode lasers that can be retrofitted onto 3D printers, as well as the Chinese K40 laser cutter that uses CO2 laser tubes. There are even DIY projects to make your own laser cutter using a CO2 tube, these can have a very large cutting area (eg. 8x4ft). A word of warning about the K40, make sure that you know about proper laser safety. I believe that many of the machines available don't even have a proper door interlock that stops the laser if the door is open.
  - traverseda 4y ago
    The diode lasers probably aren't worth your time.
    - jfim 4y ago
      It depends on what the intent is. If it's just to try it out a few times to play with it, it's a cheap way to know if one is interested in putting more money in that hobby. Otherwise, I agree with you, they're kind of weak and as such operate really slowly.
lightedman 4y ago
This is neat, but there should be a place to add in the parameter for the thickness of the material being used. I tend to default to 2.5mm hardboard, other people use 3mm or 4mm MDF, so it makes the fitting much better. EDIT: Oh, it's the second set of parameters halfway down. I feel that should be one of the first things you should have to input.
Glench 4y ago
Have to plug my friend's box generator which lets you draw these kinds of projects visually and then tweak/export parameters in real-time to see how the design changes: https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Closed-Box-with-Finger-Joints-blQZfaiFfZvv https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Closed-Box-with-Finger-Joints-blQZf...
- ale42 4y ago
  Only in inches? That's pretty annoying outside of the US ;)
  - Glench 4y ago
    If you click "edit in Cuttle" you can easily convert all measurements to cm or whatever you want, just multiply the parameters by the conversion factor.
thomasfedb 4y ago
The CanStorage is very neat, looks much nicer than the commercial plastic versions. https://festi.info/boxes.py/CanStorage?language=en https://festi.info/boxes.py/CanStorage?language=en
TaylorAlexander 4y ago
Well we just got a CNC plasma cutter at work so I will have to play with this!
varispeed 4y ago
That makes me think how people in many places live in tiny apartments and even if they could afford buy a laser cutter, they would have nowhere to play with it. You would have a dilemma - save for a mortgage or rent a workshop - often times would cost more than you could have money to spare. When I read today that someone has started a company in their garage, that sounds like some millionaire thing now. Who can afford that... I am sorry for the rant.
- Freak_NL 4y ago
  A garage. Now that's a goal to have. Even with two decent incomes a house with a garage or a large shed is impossible to get in quite a few countries now unless you bend over backwards for a crippling mortgage or accept a number of other significant drawbacks. The housing market is ridiculous right now in the Netherlands, and we're not the only country where this is the case. I'm just glad I have a modest workspace (5.0 m × 1.7 m) for woodworking and maintenance in my house.

88 points by ale42 4y ago

Hug of death?

Internet Archive version: https://web.archive.org/web/20220809073511/https://festi.info/boxes.py/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220809073511/https://festi.inf... Github.io: https://florianfesti.github.io/boxes/html/generators.html https://florianfesti.github.io/boxes/html/generators.html Also see the Hackaday Project: https://hackaday.io/project/10649-boxespy https://hackaday.io/project/10649-boxespy

icyfox 4y ago

I first used a laser cutter ~eight years ago. Our printer's UX relied on sending designs with special colors to an attached usb driver. So you'd make something in Illustrator, open a regular print dialogue, and get out a precisely cut acrylic piece a minute later. It was pretty incredible. This was back in college so we had a manufacturing lab that was chock full of them. They're a bit harder to find in the wide world - but highly recommend the experience if you can get your hands on one.

lightedman 4y ago
Any Chinese K40 Laser Engraver paired with K40 Whisperer works exactly this same way. Red for cutting, blue for engraving, black for raster-sweep printing. This is how I run my setup.
jfim 4y ago
Laser cutters are pretty cheap nowadays. There are diode lasers that can be retrofitted onto 3D printers, as well as the Chinese K40 laser cutter that uses CO2 laser tubes. There are even DIY projects to make your own laser cutter using a CO2 tube, these can have a very large cutting area (eg. 8x4ft). A word of warning about the K40, make sure that you know about proper laser safety. I believe that many of the machines available don't even have a proper door interlock that stops the laser if the door is open.
- traverseda 4y ago
  The diode lasers probably aren't worth your time.
  - jfim 4y ago
    It depends on what the intent is. If it's just to try it out a few times to play with it, it's a cheap way to know if one is interested in putting more money in that hobby. Otherwise, I agree with you, they're kind of weak and as such operate really slowly.

lightedman 4y ago

This is neat, but there should be a place to add in the parameter for the thickness of the material being used. I tend to default to 2.5mm hardboard, other people use 3mm or 4mm MDF, so it makes the fitting much better. EDIT: Oh, it's the second set of parameters halfway down. I feel that should be one of the first things you should have to input.

Glench 4y ago

Have to plug my friend's box generator which lets you draw these kinds of projects visually and then tweak/export parameters in real-time to see how the design changes: https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Closed-Box-with-Finger-Joints-blQZfaiFfZvv https://cuttle.xyz/@toby/Closed-Box-with-Finger-Joints-blQZf...

ale42 4y ago
Only in inches? That's pretty annoying outside of the US ;)
- Glench 4y ago
  If you click "edit in Cuttle" you can easily convert all measurements to cm or whatever you want, just multiply the parameters by the conversion factor.

thomasfedb 4y ago

The CanStorage is very neat, looks much nicer than the commercial plastic versions. https://festi.info/boxes.py/CanStorage?language=en https://festi.info/boxes.py/CanStorage?language=en

TaylorAlexander 4y ago

Well we just got a CNC plasma cutter at work so I will have to play with this!

varispeed 4y ago

That makes me think how people in many places live in tiny apartments and even if they could afford buy a laser cutter, they would have nowhere to play with it. You would have a dilemma - save for a mortgage or rent a workshop - often times would cost more than you could have money to spare. When I read today that someone has started a company in their garage, that sounds like some millionaire thing now. Who can afford that... I am sorry for the rant.

Freak_NL 4y ago
A garage. Now that's a goal to have. Even with two decent incomes a house with a garage or a large shed is impossible to get in quite a few countries now unless you bend over backwards for a crippling mortgage or accept a number of other significant drawbacks. The housing market is ridiculous right now in the Netherlands, and we're not the only country where this is the case. I'm just glad I have a modest workspace (5.0 m × 1.7 m) for woodworking and maintenance in my house.