Laser cut box
What's Needed
You will need Adobe Illustrator, follow the instructions below to download if it's not installed on your computer
Some ways to use your box but there are many more!
Jewelry box
Tool organizer
Gift box - out of paper or wood
Lantern
Lamp shade
Candle holder
Pencil case
Book case/ Journal cover
etc...
First steps
Box Generator
Start by using a box generator to create a 2D template that will be laser cut.
The box generator creates finger joints that connect the sides of the boxes together, similar to puzzle pieces.
Choose a Material:
Plywood 1/8th inch
Construction Paper 9"x12"
Acrylic up to 18" x 32" 0.50"
Transparent, color, fluorescent even mirrored sheets can be cut!
Please keep material within the dimensions above, if you are unsure ask a makerspace staff member.
*Take note of your material thickness unless you are using paper*
Box generator - This generator has lots of options but no way to visualize what it will look like
Box generator - Less options, however, you can actively see what your box will look like
Paper template - Box generator for paper *thickness does not matter*
Most important factor when using a box generator or creating a box on your own is the thickness of your material.
Download and save plans as an SVG
Once saved, open the file in Illustrator
Note on resizing your design: Box too big or too small? Resize it in the generator!
Scaling it in Illustrator it will change the size of the finger joints and the pieces will not fit
Illustrator
Click "Open" > Select your svg file to open it in Adobe Illustrator
When you open Illustrator change your Color Mode to RGB
Select > Document Color Mode > RGB
*The Laser Cutter only reads RGB values!*
Tools & Interface!
This is the basic interface for Illustrator
*May look slightly different depending on operating system*
Allows you to move, rotate, or scale an object or group of objects
Allows you to select, move, or modify points in a path or shape
Allows you create complex objects from simple shapes with merging and subtractive operations
Patterns
An easy, quick way to add customization to a design is through patterns. You can also create your own patterns in Illustrator
When searching for patterns you want to find ones with clean lines, preferably black and white. These will be easier to image trace
*If you only intend to raster your patterns you will not need to image trace*
After bringing your pattern into Illustrator. If it's not an svg you will only need to image trace it to cut or vector engrave
When imaging tracing > select "Silhouettes"
Select Expand with your object selected (using the selection tool)
This will convert the image to a vector creating points throughout your object
ShapeBuilder
The ShapeBuilder tool will allow us to crop the pattern into unique shapes or fit it into the box that is being created
Using a couple of shapes I will crop the pattern to fit it into the shape I want
You could also use the box shape for this as well
The Align tool is helpful to center shapes based on multiple factors
Default operation is additive, you will see a + by the mouse pointer
Hold Alt to subtract and left click on the mouse to drag through what you want to subtract. (you will see a - indicator next to the mouse)
To use the Shape Builder tool:
Select both the shape and pattern with the selection tool
Left click and drag through what you want to combine or subtract
Now, you can use the selection tool to move your patterns into your box designs how you see fit
To center your patterns you can use the align tool again
Color Settings
Now that the design is finished. It's time to decide how it will look when it's laser cut, which parts get Cut, Raster, or Vector Engraved.
These processes all work in RGB values with the exception of Raster, which is grayscale. The size of the stroke is also crucial for Vector engraving and cutting.
Cut - 255,0,0
Stroke Size - 0.1
Raster - Grayscale
Fill and Stroke can be any size but not too small or it will lose detail
Vector Engrave - 0,0,255
Stroke Size - 0.1
Color changed without stroke size adjustment
Note: The polygon pattern wouldn't work well as a cut process. The entire outline would be cut out losing the detail inside the pattern.
Here's what it will look like once you change the stroke and color
Setting up your Artboard
Here is an example of how you can setup up the artboard so it's easy to know the location of the material within the laser cutter
Example: 2 sheets of construction within the laser cutter
Material 9" w x 12" h x 2
Artboard size 32" w x 18" h
Design placed with rectangles/material sized to material snapped to top left corner of artboard
That's it! Now your file is ready to be laser cut, you can save it out as an Illustrator file and follow the link above to cut out your box
Resources
Some useful links to help you get started
Box generator - This generator has lots of options but no way to visualize what it will look like
Box generator - Less options, however, you can actively see what your box will look like
Paper template - Box generator for paper
Custom pattern generator - Create custom patterns that you can export as an svg