3Easily Suede
Leather Keychain
Image of Leather Keychain
Using calipers, I determined the dimensions of the leather keychain as 4.4" from top to bottom, 2.2" from side to side at the widest part of the keychain and 0.7" from side to side at the narrowest part of the keychain, and 0.1" in width.
Image of Leather Keychain in Inkscape
After uploaded the image of the leather keychain to my digital portfolio folder on Drive, I used remove.bg to remove the background of the image and then saved the new image as a PNG file. I went under the file menu in Inkscape and selected the import button and then chose my file to import with the settings embed image import type, from file image DPI, and auto image rendering mode.
Image of Leather Keychain and Bitmap Outline Tracing
I then changed the document properties to inch display units and front page inch format, 3.0" width, and 5.0" height. Next selecting the image and clicking the trace bitmap button, I selected the edge detection with 0.650 threshold and details of 2 speckles, 1.00 smooth corners, and 0.200 optimize and then clicked apply to get the bitmap tracing.
Bitmap Outline Tracing
To have only the bitmap tracing on the Inkscape file I selected the image of the leather keychain and dragged the image out from behind the bitmap and deleted the image.
The Logo:
Image of logo in Inkscape
The image as a bitmap
United States Equestrian Federation Logo
In a seperate document from the keychain bitmap tracing, I imported an image of the United States Equestrian Federation logo from the web as a JPEG file. I changed the document settings to display inch units and front page format to inches and width 3.0" and height 5.0". To create the bitmap of the logo, I selected the logo and then the bitmap tracing button. I set the detection mode to edge detection with a 0.650 edge threshold and the detail settings to 2 speckles, 1.00 smooth corners, and 0.250 optimize. After removing and deleting the origional image, I was left with just the image bitmap tracing.
The reason I selected this logo is because I have ridden horses since I was eight-years-old and, in 19 days on November 1st 2022, I will have been riding horses for half of my life. USEF is the federation I compete in and has been essential in my personal development growing up as a child.
Leather Keychain and Logo Bitmap Together
To get the outline and logo together, I changed the document preferences for the keychain tracing to the size of the cardboard I would be cutting on, 27.5" and 17.25" and positioned the bitmap to wherfe I would be cutting on the cardboard, the x-coordinate 0.600 and y-coordinate 2.200. I then saved my logo .svg file and then imported it into the keychain file. After positioning the logo inside the lower half of the keychain outline, I saved the file as a PNG.
Into Corel Draw for Printing
Outline in Inscape
Using the PNG file from Inkscape, I imported the file into Corel Draw and deleted the logo. I then retraced the keychain outline as a bitmap and converted the lines to hairline. Ensuring my document properties were set to inch units, I then resized the paper to 27.5" width and 17.25" length and positioned the outline at y-coordinate 6.0 and x-coordinate 0.8125 from the bottom left of the page. I then saved the file as a .cdr.
Logo in Corel Draw
Similarly, I imported the PNG file into Corel Draw and deleted the keychain outline. I then set the document properties to inch unites and the page size to 27.5" width and 17.25" length. I then saved the document as a .cdr.
Logo and Outline Together in Corel Draw
explain how got outline from Corel Draw into logo in Corel Draw file and the positioning/sizing and hairline lines, etc.
I then imported the logo .cdr file into the keychain outline file and resized the logo to fit in the bottom of the keychain. I them saved the new file of both the keychain outline and logo bitmaps as a .cdr file and exported them to the enjproj folder.
Final Design
I next uploaded the .cdr files of my two classmates into my file and ensured they were imported with the correct x- and y-coordinate positionings. I then saved the final combined file as a .cdr and exported to the enjproj folder.
Cardboard Engraving and Rastering in Keychain Dimensions
Engraving and Rastering Cardboard in Keychain Dimesnions
After downloading the .cdr file from the enjproj folder I imported the file into Corel Draw and clicked print. From there I changed the settings to 100 power, 15 speed, and 25 frequency for the raster and 25 power, 100 speed, and 100 frequency for the engraving and the selected autofocus. I then clicked apply and print on the computer to send the file to the Fusion M2 screen. On the screen I pressed the reset button, selected my job, and clicked the start button.
Timelapse Recording of Rastering and Engraving of Cardboard Piece
IMG_5638.mov
Rastered Keychain
Rastering the Leather
Using the same layout as the cardboard, I removed the outline engraving and changed the settings to 90 speed, 30 power, and 100 frequency for the leather material and kept autofocus selected. Next I pressed apply, print, and then selected my job on the Fusion M2 screen and print.
Timelapse Recording of Leather Keychain Rastering
Alana rastering.mov
Front of Keychain with Metal Ring and Screw
Back of Keychain with Metal Ring and Screw
The Final Product
To create the final product of the keychain I put a metal ring around the skinny portion of the leather and secured it by using a screwdriver to twist a screw into the rivet.
My original digital design included the words "FEDERATION;" however, after encountering some problems and having to redesign multiple times we ended up using a different version of the logo from the internet and thus the final product lacks the word "FEDERATION."
Rastering involves making smaller, etched marks into a material to create texture and dimension. Additionally, rastering does not fully cut through a material. On a Fusion M2 laser cutter, rastering leather material 100 power, 15 speed, and 25 frequency settings and cardboard 25 power, 100 speed, and 100 frequency settings. Raster graphics are made up of set grid pixels and are commonly PNG, GIF, JPEG, and TIFF files.
Problems I Encountered
The bitmap tracing In Inkscape of the United States Equestrian Federation logo's letters were very thin and unlikely to properly raster onto the keychain. To resolve this Issue, I created and moved the nodes of the letters to create thicker and more visible lines.
The logo I was originally using Included the word "FEDERATION;" however, due to a poor quality, the bitmap tracing of the Image was not coming out In good enough quality. To resolve this, I Imported a different version of the USEF logo as a JPG file and used the edge detection mode to trace a new bitmap.
While bring the Inkscape .cdr file of both my keychain outline and logo bitmaps, the logo became stretched and altered. After many attempts to fix this Issue, we finally found a solution: brining the outline of the keychain and the logo bitmaps In separate Inkscape .png files Into separate .cdr files In Corel Draw, retracing the bitmaps and changing the keychain outline lines to hairline, and then sizing the page and keychain outline before Importing the Corel Draw .cdr file of the logo Into the keychain outline file. Next I resized the USEF logo to fit Into the keychain outline and then saved the new file with both the outline and logo as a .cdr file.
When I first attempted my laser cutting on the cardboard I Imported the file from Inkscape; however, Instead of engraving the keychain outline Into the cardboard, It only rastered the outline. To fix this Issue I Imported the file to Corel Draw and laser cut the cardboard again. Then, while engraving the cardboard, I ran over one of the lines we were supposed to cut within due to slightly too small of measurements for the height from the edge of the cardboard to the line. To resolve this I remeasured so I could correct the measurements In my notes but still rastered my leather keychain with the same measurements as I used before to keep the outline I cut and the location of the raster the same throughout my cutting.
Another Issue that occurred Is that on the final day of the project, multiple days after I engraved and rastered the cardboard, another cardboard piece with my design randomly appeared In the FabLab. Mrs. Morrow found the piece and gave It to me, however; we are unsure as to how the cardboard piece came to be. To resolve this, I decided to take a picture of the piece, put It Into my box of engineering projects, and document Its strange occurrence on my digital portfolio.