Scrap Wood Picture Frames

Step 1 (Measuring wood piece and spraypainting): The first step in this project was measuring the wood piece that I wanted to use for my frame. I measured the length, width, and thickness. This is key to creating an accurate model for the machine to carve out. Once I'm done writing down my measurements, I go outside with the spray paint of my choosing and paint the side that I didn't write any measurements on. (So I can remember them and input them into Fusion)

Step 2 (Creating model on Fusion): The next step was to download the pre-made model from the portal and adjust it to match the measurements of my plywood piece. I first click on the adjust button in the design menu and insert my measurements. I then make sure to make the stock a bit bigger than the actual model (1/2 an inch).  After ensuring my measurements were accurate and correct, I updated the tool paths and watched the simulation to ensure everything was correct.  Then I clicked my setup and clicked Create NC Program. I then verified that my project was named and was on 1001. After that, I saved the file to my computer and sent it to the maker space email. 

Step 5 (Acrylic and wood backing): My frame itself is finished; however, to really make it a picture frame, I have to create an acrylic front piece and a wood backing to keep both the acrylic and my chosen picture in place.  I first go back onto Fusion and create a sketch of the two inner areas of my frame. Then, I right-clicked my sketch, downloaded the DXF file, and opened it in Adobe Illustrator (remember, when opening it you should open it in the 'original' size).  When in the Adobe file, I first make sure the canvas is big enough to fit my sketch, and then when I ensure it's the correct size, I make a new layer. I select the middle line on the original sketch layer and move it to the new one. I select my middle line on this new layer, change its stroke thickness to 0.001, and ensure my outline has no fill. I also ensured that my rounded corners had a 0.25 tolerance (Which you must carefully check). After this,  I can press print to ensure I have the correct settings. (Instructions on makerspace page). Once I press print and reach the printing popup, I check the settings and make the vector either 1/8" acrylic (for my acrylic piece) or 1/4" wood (for my backing).  I also line up my outline with the material inside the laser cutter. Finally, I can autofocus the laser, select my project, and print it. 

Step 6 (Adjusting acrylic and wood backing): Personally, I had a lot of issues while making my acrylic pieces and wood backings. In my first frame, I had made both the acrylic and wood backing, but both ended up being just a little bit too big for my frame. Why? Because the corners were just about 0.01 inches off. So I manually shaved off those 0.01 inches of acrylic off my piece, which made it fit tightly, but it still fits pretty well. I decided to use wood (shaver?) for my wood backing because it's more efficient.  

Step 7 (Printing out pictures): To print out my pictures, I first have to set them up in Adobe. I take the sketch of my frame, which I used beforehand to cut out my acrylic and backings, then 'place' my image into the project my sketches are in. I move my picture into a separate layer from my sketch. But I'm not done yet, I can now make my stroke thickness (of my sketch) about 0.1 now; and I also make the stroke color a specific color of grey called, (insert), that I can find in the Versaworks folder (inside folders). Now, I can save my project to my computer, but make sure to make it a PDF. I then send the PDF to the maker space email, where I can reaccess it on the computer connected to the (insert). When on the computer, there's one thing I have to check before I can print. If there are moving dotted lines around my image, where my sketch line would be, I've used the right color and am ready to print. 

Step 8 (Adding frame tabs): Adding the tabs to my frame was by far the easiest part of this project; I first screwed on the screws with the tabs attached to the screw as well. This is so that we can screw down the tabs and the screw at the same time.  After this step, my frame is finally done.