Laser Acrylic Robot Drawing Stencil

In this workshop you will create a robot drawing stencil using shape tools in Inkscape. Your design will be cut from transparent acrylic using a laser cutter.

The template

Using this 8"x4" template as a beginning, you will edit the paths provided, and add/combine shapes to create a unique robot stencil.

What are paths? Vector images are made of paths. In the image above, every shape is a path. With a laser cutter, path information like shape and size becomes cutting information for the laser. In the example above, the shapes would all be cut out and the text would be etched or rastered on to the acrylic.

Combining shapes: Add a triangle, circle, square, or star to a shape. Select both shapes and go to Path > Union. (example below: antenna)

Subtracting shapes: Add a triangle, circle, square, or star to a shape. Select both shapes and go to Path > Difference. (example below: eyes)

Add a unique angle: Double click on a line, making the path nodes appear. Path nodes appear as gray diamonds. Click and drag it to alter the angle of a line. (example below: the body is now more of an hourglass)

Note: Try to maintain or enlarge the provided distance between the inner and outer shape -- this should be enough space for a pencil or pen to pass. Remember, it's a stencil!

Survey

Surveys are here: https://sites.google.com/site/cplmakerlab/surveys