Preparing an image for laser cutting

[ricj]

So last Christmas, my partner bought me an incredibly detailed, laser cut, OO scale kit of a shepherds hut (as that's where we'd stayed on our last holiday). I really enjoyed building it but more importantly it sowed a seed in my mind that, if a tiny model kit could be laser cut to such incredible detail, surely there must be bespoke laser cutting services out there that would produce railway related model kits and I would be able to achieve my dream of creating a working model of the station that used to exist in my town (I definitely don't possess the skills to scratch build such a complicated design).

I already have highly detailed architectural plans of the station building in my collection and so, perhaps naively I assumed that if I sent those to a bespoke laser cutting company, they would simply feed them into some computer program and the laser cutter would do its thing. Obviously I soon found out I was wrong about that and in order to convert those images into a format that the laser cutter could work with, would take a lot of time and therefore a LOT of money. All the service providers I spoke to did say that I'd be more than welcome to create my own computer files out of the images and that brings me to the whole point of this thread:

So does anyone have any experience in this area and can anyone offer any help or advice around the best (and easiest) way to approach this? It seems the only free software available is Inkscape so that's what I've homed in on for now but not totally sure whether it is the best option. In my mind, all I need to do is trace over the original image and then change the colours of the lines to indicate what kind of cut is required or whether it's an etch etc? that in itself sounds time consuming but not overly complicated.

But any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[okirkby]

So last Christmas, my partner bought me an incredibly detailed, laser cut, OO scale kit of a shepherds hut (as that's where we'd stayed on our last holiday). I really enjoyed building it but more importantly it sowed a seed in my mind that, if a tiny model kit could be laser cut to such incredible detail, surely there must be bespoke laser cutting services out there that would produce railway related model kits and I would be able to achieve my dream of creating a working model of the station that used to exist in my town (I definitely don't possess the skills to scratch build such a complicated design).

I already have highly detailed architectural plans of the station building in my collection and so, perhaps naively I assumed that if I sent those to a bespoke laser cutting company, they would simply feed them into some computer program and the laser cutter would do its thing. Obviously I soon found out I was wrong about that and in order to convert those images into a format that the laser cutter could work with, would take a lot of time and therefore a LOT of money. All the service providers I spoke to did say that I'd be more than welcome to create my own computer files out of the images and that brings me to the whole point of this thread:

So does anyone have any experience in this area and can anyone offer any help or advice around the best (and easiest) way to approach this? It seems the only free software available is Inkscape so that's what I've homed in on for now but not totally sure whether it is the best option. In my mind, all I need to do is trace over the original image and then change the colours of the lines to indicate what kind of cut is required or whether it's an etch etc? that in itself sounds time consuming but not overly complicated.

But any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Simply put you effectively do trace the drawings, but you need to consider the material you're working with, the tollerances of the lasercutter you're going to be using etc. You also need to be able to plan ahead as to how you're going to turn a pile of parts into a 3D building too - Is this going to be a skeleton framework clad with detailed parts? Are you going to just use the exterior pieces to reduce material costs then have these fit together somehow - maybe a comb/finger joint for example? Then with regards to the surface finish are you going to use plasticard or printed texture card for the brickwork/external details, or do you want to etch a brick pattern into the matterial you're cutting? If you're doing the former then you only need to think about cutting basic holes for your windows/doors, but if you're etching the pattern in then you have a lot more work on your hands.

Have a look online at the lasercut kits already available and see how they're designed/built to get some ideas on how to get started. Then once your ready start by planning out the basic shapes that make up the outline of your building and go from there. Make sure you try and use sensible dimensions and units (mm is usually the goto) and try and stick to easy figures to work with - if your scaled dimenions end up being to multiple dp the round or truncate them, but remember what you have done as you may need to refer to these dimensions for other parts. Also when drawing try to ensure you keep everything square and don't end up with odd angles as this could also throw your dimensions out.

For the software side of things it is certainly possible to use Inkscape but by no means is it the best, or most suited for what you're planning on doing. However, for a good spec CAD software application the prices do go up quite quickly.

 

[fishwomp]

For the software side of things it is certainly possible to use Inkscape but by no means is it the best, or most suited for what you're planning on doing. However, for a good spec CAD software application the prices do go up quite quickly.

I recently tried FreeCAD, I was quite impressed by the online tutorial videos - works on Mac, Windows and Linux. It'd be a breeze to make some models and it's easy to do geometric repeats like the cut-outs of canopies.

Whilst I haven't built anything yet, its output can be used to drive 3D printer or a laser cutter. So, if you really want to have bespoke OO-scale objects, that's a route with multiple possibilities. My local library offers free 3D printing one night a week, and am sure you'd find somewhere local doing one or the other at a 'maker workshop' - for cost of materials.