How to Laser Cut With Sketchup and 123dmake

This will give you a crash course on how to use sketchup, 123dmake, and a laser cutter

After you open Sketchup you will find that there are many different scales that you can use. This tutorial will have you use inches/feet for the template. Once you have chosen the template from here you will play in Sketchup and draw what you want to print out on a 2d scale. Once this is done you will export to a 2d surface and save the file as a dxf. so it will be able to transfer to the laser cutter correctly with no issues. From here if you are only using Sketchup skip the second step of this tutorial.

123dmake is a bit different from sketchup as you cannot draw or design only upload an image to 3d print or laser cut. For 123dmake you would go to Thingiverse and find something you would want to laser cut. Download the file and import it into 123dmake and it will process and show up. From here you will change the construction technique to stackable or interlocking parts so you are able to make it on the laser cuter.

Once you are to this point you will need to transfer the file to the laser cutter computer so that you can set up the file. Import the file onto the file and make sure to properly scale to size using the conversion of 25.4 per inch to have what you want to scale. Once this is done chose the power and speed at what you want to cut at I recommend power 100 and speed 7-9 depending on the thickness of the wood plank sheet used. From here on the laser cutter press the z so you can adjust the axis of the machine and have the platform rise or lower. There is a tool on the laser cutter to measure the correct length away from the wood. Once all of this is complete test the area of where you are cutting and if it looks like it fits all the wood well you can start cutting. From here the machine will take five to an hour depending on what speed and how much you are cutting with the laser cutter. Once this is done take it out and if you made a 3d object assemble it.