Laser Cut Christmas Trees

I designed these Christmas trees using Fusion 360. They make for a great decoration or gift.

Materials:

Use as many sheets as wood as you like. Make sure that the thickness of the wood is around 5mm in order for the assembly to run more smoothly. Typically, wood sheets do not fit to the cutting size of your laser cutter so you may need to use a panel saw to cut it.

Wood Stain (Optional): Applying a wood stain would give a nice color to the trees.

Green/Brown Paint: Once cut you can paint the tree and the base two different colors.

Laser Cutter

Note: I am using the P-SERIES 36x24 CO2 LASER.

First download the zip file provided which contains all the laser cutting files. There are three sizes to choose from to laser cut, including a 9 inch, 12 inch and an 18 inch model (Based on height).

Next, open the dxf files up in Adobe Illustrator. You can use other software such as Inkscape or SketchUp, which will also work. Back to Illustrator, when importing the files make sure you select Original Size in order for the dimensions to be imported as well. Now you want to click print or (Ctrl + p) in order to send the drawing path to the RetinaEngrave software. You will see a pop-up window and make sure you change the media size in the drop-down menu to :"FSL ProLF Series 36x24". If you see a pop-up window in the RetinaEngrave, just click OK.

Operation:

At this point, turn on the laser cutter by turning the key on the interface, clockwise. At the bottom-right of your screen, click on the reconnect button to establish a connection with the computer and laser cutter. Once connected, click on the home button so the laser cutter will know where is is moving. Before we move on, open the lid on the laser cutter and lay your piece of wood flat against the bed, then close the lid. Now you will need to input the settings to be used to cut the design out. I recommend using these settings for cutting: (60 speed / 90 power / raster power 10%). The next step is to "jog" the laser cutter head to the top-left corner of your wood sheet. You want to leave around 5mm from each side of the wood. Now you want to run a perimeter check to see the size of the cut. If the laser head travels off the sheet of wood, position it again with the arrow keys on the interface. All you have to do now is click on the play button at the top of your screen to start cutting. You can use the pause button to pause the current cutting job and the stop button to cancel it.

Once the cutting job finishes, be careful when taking the wood pieces out to prevent damage to the laser head. Assembly is simple as all you have to do is take the two tree piece and slide them together through the middle. Then attach the tree piece to the cross on the wood base. You may need to use some glue to make the tree base more stable.

I hope you enjoy this project!