I'm finally back in the Fabrication Studio attempting to cut & etch leather. There were simply too many variables last time. Also, I realized I wasn't doing something I remind my students to do. That is- learn the technique in its simplest form first, then challenge and experiment. Laser cutting one stencil two months ago does not make me an expert. Cutting and etching on a new material that didn't fit the exact specs of the laser cutter is not a recipe for guaranteed success. The first step is to successfully cut and etch on a leather sample, then I can tackle making armor if I want. My personal goal is to become comfortable with a new piece of tech...not own a piece of leather armor.
I'm still using the BioArt, but to make a small bookmark. To trouble shoot the issue from last month, the first adjustment I made was to combine the cutting layer and the etching layer to one layer before exporting from Inkscape to Illustrator. The cutter wasn't "seeing" the cut line for some reason, and sure enough, when I imported the old file, it simply wasn't there. I'm also using a heavier leather that is closer to the thickness indicated on the settings on the laser cutter.
Well, it etched beautifully (see left). I watched the laser zip around and do all the etching. Then, it successfully cut as well...BUT the lines I drew were simply too close together and the burn line of the laser cut impacted the etched portions, so it all because one big cut out area (insert sad trombone). So, the result is kinda cool to look at (see top), but waaaay too fragile, and not as intended.
The good news is I learned quite a bit: I confirmed the two vector types need to be on the same layer, and I learned to give more space around each motif. I suspect there are some super-fine laser cutters out there, but this isn't one of them. Once day I'll try again by simply scaling up all the little vectors to create some breathing room between each shape before trying to cut again. I'm glad I spent my time this time around learning to trouble shoot rather than adding a lot more detail to file that didn't have a clear positive result from the on-set.
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