2. DIGITAL BODIES¶

RESEARCH AND INSPIRATION¶

I have gotten into making 3d scans of things with my phone, and so this week was the perfect opportunity to turn one of them into a physical object.

While looking through all my scans, I realized that it would be cool to have a bust of my head that i could store my hat on, as well as turn into the head of a mannequin The intial purpose or function was to be a mannequin head that i could use to store/display my hats.

TOOLS AND SOFTWARE¶

Rhino
Slicer for Fusion360
Cardboard
Laser Cutter
Polycam

PROCESS AND WORKFLOW¶

I already had the scan of my head on my phone, but to create a scan there are different tools available.

I ended up using a 3d scan phone app, POLYCAM. A very user friendly app to create high quality 3d scans. i got a friend of mine to scan my head, which it does by taking hundreds of photos while moving around the subject. once compiled the file can be exported into a variety of different 3d file types.

Most of the work for this assignment is handled by slicer for fusion360, a plug in for fusion360 that can turn most 3D files into a sliced model that can be tweaked and assembled in various ways.

Using the stacked variation to create my bust, as it gave the most detail and also had the fewest amount of errors to fix.

SLICER¶

Here are my slicer settings for the size and type of slice that i did

RHINO¶

Once you have exported your boards into Rhino you must code it so that it knows how to handle the files.

One problem I ran into, was that I didnt define the file as 2D when I imported it so when I went to laser cut it was taking forever because it was treating each line as a 3D shape.

LASER CUTTER¶

The laser cutter is pretty intuitive but easy to make simple mistakes.

Make sure you read all the documentation for which ever laser cutter you are using.

Here is a quick user guide for operating a laser cutter. Please note that all machines are different and have different operating procedures.

Rayjet 400 – Quick User Guide

Prepare Your File

Design in Illustrator/CorelDRAW/Inkscape.

Use RGB colors:
```
Red (255,0,0) = Cut

Blue (0,0,255) = Vector Engrave

Black (0,0,0) = Raster Engrave
```
Set stroke to hairline or 0.001" for cuts.

Save as .pdf, .ai, or .dxf.
Setup Machine

Power on laser and ventilation.

Open Rayjet Manager on computer.

Place your laser-safe material flat on the bed.

Use focus tool to set correct bed height.

Move laser head to desired origin and set it.
Software Settings

Import file into Rayjet Manager.

Select or input power, speed, and frequency based on material.

Optional: Run a small test cut to check settings.
Run the Job

Close the lid fully.

Press Start in software or on the machine.

Never leave the laser unattended.
Post-Job

Wait ~30 seconds for ventilation to clear fumes.

Open lid, check results, and remove material.

Clean the bed if needed.
Shut Down

Turn off laser and extraction system.

Tidy up and return tools/materials.
Safety

No PVC or unknown plastics.

Watch for fire – keep extinguisher nearby.

Follow all studio/lab-specific rules.

To get the optimal cut settings I used the boards in the lab with sample cuts of different materials.

Here is an example of what the settings look like in the rayjet manager.