Usage of the cutters is restricted to the academic work of architecture students in years 3 & 4 of the B.S. degree programs and students enrolled in the M.Arch program . The cutters may not use it for personal projects, work for professional firms, or for academic work outside of the Architecture Department.

Students may cut ONLY their own work. Submitting work as proxy for a fellow student or 1st and 2nd year student is not allowed, and will result in the loss of cutting privileges.

Students may not operate the cutters. Only trained personnel may operate the cutters. Any student who attempts to operate these machines will lose cutting privileges.

Templates are provided on this site for use with AutoCAD and Rhinoceros. These are the two programs approved for use in cutting.

In order to budget time efficiently and reduce errors and re-cuts, students must be present while their files are being cut in order to answer any questions that may arise, or to be advised of any remedial CAD work that may be required.

The cutter operators cannot correct or draw your files for you. You may not use the computer attached to the cutters to correct or draw your files.

Only materials posted on the “Laser Suitable Materials” handout may be cut on the laser cutter. Cutter operators may refuse the use of a material at any time and without question.

Students must supply all materials. No materials will be supplied by the cutter operators or shop staff.

Students must remove all cut-off, waste and garbage from the room and clean up after themselves when finished.

Come prepared to cut. The cutters are NOT attached to the network, and therefore you files must be submitted VIA a thumbdrive or CD.

You may not bring work to the cutters until you have read and understood all notices and guidelines posted in the DFL.

Students are required to maintain a high level of respect for the cutter operators. Disrespect will result in immediate suspension of cutter privileges.

Approved Materials

+Acrylic:
Material MUST be wrapped in its protective housing and clearly notate the word ACRYLIC from the manufacturer
Maximum thickness of 1/4”

+Wood:
Basswood, Oak, Cherry, Mahogany and Pine
Maximum thickness of 1/4”

+Styrene:
Maximum thickness of 1/8”

+Paper:
Bond, Matte Board, Chipboard
Maximum thickness of 1/8”

+Leather:
Maximum thickness of 1/8”

+Mylar

Approved for Scoring ONLY

+Glass
You must supply the etching paste
Maximum thickness of 1/4”

+Stone
Maximum thickness of 1/4″

+Anodized Metals
You must supply the etching paste
Maximum thickness of 1/8”

+Corian
Maximum thickness of 1/4”

Banned Materials

+Rubber (All Forms)

+Casting Resins

+Polypropylene

+Polycarbonate

+Any material in the chloride/chlorine family (e.g. PVC-polyvinylchloride)

+Polyester Sheets

Download

We have provided a free AutoCAD template file for your use in preparing files to be cut. Download the laser cutting file template from the department website here. (Right click the link and goto “Save As”)

Drawing

•  You must either draw your parts to be cut in this template file, or cut and paste parts from another file into this file.
•  Parts pasted into the drawing will retain their original layer names. You must place these parts onto their new appropriate layers and delete the old layers.
•  The “NOTES” layer represents the laser’s maximum bed size of 24”w x 12”h.
•  All parts must be placed within the blue lines of the “NOTES” layer.

Altering the Template File

•  You may not alter the size of any information within the file.
•  You must use the layers provided (i.e., all parts to be cut must be placed on the red CUT layer, all parts to be scored must be placed on the blue vector SCORE layer).
•  You may make copies of the 24”w x 12”h box in the “0” layer for larger files or for files with multiple materials.

Never Do This

•  Thou shall not use this file for anything but laser cutting. (Plotting from this file will embed information that conflicts with the laser drivers.)
•  Thou shall not scale the original page layout.
•  Thou shall not come to the laser cutter with any AutoCAD file formatted in any way other than described above. You will be turned away as the staff is trained to immediately look for the special watermark placed within the file.

AutoCAD Tips

•  AutoCAD Versions 2010 and earlier are supported.
•  Erase all stray lines.
•  Remove all overlapping and duplicate lines. The laser will double cut overlapping lines with very negative results. You can use the text command OVERKILL in AutoCAD to find and iliminate duplicate lines.
•  For smoother cuts, all continuous line segments should be joined using the PEDIT/JOIN command.
•  All line widths should remain at zero thickness. If you want scored lines to be thicker, do multiple .004” offsets.
•  The laser’s kerf is approximately .008” centered on the drawn line. This will cause the parts that are cut to be slightly smaller than what is drawn. This fact is normally insignificant, but if it is critical to your work, please make a note of it.
•  The rule of thumb for spacing between discrete parts is to allow at least half of the thickness of the material between relatively parallel cuts, particularly on acrylics. For example, if you are using 1/4” acrylic, allow 1/8” spacing between individual parts.
•  Draw everything in AutoCAD. Files drawn in other programs that are then imported or pasted into AutoCAD will cause problems.

Formatting Your Model for Printing
•    Model your work in the 3D application of your choice, so long as the application allows exports in the .STL (Stereo Lithography) format. We recommend Rhinoceros as your modeling package.
•    Create your computational model at true scale, employing inches as the units.
•    Make sure no bounding dimension of your model exceeds 8”.
•    Verify that your model is a “watertight” closed polysurface with no gaps (please note the model will not actually hold any fluid).
•    Your file may contain multiple pieces, but each must be well nested and each must be a closed polysurface.
•    Save your file in .STL (Stereo Lithography) format. If modeling in Rhino, use the default numerical value for tolerance, and select “binary” as the file type when prompted. No other formats will be accepted.

Submitting Your Model for Printing
•    Save your completed and scaled model as an STL file.
•    Email the .STL file to arch3d@temple.edu
•    Lab staff will examine the model to verify it can be printed, give you an official price quote for the model, and a time estimate for overall job completion. Estimates are usually processed in 1 business day. All weekend and holiday requests will be returned within a timely manner upon our staff’s return to the office.
•    Please be aware that there may be questions concerning the size and number of models you are requesting. Your response time will affect the speed at which you receive the quote.
•    Once the quote is sent, please reply to the email and confirm or decline to have the process started.
•    When your file has completed printing and soaking you will receive another email telling you it is available for pickup.
•    Please have the funds available via Diamond Dollars to pay for the model. All finished pieces will be left in room 107 with the invoices attached, please pay the staff on duty.
•    Failure to pick up or pay for your printed model will result in the loss of printing privileges for one academic year.

Tips
•    You can verify whether or not your model is “watertight” by checking its properties in Rhinoceros. Select a geometry within your model, go to the properties inspector, and click the “Details…” button. Your geometry should be listed as a “Valid Polysurface” and a “Closed Solid Polysurface.”
•    Open edges can be found using the “Naked Edges” tool within the “Analyze > Show Edges” menu in Rhinoceros. Any naked edges must be closed to create a “watertight” model.
•    Do not worry about “hollowing out” your model to save on printing costs. The CatalystEX software employed in printing your model will automatically hollow out large geometry masses to lessen the amount of material employed in printing the model. The lab staff will determine the thickness and orientation of your model  to give you the best price without compromising the build quality.
•    You can create your own estimate of time and cost for your model by using the CatalystEX software which has been installed on all Architecture Department Lab Computers. Before importing your model, click on the “Manage 3D Printers” button within the “General” tab and assign a fictitious printer by entering a random name and location. Select “Dimension Elite” from the printer type. Now, import the .STL file and click on the “Add to Pack” button. There will be some number crunching, after which you can select the “Pack” tab to view your model on the bed. You will see an estimate of time and size at the right. Please understand this is only an estimate and will be adjusted by the lab staff prior to printing.