Acrylic coffee caddy

Step-by-step instruction

Make this beautiful coffee caddy using multiple layers of our TroGlass. We recommend that only experienced laser users try this project!

Preparation

Required material:

1/2 sheet TroGlass Duo Night and Day, 1/8" (or other various TroGlass products 1/8")
1/2 sheet TroGlass Clear, 10 mm
Rest TroGlass Clear, 3 mm
Rest TroGlass Frosted Light Yellow
(Materials available from Trotec)
Material to cover the working table
Adhesive tape
Acrylic glue
Coffee beans

Machine used:

Speedy 400 with 120 watts
2" and 2.5" lens

This sample can be produced with any laser machine of the SP laser cutter series. For high-quality and efficient cutting of 10 mm acrylic you need laser power of 100 watts or more.

Tip:

Use the acrylic cutting table or the cutting table with acrylic lamellas.
Remove the protective foil on the front right before laser processing to avoid scratches.

Step by Step

Step 1: Import design

Use our design file and import it into your graphic software. Send the job to yor laser using the recommend print settings.

Step 2: Kerf correction

When cutting, a kerf develops due to the vaporization of the material and the laser beam diameter.

The difference between the inner edge and the outer edge of the cut is called 'kerf'. The drawing must be adapted to this kerf to ensure durable positioning of the inserted parts.

Simply incorporate the calculated kerf by using the "Contour" command in CorelDraw. With this, the cut is actually as large as required, and the inserted material fits in the base material (we used a kerf of 0.0083”). Expand all green cutting lines to the previously calculated kerf.

Print settings

Process mode	Resolution	Cut line
Standard	500 dpi	non

Halftone	Others
Color	enhanced geometries, inner geometries first

Step 3: Laser process

Start by engraving and cutting the multiple parts of acrylic. To get a good suction, it is recommended to cover the rest of the table. Do not forget to remove protective foil from the acrylic pieces.

Use the 2" lens for the 0.118" acrylic, the 0.394" material is cut with the 2.5" lens. Start the engraving from bottom to top for optimum engraving results.

Laser Parameters

Material	Color	Process	Power (%)	Speed (%)
TroGlass Duo 3 mm	black	engrave CO₂	12	20
TroGlass Duo 3 mm	red, green	cut CO₂	40	0.2
TroGlass Clear 3 mm	red, green	cut CO₂	30	0.2
TroGlass Clear 10 mm	red, green	cut CO₂	90	0.1

ppi/Hz	Passes	Air Assist	Z-Offset	Advanced
500	1	on	-	Engraving direction from bottom
5 000	1	on	-	-
20 000	1	on	-	-
20 000	1	on	-3 mm	-

Info:

We used the JobControl^® standard parameters optimized for quality.
You can download the material parameters from www.troteclaser.com
The only difference between the parameters of TroGlass Duo and TroGlass Clear is the cutting frequency. You can cut both materials with 5000 Hz if you want.

Step 4: Assembly

Finally, glue the individual parts together. Mount the letters and the storage compartments into the base plates, and secure the coffee bar on the wall with screws and dowels.