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Acrylic coffee caddy
step by step tutorial
Create a stylish coffee caddy from several layers of TroGlass. This tutorial is designed for experienced laser users. The full TroGlass range is available from our engraving supplies webshop.
Preparation
Materials required:
- 1/2 sheet TroGlass Duo Night and Day 3mm (or other various TroGlass products 3mm)
- 1/2 sheet TroGlass Clear 10 mm
- TroGlass Clear 3mm
- TroGlass frosted Light Yellow
- Material to cover the working table such as paper
- Adhesive tape
- Acrylic glue
- Coffee beans
Laser machine used:
- Speedy 400, 120 watts
- 2" and 2.5" lens
Whilst we have used a Speedy 400 you can also use the SP laser cutter machine series to create it. For high-quality and efficient cutting of 10 mm acrylic you need a machine with laser power of 100 watts or more.
Tip:
Use the acrylic laser cutting table or a cutting table with acrylic lamellas.
Remove the protective foil on the front of the material just before laser procesing to avoid any unwanted scratches.
Step by Step
Step 1: Import design
Import our design template into your preferred graphic program and send the job to your laser using the print settings in the following step.
Step 2: Kerf correction
When laser cutting a kerf will develop due to the vaporisation of the material and the diameter of the laser beam.
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.
You can easily incorporate the calculated kerf using the "Contour" command in the CorelDraw software. This enables the cut to be as large as required, and the inserted material fits in the base material. (Our example uses a kerf of 0.21 mm.) Expand all green laser cutting lines to the previously calculated kerf.
Print settings
| Process mode | Resolution | Cut line |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 500 dpi | none |
| Halftone | Others |
|---|---|
| Colour | enhanced geometries, inner geometries first |
Step 3: Laser cutting and laser engraving
You are now ready to begin laser engraving and laser cutting your acrylic. For optimal suction, positon the material and cover the rest of the engraving table with a material such as paper. You should also remove the protective film from the front of the acrylic.
Use the 2" lens for the 3 mm acrylic, while the 10 mm material is cut with the 2.5" lens. Begin laser engraving from bottom to top. This enables optimum engraving results.
Laser Parameters
| Material | Colour | 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 standard JobControl® quality parameters
- All material parameters can be downloaded on our website
- The only difference between the parameters for TroGlass Duo and TroGlass Clear is the cutting frequency. Both materials can be laser cut with 5000 Hz.
Step 4: Assembly
To finish your coffee capsule holder glue the individual parts together. Mount the letters and the storage compartments into the base plates, then secure it to the wall with screws and dowels.
Tip:
In order to achieve a special effect, fill some coffee beans in the hollow space behind the storage compartments.
