Laser engraved and laser cut wooden airplane construction kit

Below we show you how you can use your Trotec laser to make an wooden airplane construction kit. Kids and grown-ups will like this cute toy airplane. Engraving materials are also available at Trotec. Browse our product range at: www.engraving-supplies.co.za

Preparation

Required material
  • We used two different kinds of wood in our sample: (available at Trotec)
    * 1 sheet Wood Veneer Cherry 3 mm
    * 1 sheet Wood Veneer Walnut 3 mm
  • Material to cover the engraving table (e.g. paper)
  • Adhesive tape
Machine used
  • Speedy 360
  • 80 Watts with 1.5" lens

For this sample you can use any laser machine from the Speedy series.

Important
  • Use the aluminum cutting grid table. It keeps the beam reflections to a minimum.
  • The 1.5" lens produces less kerf than the 2" lens.
Wooden Airplane

PDF

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Step by step

Step 1

Step 1: Import /create design template

Import our design template into your graphic program and adapt it according to your requirements.

Important:

Our template has been designed for 3 mm material. Please adapt the size of the connectors according to the thickness of your wood.

Print settings

Process mode Resolution Cut line
Standard 500 dpi none
Halftone Others
color enhanced geometries,
inner geometries first
Step 2

Step 2: Laser process

Position the wood sheet into your laser and cover the rest of the table to maximize the exhaust power. Engrave and cut the various parts.

Laser Parameters

Color Process Power (%) Speed (%) ppi/Hz
black engraving CO2 70 50 500
red cut CO2 100 1 1000
Passes Air Assist Z-Offset Advanced
1 on +6 High quality
1 on - -

TIPS:

  • We used the standard laser parameters from JobControl optimized for speed
  • The material parameters of JobControl can be downloaded from www.troteclaser.com
  • The more z-offset for engraving, the darker the engraving result. At the same time the details of the engraving decreases. For a good result we recommend a z-offset value of +4 to max. +6 mm.
  • Cutting all parts out of two different kinds of wood produces two toy airplanes in one run.
Step 3

Step 3: Post-processing

Clean the surface and the edges from the traces of dust with a damp lint-free cloth. Assemble the airplane. Fix the parts with wood glue if necessary.

TIPS:

  • The propeller is freely movable and is an eyecatcher due to the rotating, engraved graphic.
  • Clean the material directly in the machine after cutting. This is how you can wipe the complete area in one step.

Inspirations

  • If you want to give the airplane as a gift, you can engrave the name of the recipient on fuselage or wings.
  • Combining different kinds of wood creates a trendy look.
  • You can find several different kinds of wood on www.engraving-supplies.co.za. Create a complete fleet of different airplanes.

Speedy series
The ideal laser engraver and cutter for personalisation.

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Questions about applications or settings?
We're happy to advise you from A for Air assist to Z for z-offset.

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