Laser Cut and Engraved Business Cards

[@jeremiahchinyoka7121]

It would also be good to add a link of the Laser machine

[@jschroedl]

That's a pretty cool use of a laser cutter. It had never occurred to me that you'd make a card using one. Thanks Caleb!

[@CalebKraftmakes]

you're welcome! I've seen some pretty incredible paper projects come out of laser cutters.

[@Robonza]

If you put the laser a few mm out of focus you can get things darker so you have some more contrast

[@CalebKraftmakes]

interesting! I'll have to try that

[@hexennacht.]

Hey Caleb, love your card! A small bit of advice to maybe speed up your next card. Instead of drawing the line around the robot, why not just copy the robot, paste it behind itself, then outline your stroke a bit. You can then convert that stroke to a shape to ensure that your outline is exactly the same as the robot!

[@CalebKraftmakes]

hm, I think I'd need to learn some more illustrator. I'd want it to be bigger than the robot and have the tabs, and not have the breaks in the robot, note how the robot is a bunch of separate shapes.

[@ManCrafting]

I'm totally doing this. I was going to ask what material you were using, but found the info in the article. Another great video Caleb. I enjoyed it a lot.

[@CalebKraftmakes]

yup, a thick cardstock is perfect for business cards. Someone else pointed out that cereal boxes are also a fantastic thickness.

[@zdendisj1360]

What type of control panel in K40 do you have ? Awesome!!!

[@TheRealMafoo]

Awesome. If the robot is symmetrical, couldn't you of gotten one side of the cut line around him like you wanted, and then just flipped it for the other side?

[@CalebKraftmakes]

yup! if I knew illustrator better I probably would have.

[@ScrapwoodCity]

This is actually a cool graphic design idea!

[@CalebKraftmakes]

thanks!

[@pamiv51]

what's the material you use, just regular paper?

[@CalebKraftmakes]

this is thick card stock

[@almacerv7963]

Your card is awesome, do you mind sharing the settings i got one k40 china laser i just cant make it work with card stock

[@Innovorks]

is it normal paper of thicker GSM or is it thin wood sheet? what is the material?

[@timmills3823]

I have been wanting to use a laser for a long time... didnt realize how slow they were... 40 minutes for 1 sheet of cards? crazy! is there a faster machine? what kind of price would a machine like the one you used cost? I saw one at rockler that was around 4k and was able to cut thin wood. would it be possible to make a reliable one with a laser and a couple of stepper motors and maybe an arduino or raspberry pi to control the x and y coordinates?

[@CalebKraftmakes]

the cutting is really fast. Engraving is typically slow because it is scanning at high resolution. I could probably tweak the settings a bit to reduce engrave time, maybe even as much as half. This laser would cost you about $1200 with the upgrades (about $600 for just a cheap laser). It could totally do thin wood and has done up to 1/4 inch for me (but it took a few passes). As for making your own, yes. You can buy all the parts you need at lightobjects.com and find other plans at openbuilds.com. For reference, this is a 40 watt C02 laser and you might have a hard time building one for cheaper than upgrading a cheap "k40" like I did.

[@HarryComa]

Go grab a K40 laser on ebay or Aliexpress, they are about $300-700 depending on what version, some are better than others. Then, a upgrade board for the controller from Cohesion3D.com at $130, a GLCD from ebay, maybe 20 bucks. Upon that, upgrade the exhaust fan and a small air compressor to help the beam in the cut. There is also avalible plans for upgrading the machine with Ramps 1.4 (arduino), but now when the Cohesion3D board exists, pretty much all other conversion solutions are stone dead.

[@CalebKraftmakes]

that's pretty cool! I hadn't seen that upgrade. The controllers from lightobjects.com are considerably more expensive.

[@Call_meAmy]

Hi, our factory in China could offer you the machine you want, you could contact [e-mail] or whatsapp [phone]

[@lefox1974]

Awesome and full of simplicity! that is the best part, thank you for sharing.

[@CalebKraftmakes]

you're welcome!

[@hole1stdrillpresschannel]

Can I do this with a 24-wire-matrix-printer too? ;-)

[@CalebKraftmakes]

you could certainly try!

[@biguprochester]

hole - 1st drill press channel where there's a will there's a way. Follow your heart ❤️

[@LivefreeanddiyTv]

Awesome tut, Caleb... excellent idea 🤓👍🏼

[@CalebKraftmakes]

thanks!

[@hamrad88]

What did you use for printer/cutter?

[@CalebKraftmakes]

I've got a "k40" with upgraded controller and nozzle from lightobjects.com

[@hamrad88]

Thanks

[@zaccaldwell]

Caleb Kraft , obviously it worked flawlessly here, but overall opinion of getting a k40. Get one or save for something more "consumer"? btw, this project was great!

[@CalebKraftmakes]

get a k40 if you're ready and willing to tinker with it and upgrade it. If you want plug-and-play, go with something in the $2,000-5,000 range. The core of a K40 is a c02 laser tube that works. So if you can tweak things like the alignment and stuff, you can get a decent machine.

[@Call_meAmy]

Hi, our factory in China could offer you the machine you want, you could contact [e-mail] or whatsapp [phone]

[@MCsCreations]

Beautiful!

[@CalebKraftmakes]

thanks!

[@CreatingCreations]

Awesome video, I hope one day I will get to got to a Maker Fair;)

[@CalebKraftmakes]

I hope you make it to one too!

[@mrjn5786]

what software did you use?

[@CalebKraftmakes]

illustrator and laserCAD

[@vity5458]

А good idea)) Good luck to your channel!!!!

[@woutvdr]

You forgot the endcard

[@_intrepid]

you could just make an outline of the robot and then separate it as an object

[@CalebKraftmakes]

except my outline isn't the same as my robot! its just similar

[@PuppetMaster8707]

I get faxes all the time really makes me feel old lol

[@CalebKraftmakes]

haha, what the heck do you do? something legal or government?

[@PuppetMaster8707]

Caleb Kraft I sell and repair office equipment sometimes it's to test out a customers fax other times it's getting approval faxes for signature stamps or get faxes from the court house for approval for a new engraved seal for a sealing machine

[@Dongerino.]

Why do you have so many lego octopuses hanging on the wall behind you? :D

[@CalebKraftmakes]

those are 3d printed. Every time I try a new material, I make an octopus.

[@bentebrunsvelt319]

Good work

[@steveblack2420]

so cool !

[@Party_Van]

That pen tooling was super cringy

[@vedantsingh_]

61th

[@karlaria7532]

4 th

[@Tunev]

7 th

[@chrisizur15]

1st