How to use CNC/laser cutter?

[linziyi]

I always wanted to build a custom keyboard, yet never have the enough money to buy the customs that are out there... But I found out that I can use the school's equipments (CNC machine, laser cutter, plasma cutter) so I decided to take advantage of them.

I have no experience in CAD nor any knowledge on how to operate such machines... Any good resources that I can start learning how to: design 3D files, operate the machine? Thanks very much!

[user 18]

In terms of operating the machines, it's possible that there may be courses provided by the school that are recommended (or necessary) before you're allowed to use them. Note that these may not be formal academic courses, but more along the lines of safety training. I'd advise speaking to an upper year or graduate student or a faculty member who may know more about using such machines.

I don't know much of anything about CAD myself, so I can't be of any help there, sorry.

[metalliqaz]

Yeah, definitely.  If your school has machines for you to use, they must have classes to teach you.  I wouldn't be surprised at all if those classes were mandatory to take before they let you use anything.

[swill]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

[whizzard]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

Wow that is one hell of a tool you made there... very impressive!

[Niomosy]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

Would this tool work for a specialty custom case?  In my case, an ergo style case with a dedicated tent to it ala MS Ergo 4000.

[metalliqaz]

Not really. 

[swill]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

Would this tool work for a specialty custom case?  In my case, an ergo style case with a dedicated tent to it ala MS Ergo 4000.

Yes and no. Yes it supports ergo style layouts assuming it does not use key cluster rotation (like the ergodox thumb sections). Yes it gives you all the cad files needed to build a sandwich style case.

[Niomosy]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

Would this tool work for a specialty custom case?  In my case, an ergo style case with a dedicated tent to it ala MS Ergo 4000.

Yes and no. Yes it supports ergo style layouts assuming it does not use key cluster rotation (like the ergodox thumb sections). Yes it gives you all the cad files needed to build a sandwich style case.

I'm actually looking to avoid the use of thumb clusters altogether.  This would be directly along the lines of the MS Ergo 4000 keyboard - split and tented but within single case and no specialized layouts other than maybe extra keys above the Function keys for things like media operations.

[Findecanor]

Both the local maker space and Ponoko use SVG as input format for the laser cutters, and a fairly straightforward web interface. Each line is a cut, and the colour of the line defines how deep it should be: cut all the way through or various strenghts of engraving.
There should be a template for each size of material with a rectangle that you must fit the design within.

Check also that the laser cutter supports the size you need. My maker space's cutter supports only up to about the size of an A4 paper.

[yehoshuaf]

Once you know what you are doing with the machine, you can use my tool to generate tod to cut. http://builder.swillkb.com

Love this tool, btw. Thanks.

[yehoshuaf]

I always wanted to build a custom keyboard, yet never have the enough money to buy the customs that are out there... But I found out that I can use the school's equipments (CNC machine, laser cutter, plasma cutter) so I decided to take advantage of them.

I have no experience in CAD nor any knowledge on how to operate such machines... Any good resources that I can start learning how to: design 3D files, operate the machine? Thanks very much!

Check out Aspire by Vectric. It's a fairly straight forward piece of software that can accomplish a lot. There are tons of free training videos on their website and youtube.

[grem110]

Hey,
A good entry into very basic CAD can be found in Tinkercad (tinkercad.com). That's drag and drop CAD with support for 3D printing and not much else...if you want to start machining stuff that's probably not powerful enough. If you're a student, that's awesome because companies love to give away their multi-thousand dollar CAD software--Autodesk Inventor or AutoCAD is completely free, just enter your email, and SolidWorks also gives out their products but the process is harder. I have experience in Inventor and SolidWorks, both are good and whatever you can get your hands on is what I'd go for. Inventor is probably easier to access, and also has really accessible CAM (Computer Aided Machining) as well-which is the intermediate step between CAD and machining.

The process goes CAD-->CAM-->G-Code (generated by CAM) --> machine.

With laser cutting, every laser cutter is different but what pretty much all laser cutters intake is a DXF file. Check with whoever supervises/runs these tools to understand the procedures.

CNC machining is very complicated and has lots of aspects. A good website to explore is cnccookbook.com, which has a ton of information about almost every part of machining.