This is a basic guideline for setting up your CAD file for Laser Cutting………..

1.  Ensure your “UNITS” are set to the correct format. I doesn’t matter if you operate in Metric or Imperial, just making sure its correct. Sometimes when they are shared between different CAD programs the units can be lost in translation. Please mention the units you are using when forwarding the files.

2.  Please make sure if your scanning in plans and tracing them, they are sized correctly. We do not accept responsibility for providing wrong sized parts. We always compare the measurements to the original plans when importing them into your CAD program. Beleive me, you don’t want to find this out when you’ve completed all your drawing.

3.  We require your Cut Lines to be RED and any Marking to be in Green.

4.  “Line Style” needs to be “Continuous” and “Line Weight” to be “0.00mm”.

5.  You also need to factor in the width of the laser cut if you require your parts to be a snug fit. The cut width is usually 0.1mm.

6.  When you’ve completed tracing or drawing your aircraft parts, they then need to be placed into boxes representing the size of the material required.       Below is a list of sizes we supply………

Balsa = 100mm x 915mm (Medium density)

Bass Ply = 300mm x 900mm “1.5, 3.0 & 5.0mm Only”

Poplar (Lite) Ply = 300mm x 600mm or 300mm x 900mm “1.5, 3.0 & 5.0mm Only”

Birch Ply = 300mm x 600mm or 300×900 “0.8, 1.5 & 3.0mm Only” (Required for structural area’s only, much more expensive than Bass Ply)

We try and limit ourselves to 5mm Ply through the Laser. Beyond that, the material burns too much. If you require 6mm Parts, just make two of them and then glue together afterwards.

6. Its required to leave 2mm line gaps at 50mm apart on each part. This prevents the part falling out of the sheet, we only ship in the sheet form to prevent damage in shipping.

7. Don’t forget to mark all your parts with their part number specified in the drawing. This makes identifying your different parts later on that much easier. When creating the font box, please use the font “txt” in green. If you use a graphic font, the laser goes into an engraving mode and increases the cut time enormously!

8. When you’ve completed your work, please go over and double check everything. If a lot of re-work is required, I will have to return your file.