Smooth to sharp with polypropylene

In this assignment I worked with two words that contrast each other. With a certain material I've worked from 2D to 3D.

Smooth - Sharp

Material I've worked with is Polypropylene (PP), as thick as 0.8mm.

0.8 mm polypropylene, transparent and matte. Photo: Andrei Motian

My first impression of the material was that it has a smooth surface. It is very flexible. What i want to experiment with is to sharpen the surface so it stings while touching it. I want to experiment with different different patterns and shapes.

I was inspired by the pattern that Bas Overvelde, from the origami workshop in the first week, used in some of his projects. I've looked up how it's called and discovered that the pattern i want to use is a Miura Pattern.

In Illustrator I've created such pattern and i did it in 2 colors.

This is how a Miura pattern looks like. Photo: Andrei Motian

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dU35dSD4EOhIyYz7VjinPo9eRQN1veBJ/view?usp=sharing

I used black and red in this case. I used two colors because when i go laser cutting later, red will be engraved and black will be cut.

Before saving the the file it is important to save it as an .ai file and to make sure it is an Illustrator 8 file. Otherwise the laser cutting software, LaserWorks, is not able the open the file.

Now the design is finished i can begin with the laser cutting part. First import the file in LaserWorks.

The file is imported and it still has the colors I gave in Illustrator. Photo: Andrei Motian

I put my polypropylene sheet on the bed of the laser cutter and see if there is a preset that I can use for this material in LaserWorks.

There was no preset for polypropylene. Photo: Andrei Motian

After i asked a supervisor in the Makerslab what preset he would advise. He advised me to try it with the Polyester preset and try to change the speed and power. Afterwards i discovered that it was unnecessary to do and i could fill it in directly instead of working from a preset.

For the red lines i want to engraved i used these settings.

Speed 90 and power 25%. Photo: Andrei Motian

For the black line that i want to be cut i used these settings.

Speed 90 and power 30%

Now i upload it to the laser cutting machine by pressing "download" and a few times on "Ok".

Setting the laser cutter.

1. Press File. fig 1.

2. Choose the file you uploaded and press Enter. fig 2.

3. Depending on where the laser head is, you might want to adjust it and set it in the right place. This is useful if you want to save space on your material. Press the arrows to put the starting point on the right place and press Origin. The head is now put on place and if you want to see where it will cut, press Frame. If it is not on the right place then repeat this step. fig 3.

4. Place the placeholder next to the laser cutter under the laser to adjust the height. The height is adjustable by the two brown/golden screws shown in fig 4. You may close the hood now.

5. If it is all set, press the Auxillery button on the side of the laser cutter so the extractor and cooler are turned on. fig 5.

6. Press Start. fig 6.

fig 1. Press file. Photo: Andrei Motian

fig 2. Press enter. Photo: Andrei Motian

fig3. Set the laser head on the right place. Photo: Andrei Motian

fig4. Adjust the height of the laser head. Photo: Andrei Motian

fig 5. Turn on the extractor and cooler. Photo: Andrei Motian

fig 6. Press start and the laser will start cutting. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now the laser cutter is going to cut and engrave my design.

Laser cutter doing its job. Photo: Andrei Motian

Result after laser cutting.Photo: Andrei Motian

For the next one i have to give it more power because it didn't cut through the polypropylene. Now i have to cut through it with a knife.

Me cutting. Photo: Kaz Bison

After cutting and folding. Photo: Andrei Motian

To make it sharp i'm cutting through some lines from the Miura pattern so when I fold it now, there are some spikes where you can puncture yourself.

By cutting the wrong lines my design fell apart. I'll try this again later.

I messed up here. Photo: Andrei Motian

To start from smooth i've cut a piece without any pattern on it with the laser cutter. And because my file was still in opened in LaserWorks i've changed something in the settings. I've set the power to 50 from the black line so it will cut through and the output from de red line to no. I did this because i only want a blank sheet and now it will only cut out the black line.

I changed the power from 35 to 50 and set the output from red to No. Photo: Andrei Motian

This was the result after laser cutting, also had to cut again with a knife through it because the laser cutter didn't got through.

Just a smooth blank sheet of polypropylene. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now i want to make a sample where everything is only folded, except for the laser cutting part. I will use the same Miura pattern and by folding creating a sharp shaped pattern that will feel smooth wile touching.

Because the laser didn't got through in the previous one i will increase the power from the red and black lines in de laser cutting software. The red power of the red line will be now at 40, it will not cut through it but it will fold more easily. For the black line, that has to be cut out, i increased the power 50 and decrease the speed to 60 instead of 90. In this way the laser wil do the cutting (black lines) slower so i'm sure it gets through.

My new settings for lasercutting. Photo: Andrei Motian

After the laser cutter was done i discovered something interesting. It does not matter how hard the power or how slow the speed will be because it cuts through but due the heat it will melt back together. With these settings cutting out was more easily to do because you can use less force and you don't plunk out with your knife.

Here you can see how it melted back together after I stretched it a bit. Photo: Andrei Motian

After cutting the sheet out i had to flip it over and had to cut thin lines from the pattern, which are enrgaved, on the backside from the sheet. It is important to not cut through it. These lines must be cut so that it can be folded on both sides.

Cutting thin lines which intersect with the pattern. Photo: Andrei Motian

After cutting i start with folding. This is hard to do because of the robustness of the material so i dit it carefully and patiently.

Folding. Photo: Anoush

When the folding part is done you'll be able to squeeze it together and the pattern will comes up in a 3D effect.

This is how it looks when you squeeze it together. Photo: Anoush

While touching it it will not sting yet.

To make it actually sharp i will try to cut through some lines again with a knife. But first i want two more pieces cutted and engraved with the laser cutter. The settings will stay the same for now because i'm ok with the fact that i still have to cut through with a knife because it will melt back together.

After laser cutting, once again i'm cutting thin lines on the back that intersect with the patter so it can fold both sides.

Me cutting thin lines. Photo: Andrei Motian

And now after cutting the thin lines, i will cut through some lines an do it right this time. The effect that I want to create is by squeezing it together the pattern goes up and sharp points stick out from the cut lines. If done right it will look like this.

Two spikes on one side. Photo: Kaz Bison

And the piece with more lines cutted so spikes are coming out on both sides when squeezed together.

Spikes on the both sides as you can see. GIF: Andrei Motian

These are the samples i have this far from smooth to sharp in different gradations.

From left to right from the smoothest to the sharpest. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now i want to experiment with other patterns to go from smooth tho sharp. So first i tried with triangles. I've made a triangle pattern in Illustrator so i can fold it upwards that it wil sting while touching it. Before laser cutting I import the file in LaserWorks.

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PLH2F-IKc3Vy58srfMmv5S5OSAOobs33/view?usp=sharing

The triangle patter in LaserWorks. Photo: Andrei Motian

I've used the same settings for the laser cutting as before. After laser cutting was done I've cut it out again with a knife.

Cutting through the pattern. Photo: Andrei Motian

When folding each triangle up i noticed that it didn't stayed up, so i have to change the design a bit. But by bending the sheet i found this interesting.

By bending the sheet the triangles will come out. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now I've added a line under each triangle so the laser cutter will engrave the line and the triangles will stay up.

This is how it looks now. Photo: Andrei Motian

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PTl2wTfWyLJyT5fyXR4R7Ae8tsLHNAgm/view?usp=sharing

I've imported it again in LaserWorks. Photo: Andrei Motian

Laser cutting is done. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now after folding it stayed up. For more gradations I've been thinking how to make it more and less sharp. By making it less sharp, I've made it rounded in Illustrator. Afterwards I imported the file in LaserWorks. With the same settings as before i let the laser cutter do its work and cutted the lines dat i needed to cut.

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MOsB7rOjfaaRcoPX6oGLC3Q6ugdv6iF4/view?usp=sharing

The rounded shape that makes it less sharp. Photo: Andrei Motian

Needed to cut because everything melted back together. Photo: Andrei Motian

After I cutting, folding and touching it felt more smooth than sharp. Photo: Andrei Motian

Now I went to see how it would really feel sharp and how to sting yourself with it. I immediately thought of thorns and made such a pattern. I imported it in LaserWorks and began cutting with the same settings as before.

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_CWGSQ78pgZlZGBPzMKvdQGwV_7kpkc7/view?usp=sharing

Thorn pattern. - Andrei Motian

Result after laser cutting. - Andrei Motian

Back to the cutting part. - Andrei Motian

Afterwards i folded everything up and it felt really sharp. Result:

Sharpest gradation. - Andrei Motian

At this point of view it looked interesting. - Andrei Motian

The second serie from smooth to sharp:

Smoothest left, sharpest right. - Andrei Motian

For the sample book i want to use the same material. With the leftover polypropylene I had I've made rings in Illustrator to bind. Afterwards I imported these rings to LaserWorks. I copied them and made them smaller and bigger just in case. With the same settings for laser cutting i let the laser cutter do its work.

Illustrator file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tsB7JGh8RTPhfIyjhOZfJhpwiJjrNn0C/view?usp=sharing

The rings for binding. - Andrei Motian

Different sizes just in case. - Andrei Motian

Now comes the binding part. The front and back cover will be the pieces that i messed up. I kept these because it is a shame to throw them away.

I have printed the pages with explanations about each piece and perforated them together with the samples.

Making holes. - Andrei Motian

After everything is perforated i put the rings i cutted out through the holes so the sample book is in one piece.

The rings fit through the holes. - Andrei Motian

Done with binding. - Andrei Motian

The final result:

Left on every page the properties and right the sample. - Andrei Motian

Link to the PDF of the samplebook: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tsB7JGh8RTPhfIyjhOZfJhpwiJjrNn0C/view?usp=sharing