Laser Cutting the Site Model - Process

The next thing on my weekly 'To Do' list is to laser cut a site model (roughly to the same scale as my bar web 3D prototype).

It was a long and involved process going from Blender, to Revit, to AutoCad, to Corel Draw.

Steps:
1. Cut sections in BLENDER at 3 meter intervals (using 3mm ply sheets). I imported the model into Revit, measured the distance between the cliff and river (was approximately 30 meters) then worked backwards (needed 10 sections cuts horizontally etc.)

The same principle was applied to the story bridge (vertical sections), and my important shed buildings on site.

To cut a section in Blender: join the object all together first (p)/ make a plane/ select the object/ cursor to selection (shift+S)/ and move the plane into the position where I want it cut for a section..... then Scripts/ Object/ Cross Section/ Yes: fill objects...... then export this.... Scripts/ Export/ Autodesk.DXF


2. Import sections into AUTOCAD (open the .dxf file). These are to be scaled up in CAD or REVIT to the size I want cut. I then had 2 options: 1/ keep all of the lines on layer 0 so that they could be changed colour in Corel... or 2/ change the lines to be cut: RED, slightly etched: BLUE, large blocks of text and images: BLACK. (NOTE: COULD ALSO USE GREEN AS GUIDELINES AS THEY DON'T PRINT).

In AUTOCAD I also drew up a mock laser template for the machine and made sure my objects fit on those pages (400mm x 800mm) before saving them as the oldest possible Autocad file (AUTOCAD 2000.dwg).


3. Open the Autocad file in COREL DRAW, checked all lines were hairlines (pen nib tool, select hairline)/ fit all of the puzzle pieces onto my pages (leaving 5mm margins, 390mm x 790mm)/ made sure each piece was code labeled in blue/ then grouped the number to the piece (select both/ Cntrl+G)... then saved it.