Renewed Optimism - Small Box

I’ve been fairly quiet on the forum, because, for the past few months, I’ve not been very optimistic about GlowForge (ever since they offered me a pre-release unit and then changed their minds when they found out my real address is in Canada).

But seeing the delivery emails go out and seeing some of the projects that new people are posting has renewed my optimism for the GlowForge.

I recently designed a small box for @rebecca and @karaelena to test out on their GF (to possibly discuss during a future GF talkshow episode).

I since updated it to have the GF logo, and I’m posting it here as a sign of my newfound hope that I’ll get my GF soon.

It’s a small “planter” box that I made for my kids who want to sell cacti at the local market. It’s meant to be cut with 2 different materials, each of 1/8" in thickness. I designed it so that the center logo can be changed with whatever you want. Here’s a render with the GF logo:

Here’s a render with other designs:

Here is the SVG (right click to save it).
smallbox1_gflogo

I know @rebecca had a bit of sizing issues with it when she cut it. We determined that is was a translation issue between Inkscape and Illustrator using different dpi. In any case, the base should be 3" square. So if you import it into the GF UI and you see that the outside pieces is wider than 3" from leg to leg, there’s an issue with it. I also made the whole file 20"x12".

I’m curious if others will have the same sizing issues.

You should be able to assemble it without glue, but it will be sturdier if you glue the outside to the inside.

I can’t wait to cut it myself (and a WHOLE bunch of other projects)!

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Glad to hear your new found optimism and I love the design you have there!

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That’s a beautiful design. I love it! I’ll definitely keep it on my ToMake list. :slight_smile:

I looked at it in Affinity Designer. The base looks to be 4", not 3" as you stated. Perhaps you made a typo?

image

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It’s not a typo. Here’s a screenshot from Inkscape:

As you can see, the width is 3".

I’m very curious about what size the GF makes this when you import it directly from the SVG (and not go through other programs). Does it have the right size, or will I somehow have to adjust the size of my designs when I’m working in Inkscape?

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Hey @polarbrainfreeze happy to see you again.
I love your cityscapes and I am delighted to try out your design.

First, I copied the file directly to my computer and opened immediately in the GFUI. I found that it did require some resizing.
Your indication that the base is supposed to be 3" was all the information I needed to scale it perfectly. Soom to 250%, then CTRL+A to select all, then scale until the base was exactly 3"

I cut the top array, or the inside pieces, in BBBB (big box baltic birch)


They snap-fit together perfectly and beautifully.

I cut the bottom array, or the outside peices, in Proofgrade Walnut.

They ended up a bit too tight.


Checked the thickness - not 1/8" but .13"

My BBBB is .12" (also not 1/8" - for the record.)

I resized the outside pieces, but didn’t have enough walnut for all 5. Had to do the top ring in BBBB.

Now my inside and outside don’t match.


Going back to make the outside with BBBB at the same scale as the inside.

Result:
Still too tight.

Interim thoughts:
I love the design.
This is made for truly 1/8" media, which I don’t actually have.
The long slots need a hair more room than the snap-fitting box inside.
Two color is going to look fantastic; but those two colors need to be of uniform thickness, or fairly close.

I have to go to the back-to-school night… but I will be back to continue.
I am pretty sure the problems I am having are my problems more than the file.

… to be continued…

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It looks like there are shared cut lines. It was not loose by the thickness of the kerf?

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Fantastic share! :grinning:
(I can’t wait to see you get yours too.)

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When I imported it directly it was roughly 3 1/2"

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Ah, okay. So it looks like when people just post the SVG into messages, I’m wondering if some of the key information like DPI gets lost. I know there’s a certain amount of mangling that goes on.

When I saved your SVG, Designer didn’t know what DPI the SVG had, so it defaulted to 72 DPI and pixel-based measurement. All a person has to do at that point is change the document properties to 96 DPI, before switching to inch for unit measurement.

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That is a great practice when sharing design files. ie In Affinity Designer, all one needs to do is check / change the document properties back to 20/12 if it has changed due to the initial import (dpi has no affect on dimensions), then all the initial design parameters are correct.

Many thanks for the great design

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Looks awesome with the frosted acrylic! (looks like @karaelena used my original design that did not have the GF logo).

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That’s the original one I made a couple weeks back.

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Thanks @cmreeder for trying it out.

If your material is larger or smaller than 1/8, then you can scale the whole design. Let’s say your material is 0.15 instead of 0.125, then you can scale then entire model by 0.15 / 0.125 or by 1.2.

The final dimensions of the box will be slightly larger, but the slots should fit your material.

That assumes that both materials you are using are about the same width.

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That’s what I was thinking, and I’ll try it today and post results.

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Lovely, classic design! It looks great made up. Thanks so much!

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That’s elegant.

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That box design is gorgeous! :heart_eyes:
I love the two colors of wood. Thanks so much for sharing! @karaelena I love the frosted acrylic!

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Glad to see you back. I love the design!

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Dry fit is fantastic.
I used all the same sheet of bbbb
I’m going to paint and glue.
Thanks for the design… I will probably make a few more with different cut-outs.

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