Preparing Laser Cutting Files in Rhino

Choose your laser cutter

Choose the right laser cutter for your material type and size. See more detailed information at Laser Cutting.

Trotec SP500

Maximum material size: 1245 x 710mm

Materials: Strawboard (1 and 2mm), plywood (3 and 6mm)

Location: DBE Makerspace, building 418

Trotec Speedy 400 Flexx

Maximum material size: 1000 x 610mm

Materials: Strawboard, plywood, acrylic, polypropylene, fabrics, and other materials

Location: Digital Modelling Workshop, building 202

Download the template

Download the Rhino Laser cutting templates (3dm).

Job setup

Import your work

Import your work into the template.

Check that your work is at the appropriate scale. For example, if you need to make a model at 1:100 scale, scale down your work by 0.01. If you're having trouble with scale, try a scale converter.

Assign layers

Layers are pre-set in the template. Assign parts of your design into the appropriate layers:

1. Select the element or elements to assign; for example, select all the curves you plan to cut, or the hatches you want to raster engrave.
2. In the layers panel, right-click the appropriate layer (e.g. Cut or Raster engrave).
3. Click change object layer.

Nest objects

Move elements to fit within the boundaries of your chosen material size. If you need to use multiple sheets, make a copy of the material boundary to prepare separate sheets. Hide any layers for sheet sizes that you aren't using.

Arrange the parts of your design inside this boundary, close together, and favouring the left side. This saves money and reduces material waste.

Make sure to keep at least 5mm from the edge of your material, and at least 1mm between shapes. This allows latent heat to disperse from your material, preventing charring and the risk of fires.

Line weights

You line weights have been pre-set in the template. If you're not using the template, or you've added extra layers, set the following in the layers panel:

1. Set Print width to hairline
2. Set Line type to continuous

Remove duplicate lines

Check for any duplicated lines. To remove duplicate lines in Rhino:

1. Select your work and the material boundary.
2. Use the Make2D command, and input the settings shown in the 2-D Drawing Options panel below.
3. Make2D will make its own layer group. You should Hide or Delete the original layer group to avoid duplicates.

Explode and join

For all text and line-based pattern hatches:

1. Use the Explode command
2. Use the Join command

Do not explode solid hatches.

Export to PDF

Click File, then Print, or type in Print into the command line.

Under Destination, select Rhino PDF. Under Size, scroll down to select Custom.

Set Width and Height to match your selected material size, making sure units are set to millimetres.

Make sure that the following are selected: Output Type: Vector Output, Output Color: Display Color.

Under View and Output Scale, select Window and click on Set which will bring you back into the model page.

4) In the model page, select the area to print, which should be the rectangle that has been previously set up to match the selected material sheet size.

If you are using multiple sheets, only select one and repeat the PDF export for each sheet.

Press Enter to go back to the Print window.

5) Back in the Print window, make sure that scale is set to 1:1

All Margins should be set to 0.00

Select Print to finish and save file as PDF.