Sliced Alien

A simple cardboard figure built by using 3D modelling software and laser cutting machine.

You will need:

Tools:
- Laser cutter

Software:

- Fusion 360

- Slicer for Fusion

- Adobe Illustrator

Material:

- Cardboard (thickness: 2,7 mm)

You may also use plywood instead or any other material suitable for laser cutting.

- Glue

- Stick (optional)

Time:

The whole process will probably take several hours.

Depending on your skills in software and experience with laser cutter

Design your object in one of the 3d modelling programmes. For mine I used Autodesk Mixmasher and Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is inevitable here as it is the link to Slicer (you can do the whole modelling part in Fusion of course). After you have modelled the object transfer it to Slicer and apply properties you find most appealing for your model. I used the 'stacked slices'.

The last step in Slicer is exporting a layout for laser cutting as a PDF file. Next, you will need to open the PDF in Adobe Illustrator to adjust the lines (thickness and colours) that fit the laser cutter you are going to use. Every laser cutter varies in exact settings.

There are numbers already generated to mark the order of connecting the pieces. It may take a while to place them in order. It is wise to use a stick to keep them together while doing so. Finally, glue the slices into an unified model. Cardboard is a convenient material to make your tests out of as it is cheap and lightweight while voluminous.