I forget the name of the woman who did the Laser cutter class at the Menlo Park tech shop. She did a dorkbot once where she brought samples of all the things she etched and cut with the laser. One of the things she handed out was tiny cotton denim patches. They didn't fray any more than cut fabric did. In fact, I'd argue just a little less. The etching on the surface of the denim was pretty neat, too.<div>
<br></div><div>Christie<br clear="all">_______<br><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19px">"It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so important."</span><div><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19px">Antoine de Saint-Exupéry</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19px"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19px">"Too long a sacrifice c</span><span style="font-family:sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:19px">an make a stone of the heart."</span></div>
<div><font face="sans-serif"><span style="line-height:19px">William Butler Yeats</span></font></div><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Rose White <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rose@yarnivore.com">rose@yarnivore.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
When Kelly Farrell played around with the laser cutter and fabric at NYC Resistor, she found that it would cut natural wool felt well, but that it left a brown burned edge (similar to the edge you see when cutting wood) and the very particular smell of singed hair. Felt made from man-made fibers also cut reasonably well, but left hard edges (where the fibers had presumably melted). <br>
<br>Diana Eng did some work cutting out stencil-like shapes from poly-cotton broadcloth, like that in some men's dress shirts, and got a good mix of clear shapes without fraying/melting. She then appliqued those onto another shirt -- the total result was awesome. Plain cotton left a thin brown edge that *could* fray, but didn't immediately; it seemed that if the edges were either stitched over with satin stitch, or a line run just inside the edge (either straight or tiny zig-zag), that it would be fine (depending on the look you want). <br>
<br>Unfortunately, I don't know if either of them posted photos of the experimentation they did, or the settings they used. :/<br><br>Good luck and have fun! <br><br>-- Rose/yarnivore<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 3:09 PM, meredith scheff <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:satiredun@gmail.com" target="_blank">satiredun@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding-left:1ex">
additionally, has anyone had experience with seaming to pieces of artificial material with the laser cutter?<div><div></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 3:02 PM, Rachel McConnell <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rachel@xtreme.com" target="_blank">rachel@xtreme.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);padding-left:1ex">This is also a good point to consider! Again testing is key. Wool<br>
blends might be a reasonable compromise between artificial fibers and<br>
fraying. Also of course it depends on the look you're going for.<br>
<div><div></div><div><br>
Kelly wrote:<br>
> My guess would be that in theory anything can, but it may leave an<br>
> edge which will fray. I was asking Rachel about this recently and it<br>
> seems like anything synthetic will likely melt and make a good edge,<br>
> but most natural fibers will fray. Perhaps felted wool could be cut on<br>
> a laser cutter?<br>
><br>
> -Kelly<br>
><br>
> On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 14:50, meredith scheff <<a href="mailto:satiredun@gmail.com" target="_blank">satiredun@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> also, what cannot be cut?<br>
>> Im looking mainly at fleeces and wools, but I'm also curious abut other<br>
>> fabrics.<br>
>> Meredith<br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> doing stuff and making things<br>
>> ---<br>
>> "The function of all art ... is an extension of the function of the visual<br>
>> brain, to acquire knowledge; ...artists are, in a sense, neurologists who<br>
>> study the capacities of the visual brain with techniques that are unique to<br>
>> them. ." -Semir Zeki<br>
>><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div>-- <br><div><div></div><div>doing stuff and making things<br>---<br>"The function of all art ... is an extension of the function of the visual brain, to acquire knowledge; ...artists are, in a sense, neurologists who study the capacities of the visual brain with techniques that are unique to them. ." -Semir Zeki<br>
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